by Ryan Keaveney

Music Composed by James Newton Howard
Rating: ****

By now you’ve probably learned the twist of M. Night Shyamalan’s latest marketed-as-a-thriller, The Village. Audiences all over the world were shocked to learn that “The Village” was actually a microscopic community of Sea Monkeys floating in a half empty Coke can in downtown Detroit! That Shyamalan sure knows how to throw his audience a change-up! Along for the ride is M’s composer de rigeur, James Newton Howard, who has ridden a personal high scoring for his director, first with the subtle and darkly romantic The Sixth Sense, then the career high-note Unbreakable, and most recently their most commercially successful collaboration, Signs. A lot has changed since Signs, it seems, when Shyamalan pulled out plenty of stops to entertain his audiences. With The Village, the director seems to have fallen in love with his own press, indulging in excessive and sludgy style and pacing. The Village is simply a monster of a bore. But within this beast’s birth comes a single nugget of worth, James Newton Howard’s score. It’s a delicate, emotionally wringing, and entirely beautiful work that transcends the ponderous film, and almost in the process transcends film music itself. This is music that not only works well in the picture, it thrives on it’s own. Which is the best place to experience this masterwork.

James Newton Howard

Great working relationships between a director and his/her stars have always fascinated me. Some directors just seem to form bonds with the actors they work with and always get a great performance out of them - whether the film itself is good or not. There seems to be an understanding between them. Martin Scorcese always gets a great performance out of Robert DeNiro. Johnny Depp seems to be at his best when he’s working with Tim Burton. Of course this same phenomenon occurs between a director and a composer. There’s too many great director/composer partnerships throughout the history of cinema to mention in this review, but one seems quite relevant: the pairing of Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann. Herrmann wrote music that merged with Hitchcock’s images in a seemingly effortless manner. His music was steeped in minimalism (before the minimalism of Philip Glass even existed) but also was quite rich in the tradition of the late German romantics - both styles often contained in the same film. Take for example the repeating ostinati of the Vertigo main titles against the lush love theme. Hitchcock’s films often explored some sort of interesting theme that lay beneath it’s categorization of “suspense thriller” whether it be obsession, voyeurism, mistaken identity, or maternal domination. These themes are the perfect bait for a good composer to latch onto and run with - often securing the director’s vision better than any line in the screenplay or subtle mannerism of an actor’s performance - and Herrmann did exactly that.

Comparing the relationship between Hitchcock and Herrmann to that of M. Night Shymalan and James Newton Howard may seem laughable to some film buffs, but to me really it isn’t that far off. James Newton Howard has crafted four of his strongest film scores for Shyamalan. All four have been intimate scores that reach for something found between the lines. (That’s not to say Shyamalan doesn’t use music to freak the audience out, though. In all four scores there have been some big stingers and grandiose musical moments.)

Fans of the Howard/Shyamalan partnership will find much to love in Howard’s score to The Village. It is by far the most lush and lyrical score he’s written since Snow Falling on Cedars, which used the solo cello extensively. With The Village, James Newton Howard uses the solo violin as his main color. The classical world superstar Hillary Hahn is the featured soloist. And opposed to some composers who use their big name guest artists for a few tracks only - mostly as a marketing gimmick, Howard makes Hahn work for her money. That’s not to say the solo violin lines in The Village are very virtuosic, but Hahn’s performance is still quite breathtaking with nice soloistic interpretation and vibrato that gives one goosebumps. Howard crafts some romantic themes (in both the musical and literal sense of the word) and lyrical lines for this film as if they’ve been lifted from a Bruch concerto. (They’re not.)

Howard’s The Village in not a period score though. The melodies on the surface played by Hahn do feel like they’re come from 19th century Europe or post Civil War American folk - but what the orchestra is doing underneath the violin is a different story. Howard still uses a lot of the same minimalist ideas he employed in Signs and a lot of his favorite harmonic progressions that he uses in many of his scores (movement by thirds, quartal/quintal chords). Those of you who have seen the film can possibly see the brilliance behind this approach: the film reveals that the village is not a real 19th century village, and thus the score is not real 19th century music - only on the surface. (Howard has proved he can write period music too with Restoration, so it shouldn’t be argued that the score’s faux-classical sound comes from the composer’s limitations or laziness.)

The other side of The Village’s score is harsh violent march-like music for “Those We Don’t Speak Of”. They break the flow of the album considerably which can be welcome or unwelcome, depending on what you’re doing while the album is playing. Loud percussion ranging from all kinds of drums, tam-tams, and shakers are used to achieve a very primitive tribal sound. Lots of brass pitch bends and mutes along with string col legnos are used as well. Howard goes a little nuts with these cues which come across as a tad too boisterous, but again Howard’s approach fits well with the intentions of the characters - namely the elders of the village.

Despite the loud “Those We Do Not Speak Of” and “It is Not Real,” the rest of the score carries a similar tone throughout its entire running time: a sense of melancholy and dread - whether it be from tragic love, painful heartbreak, or the heavy burden of guilt. As with Signs, Howard again uses the woodwinds to great effect, incorporating some non-standard instrumentation like recorders. Piano is also used extensively. The brass and percussion only really get to play during the “monster” cues. By using primarily bright and high-registered instruments, the accompaniment is able to blend well with Hahn, and Howard also doesn’t allow for his musical sadness to become too heavy or too much.

As of this writing, Howard has been nominated for an Academy Award for his score to The Village - a very welcome surprise. Many, myself included, thought he should’ve gotten a nomination a couple years ago for Signs. Needless to say, I’m quite glad Howard is starting to get recognition for his work with Shyamalan (many reviews for Signs and The Village have made positive mention of Howard’s contributions). And like the Hitchcock/Herrmann relationship, I hope the Shyamalan/Howard relationship collaboration last for many more films. Note to Night: If Howard wants to use 16 horns for your next film - let him.

Music Composed and Produced by James Newton Howard; Featured Violinst: Hilary Hahn; Orchestra Conducted by Pete Anthony; Orchestrated by Jeff Atmajian and Brad Dechter; Recorded and Mixed by Shawn Murphy; Availability: In print; Label (Catalogue): Hollywood Records, (2061-62464-2); Release Date: July 27, 2004

01. Noah Visits (2:35)
02. What Are you Asking Me? (6:01)
03. The Bad color (3:57)
04. Those We Don’t Speak Of (3:59)
05. Will You Help Me? (2:34)
06. I Cannot See his Color (1:31)
07. Rituals (2:01)
08. The Gravel Road (4:31)
09. Race To Resting Rock (1:16)
10. The Forbidden Line (2:17)
11. The Vote (6:03)
12. It Is Not Real (3:36)
13. The Shed Not To Be Used (2:03)

Total Playing Time: 42′24