O

O is an updated version of Shakespeare's Othello, which has proved a popular adaptation. Having said all that, I don't think it got very wide distribution or attention despite a strong cast including Josh Hartnett - apparently far better here than in Pearl Harbour - and Julia Stiles. The film apparently made extensive use of rap and rock songs, so Danna's job was to patch the dramatic gaps. However, unlike similar style scores such as David Arnold's Baby Boy, Danna manages slightly longer cues, albeit not writing in quite the same kind of contemporary style.
The main theme is introduced in Hawk and if it doesn't directly suggest, it does at least owe some debt to Thomas Newman as well as Howard Shore in long drawn out adagio mode. Danna has taken the unusual step of performing music with modern harmonic language on medieval instruments such as the Vielle, Bass Viol and Hurdy Gurdy, but at the same time mixed with more contemporary instruments. The major thematic material is most effective when it's playing and the instrumentation quite wonderful, although even after several listens, I'd still be hard pushed to recall any of it specifically.

It would be wrong to call it mood music, or at least the implications which tend to go with such a comment. However, the string writing tends to ebb and flow rather than follow any strong melodic route, although the dramatic sense is excellent and is no doubt very strong within the film itself. I can well imagine it playing in counterpoint to Shakespeare's dialogue very effectively, much like Patrick Doyle's terrific Hamlet, although Doyle's melodic material is much more bold than Danna's. Difficult to recommend simply because it doesn't provide the listener with much more than shades of orchestral colour and interesting and inspired though it often is, isn't quite enough to sustain interest or inspire repeat listens.