The Black Dahlia
Original Soundtrack Recording

One great thing about big, theatrical films is that they demand big, theatrical scores which, more often than not, result in an above average stand alone listening experience. Brian de Palma is a director never afraid to paint it big and this has resulted in fine scores from several of Hollywood's most prestigious composers; John Williams, Bernard Herrmann, Ennio Morricone, Danny Elfman and others, all of whom have written some fine work for his movies. With The Black Dahlia, de Palma has the considerable talents of Mark Isham on his audio track, following in the grand tradition of noir films by composers from Leonard Bernstein to Jerry Goldsmith. Indeed, the latter would quite probably have picked up his second Oscar for LA Confidential had James Horner and Celine Dion not sunk the Titanic (indeed, the film itself would probably have swept the board were it not for Cameron's epic).

Despite a raft of more family friendly scores recently (notably the impressive Racing Stripes and Eight Below), Isham has plenty of adult material on his CV and, naturally, scores requiring some jazz elements are always going to be right up his street. The Black Dahlia doesn't appear to have garnered especially great reviews, but the music invariably seems to have received a positive response and it's not hard to hear why. The opening track is almost a capsule summary of the entire score; the main theme, performed on trumpet by the composer, interrupted by some of the most aggressive orchestral writing I can recall from Isham. Fortunately, the outbursts are carefully spread throughout the album so the assault doesn't seem so brutal. Indeed, there are some quite lovely quieter passages, although the noir undercurrent persists and it never becomes what might be deemed pretty. Even the celesta of The Dahlia feels creepy rather than enchanting.

There's a little romance, mixing something of the period and some element of pastiche scoring for the period. There is a nice sweep to the writing which you simply don't hear that often in contemporary scores, while resisting the temptation to schmaltz it up or overplaying it. It's a balancing act pulled of with impressive panache. Isham has always been a fine composer, but The Black Dahlia takes his natural genre - jazz, in particular jazz trumpet - but adds a broader, orchestral edge to the palette and, indeed, an edginess which isn't usually apparent in his better scores, which invariably tend toward the gentle end of jazz or sweeping Americanism. It's a shame he ends up on so many duff thrillers which leave a poor impression of his abilities. The Black Dahlia, however, leaves a fine impression with a consistently fine, memorable and enthralling album.