A WALK IN THE CLOUDS

MAURICE JARRE

Rating:

Original Review: The Golden Globes often throw out some peculiar choices for Best Score (The Sheltering Sky, Heaven and Earth), and one of their most eccentric decisions came in 1995 when, against all odds, Maurice Jarre's score for A Walk In The Clouds beat off the likes of Braveheart, Apollo 13 and Sense and Sensibility to take home the gong. I freely admit that I was not a huge fan of the movie itself. Marking the English-language feature debut of Mexican actor/director Alfonso Arau (who scored a massive hit with Like Water For Chocolate), it starred Keanu Reeves as a W.W.II soldier who, whilst carrying our his new job as a confectionery salesman, meets and takes pity upon the heavily pregnant Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, and agrees to pretend to be her husband for a few days so that she will not lose face with her highly traditional family of Napa Valley wine-growers. Although this synopsis actually sounds rather promising, the acting is a little below par, especially from Reeves, who seems to regress into catatonia every time the camera rolls, and Giancarlo Giannini as Victoria's father, whose performance gives a whole new meaning to over-acting. Despite the lovely cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki, the whole thing looks like an advertisement for the California tourist board, and to cap it all there is an unintentionally hilarious finale which, rather than being tragic, as was intended, is actually quite bewildering. By far the best thing about the film is Jarre's evocative score, undoubtedly one of his finest for a few years. Leaving aside the prominent electronics which have characterised many of his recent works, Jarre's music is written for a full orchestra with sumptuous solos for Liona Boyd's classical Spanish guitar. The sweeping main theme, performed in full in the first cue 'Victoria', is one of his best, and it recapitulates constantly throughout the entire score. Sometimes, when this happens, a score can become rather monotonous, but not with A Walk In The Clouds. With every new performance, Jarre's theme envelops and enraptures the listener with its effortless charm and romanticism. Other cues, such as 'The Harvest', are wild and vivid celebrations of life and love, whirling around the speakers like a magnificent dance, with full Latin orchestrations and beautifully realised trumpet solos, while 'Fire and Destruction' underscores a far more powerful and frightening finale than the movie actually had, and features the echoing trumpet fanfare from Ghost. There are also two Spanish language songs, written by Arau's regular composer Leo Brouwer, 'Crush The Grapes' and 'Mariachi Serenade', which add volumes to the score's exotic flavour. Despite only having eight cues amounting to just over 30 minutes, Milan's release is just about the right length. Because of the score's generally monothematic nature, a longer CD release would have rendered the score redundant and repetitive. As it stands, half and hour's worth of music allows the listener to appreciate the expansive beauty of Jarre's work before it becomes boring. A worthwhile purchase for fans of romanticism.

Track Listing: Running Time: 35 minutes 10 seconds

Milan 74321-28666-2 (1995)

Music composed and conducted by Maurice Jarre. Orchestrations by Thomas Pasatieri. Featured musical soloist Liona Boyd. Recorded and mixed by Shawn Murphy. Edited by Dan Carlin Sr.. Mastered by Dave Collins. Album produced by Maurice Jarre.


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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1999. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.