FAREWELL TO THE KING

BASIL POLEDOURIS

Rating:

Original Review: If ever there was a film score to epitomise the word "epic", Farewell to the King is that score. Basil Poledouris is justly famous for wringing every last drop of musical power from his orchestra - just look at scores such as Conan the Barbarian, The Hunt for Red October and, more recently, The Jungle Book and Starship Troopers - but this is one of the most impressive of the lot in terms of the sheer scale and magnitude of the performance. Farewell to the King continued the fruitful collaboration between Poledouris and director John Milius in a film which embraced the notions of heroism, loyalty and trust. It starred Nick Nolte as a young soldier during W.W.II who, disillusioned with the war raging around him, deserts and flees to Borneo, where he embraces the traditional, simple ways of the people living there. However, the army are keen to get their man back and soon his former comrades, led by Nigel Havers, are on his doorstep wanting to drag him back to the life he so desperately wanted to leave behind.

After the ethnically-oriented opening in 'The Trek', the majestic main theme kicks in for the first time during the 'Main Title'. It is a sweeping, lush piece which combines the power of Poledouris' brasses with the tender string-led lyricism of John Barry and the mysterious pan flutes favoured by James Horner. Three of my favourite compositional styles in one melody - how good can it get? A whole lot better, in fact, and as the score progresses, more and more knockout themes keep tumbling out of the speakers. A pastoral theme for achingly beautiful strings and flutes is heard during 'War is Over' and, in an even better performance, 'Nigel's Trip', while 'Learoyd and Nigel' has a noble-sounding brass motif which puts me in mind of nature, the dawn chorus and daybreak.

At the other end of the scale, 'Battle Montage' has an outstanding Conan-style action sequence which starts out quietly, but gets more and more vibrant as it develops, mainly through the addition of lilting flutes and a dancing string accompaniment. Occasionally, Poledouris also introduces some slightly ragged, orientally-flavoured sounds into the score to depict the film's far-flung setting. Cues such as 'This Is My Child' and 'Day of the Dead' are the best examples of this style, in which unusual metal percussion, such as gongs and gamelan bowls, and breathy wind instruments are heard. The only exceptions to these rules are the rather comical but still impressively martial 'Training March', which sounds like it could have accompanied one of those wartime Pathe newsreels telling of the patriotic exploits of our boys across the world, and the classically beautiful but somewhat out of place 'Imperialist Waltz', which sounds as though it would be much more at home in a Merchant Ivory costume drama.

However, the final two cues - 'The Day Forth' and 'Farewell To My King' - are a wondrous amalgamation of the four main themes, and the whole thing finishes with a huge orchestral flourish in the final minute which truly leaves you breathless. In terms of tempo, the music is generally quite sedate, and parts of it put me in mind of scores such as Dances With Wolves, Legends of the Fall and Poledouris's own The Jungle Book, all of which were also written to accompany large, beautiful vistas and portray vivid human emotions. It's a testament to the talent of Basil Poledouris that, time and again, he can knock out a listener with the majesty of his writing. Unfortunately, this is another score which is becoming increasingly in short supply and, despite being released by both Varése and Milan, is now a top collectable. I would unreservedly recommend this score to anyone who has the good fortune to stumble across a copy.

Track Listing:

Running Time: 43 minutes 02 seconds

Milan CDCH-375 (1989)

Music composed and conducted by Basil Poledouris. Performed by The Hungarian State Symphony Orchestra. Orchestrations by Steven Scott Smalley. Recorded and mixed by Eric Tomlinson. Edited by Tom Villano. Album produced by Basil Poledouris.


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