Apocalypto

As a Swede it's interesting to note how many Americans seem to regard the idea of subtitled movies as a very controversial idea. "It's not in English, and it has subtitles!? Surely no one is going to watch that one" was something you heard a lot when Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ hit the theaters a couple of years ago. It's funny, because when you live in a country where English isn't the official language subtitled movies are, more or less, the norm (if you happen to live in a country where movies aren't ruined by being dubbed, that is). I mention this, because Mel Gibson's latest film, Apocalypto, is entirely filmed in the ancient language spoken by the Mayans, and once again, this is considered to be a very controversial decision.

Not so controversial, in my opinion, but James Horner's score for the movie is. Controversial for James Horner, at least. Horner is a composer that usually relies on a very melodic and predictable orchestral approach when scoring movies. For Apocalypto, however, the composer decided to throw the relatively modern orchestra out the window, instead focusing on a large array of ethnic instruments from all over the world. Tony Hinnigan, who has performed on many scores by Horner over the years, was hired to put together an impressive collection of more or less obscure and unusual instruments and judging by the end result he did a great job. The largely improvised score was recorded at Abbey Road in London during a couple of weeks this fall, the entire recording surrounded by a lot of secrecy. Tony Hinnigan's video diary from the recording sessions where taken down from his website in great haste after the studio found out about them, for example.

But all turned out nicely in the end - Apocalypto is an effective and very aggressive score, which relies heavily on texture and rhythm to cast its spell over the listener. There's no big theme that will sweep you away or tug at your heartstrings and this focus on ambiance and atmosphere rather than harmonies and melodies creates certain problems - no matter how effective this score is in the film, as a standalone listening experience Horner's Apocalypto is somewhat of a disappointment.

Apart from the many solo instruments and synth pads, Horner also makes use of voices. Rahat Nusfrat Fateh Ali Khan, who worked with Horner on the score for The Four Feathers, lets lose his vocals in a couple of cues. I was never a big fan of the parts of The Four Feathers that were dominated by Rahat's voice and it's therefore not especially surprising that I have a hard time appreciating his vocals in Apocalypto. Sure, it may be effective, but it's a little too jarring at times. Terry Edwards also does some vocals in the score, and his contribution is actually quite cool, ranging from throat singing to whispering. The effect is some very aggressive, raw but also eerie music, which dominates cues such as the short by excellent "Tapir Hunt".

Sampled bird song opens and closes the album, similar to what Horner did on the soundtrack album for The New World. In fact, the opening track "From the Forest..." uses the same repeated descending string motif which also can be heard in The New World, and it also appears in a couple of other cues as well. Some strings and brass is used throughout the score, and they're all samples. One wonders why Horner didn't use real instruments for these parts, but the reason is probably related to money. It's far too expensive to book and record an orchestra for only a couple of minutes of music.

Apocalypto is an effective and inventive score, and Horner's unusual approach must be applauded, but it's very apparent that you are listening to a film score while trying to enjoy the soundtrack album. Without the visuals, Apocalypto is more or less one hour of underscore, which certainly grabs the listeners attention from time to time, but the music in between those moments is hard to appreciate while listening and difficult to recall afterwards.