These Amazing Shadows


Documentary | Release date: 05/10/2011 | Format: Download, CD
 

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# Track   Duration
1.Main Titles2:05
2.Protecting Our Films1:45
3.Creating the National Film Registry0:52
4.Preserving Our Cultural Heritage1:39
5.Into West Side Story0:33
6.To Kill a Mockingbird Montage1:36
7.These Amazing Shadows2:05
8.The Land Of Nitrate0:41
9.Dorothy Opens the Door to Oz0:41
10.2001 And Beyond0:53
11.With Every Laugh, A Tear1:09
12.Japanese Internment during WWII2:59
13.The Kennedy Assassination0:51
14.Gender Bias0:34
15.Vision of Women Directors1:13
16.Back to The Future Montage0:59
17.Harlan County Montage2:31
18.Race and Politics0:41
19.The Danger of Cinema0:44
20.Exiles0:54
21.Race Issues0:54
22.The Effect Of War0:56
23.Final Montage: The Power Of Movies4:09
 31:24
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These Amazing Shadows - 09/10 - Review of Oscar Flores, submitted at (English)
Directed by Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton, the rather emotive documentary “These Amazing Shadows” showcases the work done by The National Film Registry — the department of the Library of Congress designed to preserve culturally, aesthetic and historical significant films in their original format. Created in 1988 as a response by actors and filmmakers to Ted Turner’s colorization spree of black and white films, the NFR nominates 25 films per year (in the first year, the public nominated almost 1,000 films for consideration) and, due to the vagueness in its selection criteria, has added films ranging from Casablanca and Back To The Future to the 1957 movie theatre promo “Let’s All Go to the Lobby.” These Amazing Shadows highlights entries like these and others while discussing the various film genres. For the most part, the documentary focuses on presenting those magical movie clips that everyone loves. Essentially, the montages prove their point regarding just how influential movies have been to American culture, but for those looking at something in the Kevin Brownlow tradition of cinema documentaries, this will undoubtedly prove substandard.

The task of providing a cohesive score for a documentary presenting assorted clips from easily recognizable and memorable films was certainly not an easy one. Peter Golub, whose credits include theatre works, TV projects, numerous other documentaries (including the recent Countdown to Zero)) and even a collaboration with James Newton Howard on The Great Debaters, had to decide whether to incorporate musical snippets from the referenced films or to do something completely new. Golub said, “there was a special challenge, as many of the movies featured in the film have memorable, if not iconic scores of their own... While it was tempting to use material from the quoted films’ scores, I decided to create my own versions of those scores and in addition write themes specifically for These Amazing Shadows, so that the film would have its own score.” To record his music, Golub had at his disposal the City of Prague Symphonic Orchestra and, in the end, he delivers a very beautiful orchestral score that seamlessly connects the movies selected by the National Film Registry with elegant and heart-warming themes.

“Main Titles” serves as the exposition of most of the themes contained in the documentary. While the piano seems to play the most prominent role, a solo violin, woodwinds doubled by strings, a brief brass section, and pizzicato strings and mallets all interact in this beautiful medley. In this and other tracks, what surely stands out is the magnificent use of the various woodwind instruments. “Preserving Our Cultural Heritage,” for example, beautifully incorporates the flutes into a truly great orchestration of the main theme. This theme will also repeat in other tracks, including “Vision of Women Directors,” “Race Issues” and in the piano-driven track “Harlan County Monatge.” In “Japanese Internment During WWII,” there is a fluid evolution from a very nostalgic piano and cello section into another rendition of the main theme — this time as a more child-like version. The harmonies and progressions accompanying the theme seem to wonderfully mix elements that would easily be identifiable in Trevor Jones’ scores.

One of the more interesting aspects of the album is how Golub handles the scenes with clips from the more famous movies. On album, one will note the names that obviously reference the films, such as “Into West Side Story,” “Dorothy Opens The Door To Oz,” and others. For the most part it is safe to say that Golub attempts to compose original pieces that showcase very little influence from the original scores. Admittedly, “To Kill A Mockingbird” is probably the most striking and emotional from all of these sequences. On the other hand, “Back To The Future Montage” sounds somewhat more guided by Alan Silvestri’s work and thus, may not be as unique. (Or perhaps I have a hard time hearing any other theme when seeing Back To The Future images).


The use of full and warm orchestrations make this album a very unique listening experience. From the very beginning, it is evident that Golub understands the woodwind section better than most Hollywood composers. For example, the final track, “Final Montage: The Power Of Movies,” is a glorious orchestral piece uniting the main motifs of the whole work. Unquestionably, as a single cue, this will be amongst the best of 2011. And while These Amazing Shadows is a documentary, Golub approaches the project in a more dramatic way; hence allowing him to deliver a graceful and compelling score. At times one may hear as though the City of Prague Symphonic Orchestra does not play the “Hollywood style” as well as the orchestras in Los Angeles, but overall the performances are fantastic. The delightful themes and charming orchestrations make this score one of the most enjoyable releases so far this year.



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