BULWORTH

ENNIO MORRICONE

Rating:

Original Review: In Warren Beatty's film Bulworth, Ennio Morricone's superb original score was almost totally obscured by a plethora of hard-edged rap songs in the soundtrack, many of which actually overlapped and drowned out Ennio's work by being played at the same time. How grateful we must be, therefore, to RCA Victor for releasing this oddly structured but engaging album of Morricone's complete score, unexpurgated and undiminished by the efforts of artists with any combination of the names Daddy, Ice or Puff.

Having seen the movie Bulworth, it is actually not difficult to see why Warren Beatty would treat Morricone's score so badly because, beautiful though the music is, the film didn't really need it. In it, Beatty plays a beleaguered US senator who, sensing that his political life may be over, becomes suicidal and actually employs someone to assassinate him in public. Then, while embarking on a canvassing tour he knows he is going to lose, he experiences an epiphany. By embracing the language and culture of Black American rap music, Bulworth suddenly finds himself connecting with his constituents and - horror of horrors! - starts telling the naked truth to the public. Despite the protestations of his campaign team, Bulworth develops a new found enthusiasm for life and his work, finds a new girlfriend in the shape of activist Halle Berry, and continues his tirade extolling the virtues of free speaking and honesty. But he forgets to cancel the hit...

This is a case where, unlike most modern soundtracks, the rap music featured on the commercial soundtrack release actually plays a major part in the film's narrative structure. The patterns of speech, the rhythms and the language of rap are vital to the film - leaving Ennio Morricone with virtually nothing to do and, in a musical sense, nowhere to go. In just one scene (where Beatty falls asleep in Berry's basement) does Morricone's music truly rise to the forefront of the sound mix, letting us know just what we have been missing. This second CD of Bulworth music fulfils the same purpose as that one scene, giving us the opportunity to hear the music as it was initially conceived by Morricone, and allowing score fans to appreciate his vast talents.

The album is structured in two long suites, the first of which is likely to appeal most to fans of Morricone's music. Gradually emerging from a hesitant bed of strings, it slowly swells into epic, grand proportions, recalling such triumphs of the past as Once Upon A Time In America and The Mission, while maintaining a distinct sense of tragedy and melodrama. After around four minutes, the atmosphere changes and becomes a little darker and more ragged, with intentionally strained strings and Amii Stewart's unique Gospel vocal work lending a rough, modernistic edge to the music. The subsequent to-ing and fro-ing between Mann's earthy tones, Morricone's sublime string work and the effortlessly graceful sound of Edda Dell'Orso's spellbinding voice characterises the rest of the track, which is briefly interjected by a new, slightly more upbeat variation on the main theme for piano and oboe at around the nine minute mark.

The second track is one of Morricone's more offbeat little numbers, a peculiar piece making use of a whole load of pizzicato violins, a solo muted horn, a bass piano and several items of percussion. As the cue progresses and picks up pace, the music begins to emerge as a unique variation on the old "comedy chase cue", with various items of woodwind joining in the fun and adding their own unique textures to the incessant rhythm. Every now and again, the frivolity abruptly stops and enters a somewhat unsettling phase, often featuring a menacing harpsichord, a distorted saxophone or a group of harshly bowed violins to lend the music a notion of distress. Then, without warning, we're off again with the comedy scherzo, bounding forth with seemingly endless enthusiasm. The finale of the track is actually quite disturbing, with deeply dissonant strings, ultra-low piano chords, synthesised thuds, and seemingly random comments from various sections of the orchestra, building up to what one expects to be a massive crescendo, before concluding with a restatement of the moody harpsichord and saxophone motif.

Thinking sensibly about the "bigger picture", it would perhaps have been better if Beatty had rejected Morricone's score completely, thereby giving the Italian maestro an opportunity to re-use it in a movie which would have benefited more from its inclusion. As it stands, in the film, Bulworth makes no relevant statements, provides nothing in the way of an emotional connection, and leaves no lasting impression on the viewer. On disc, however, it is an absolute masterpiece. As a footnote, it is interesting to observe that, according to the album notes, Morricone recorded this music at Studio Music Village, Rome, in May 1988. Yes, I said 1988. Whether this is a misprint or not, I have no idea (it appears twice, on the back cover and on the inside of the booklet), but it would be interesting to know the back story of this music.

Track Listing: Running Time: 42 minutes 35 seconds

RCA Victor 09026-63253-2 (1998)

Music composed and conducted by Ennio Morricone. Orchestrations by Ennio Morricone. Special vocal performances by Amii Stewart and Edda Dell'Orso. Recorded and mixed by Fabio Venturi. Album produced by Ennio Morricone.

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