THE BLUE LAGOON

BASIL POLEDOURIS

Rating:

Original Review: The Blue Lagoon was written at a time when Basil Poledouris was still deciding whether to become a film composer or a film maker. Fresh out of film school, and with only one other major score under his belt (the still unavailable Big Wednesday), Poledouris took on The Blue Lagoon with the attitude of a man trying to find his place in the world. It's almost as though he said to himself, "I'll give this one my best possible shot and, if it doesn't work, I'll stop writing music". Fortunately for us, The Blue Lagoon worked like a dream.

The film itself is a famous - or should that be notorious? - remake of a 1949 British film about two teenagers shipwrecked on an idyllic desert island and who, over the course of many decades, fall in love, become sexually aware and raise a whole host of children to populate their perfect little corner of the globe. It was a star-making turn for the teenage Brooke Shields, and as well as Basil's score, boasted absolutely stunning cinematography from Argentinean camera maestro Nestor Almendros. However, Leonard Maltin's 1999 Film Guide amusingly describes it as "nothing more than softcore cinema for the heavy petting set", so I'll leave you to decide on its merits - or lack thereof.

Basil Poledouris has always been proud of his affinity for the sea and all things nautical, and this love affair with the ocean has manifest itself in several of his scores (Wind, Free Willy, A Whale For The Killing, The Hunt for Red October). With The Blue Lagoon, Poledouris has taken the salt in his blood and mixed it with a heavy dose of romance to create a magical, beautiful, uplifting score which, despite all the terrible things written about the film it accompanies, has gone on to become one of his most acclaimed and popular works.

It opens with a rendition of 'Emmeline', the lush piano love theme which, when picked up by the full orchestra and accentuated by the introduction of a harpsichord half way through, shimmers and sparkles like sunlight catching the top of a rolling wave, increasing the sense of being at one with nature. It is recapitulated again in the ninth track ('Love Theme'), and with appropriate hesitancy in 'The Kiss', but sadly does not feature again.

The 'Main Title' is actually the second cue, and while the music here maintains the beauty of the first, it increases its grandeur by underlining the new melody with sustained cymbal rings and chimes for an overall "bigger" sound. Is afforded regular recapitulations throughout the score, notably in the majestic 'The Children Grow' and 'Points to Port/End Title', which rounds off the album in the grandest possible fashion. In addition, there are a couple of lilting music-box style themes, first heard in 'The Island' and 'The Sands of Time', which seek to illustrate the fact that the two lead characters are still, for all intents and purposes, children who still retain a sense of wonder and amazement at the sights and sounds surrounding them.

The score is not without its more subdued moments - the frantic 'Fire', the comparatively downbeat 'Paddy's Death' and 'Richard Sees Paddy', and the dramatic 'Lord of the Lagoon' - but apart from these brief interludes, this is a score all about celebrating the glory of romance, revelling in beautiful scenery, and musically depicting the tranquillity of an unspoiled, untamed world. The Blue Lagoon was released on the Australian Southern Cross label, and has since become a somewhat scarce CD. If you do happen to stumble across a copy, I strongly recommend you snap it up while you can. As an example of Basil Poledouris' lyrical, melodic nature, this is about the best there is, and is as far removed from the powerhouse dramatics of Conan, Robocop and others as it is possible to be.

Track Listing: Running Time: 34 minutes 40 seconds

Southern Cross SCCD-1018 (1980)

Music composed and conducted by Basil Poledouris. Performed by The Australian Symphony Orchestra. Orchestrations by Greig McRitchie. Recorded and mixed by Roger Savage. Edited and mastered by Dan Hersch. Album produced by Basil Poledouris.


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