PERDITA DURANGO

SIMON BOSWELL

Rating:

Original Review: Never one to flinch from making movies with a distinct lack of taste - consider that his last two were the cult horror comedies Accion Mutante and The Day of the Beast - director Alex De La Iglesia makes his US feature debut with Perdita Durango, an offbeat road movie starring Rosie Pérez and Javier Bardem as a pair of Mexican hoodlums transporting two kidnapped teenagers and a cargo of foetuses (yes, foetuses!) across the Nevada desert on behalf of a Mafia kingpin.

The songs which pad out this album are completely chaotic, and induce feelings ranging from light-hearted nostalgia with the famous Herb Alpert tune 'Spanish Flea' and the classic Johnny Cash ballad 'I Walk The Line', to complete and utter disbelief with a series of god-awful Mariachi ditties and virtually unintelligible rock songs. Although the performances by Los Tucanes de Tijuana, Banda el Recordo de Crúz Lizárrega and Screamin' Jay Hawkins are likely to induce reactions akin to the chorus of Electric Playboys' 'Little Girl' - you make me feel so sick - score fans are likely to get a real kick out of Simon Boswell's classy score, which is well represented with ten tracks amounting to around 30 minutes of the CD's 49 minute running time.

Surprising as it may sound, there is a distinct feeling that the spectre of Bernard Herrmann is hovering over Perdita Durango. Throughout the score, Boswell seems to have adopted many of the Maestro's experimental touches, and has come up with a series of highly inventive and cleverly-worked cues, all of which seem to have an unnerving habit of affecting the images and sounds of the desert - whether it is the musical depiction of a shimmering heat haze, or the threatening click of a rattlesnake's tail.

Much of Boswell's music features extremely heavily and prominent percussion by Chucho Merchan and Julian Diggle, with tracks such as the stark and desolate 'Morgens Interstate Bank', the almost tribal-sounding 'A-Maje-Cumbe' and the hyper-kinetic 'Crossing the Border' and 'La Calavera' being especially memorable. Other cues, such as 'Food for the Gods', are more conventionally orchestral, but contain a stylish dissonance, employing vicious trumpet blasts, unearthly echoing woodwinds and eerie, high-pitched violin meanderings.

'Another Way Out' is a pulsating action ostinato with an undulating bongo rhythm and deep, menacing voices - a welcome echo of one of Boswell's other fine scores, Lord of Illusions. The one touch of traditional melody comes by way of a surprisingly delicate and attractive flute solo in 'Happy Caribe' which, despite being slightly reminiscent of the hymn 'What A Friend We Have In Jesus', makes for a welcome interlude.

The major problem is that album is very badly sequenced, and the tense mood that Boswell's excellent underscore creates is continually shattered by the interruption of the bouncy Latino songs with their accordions and guitars. These constant hindrances really need to be programmed out in order to experience the true effect of Boswell's music, which surely figures near the top of his list of quality scores to date.

Track Listing: Running Time: 49 minutes 10 seconds

Milan 74321-54116-2 (1998)

Music composed by Simon Boswell. Conducted and orchestrated by Terry Davies. Featured musical soloists Chucho Merchan and Julian Diggle. Recorded and mixed by Geoff Foster. Mastered by Pedro Baselga. Album produced by Simon Boswell.

Cinemusic Online
Filmtracks
Movie Wave
Score!
Scorelogue


Home Page | Reviews A-M | Reviews N-Z | Composers | Links

Movie Music U.K is designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton (c) 1999. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those the University of Sheffield. All photos and album artwork used on Movie Music U.K. are only for the non-profit making promotional purposes and no copyright infringement is intended.