Hart's War

And so it came to pass that all war movies should be accompanied by solemn and dignified music as the great Williams and even the less great Zimmer had done so brilliantly before. No longer would the march of Goodwin reign on the Rhine, but the strings of Zimmer or Horner would cover every action in music to match the mud covering the cinematic battlefield. Never once would the music step up to more than a brisk trot nor should it enthrall any who listen too carefully. Those who were none too wise in the ways of such things had failed to notice the reason for the success of the mighty bearded one's approach and that solemnity throughout does not a good score make. Alas it was with heavy Hart that the bouncing Portman did fall prey to this terrible syndrome of tedium.

As you might have gathered, Hart's War is none too thrilling. Unlike Zimmer's Thin Red Line or Williams' Saving Private Ryan, Portman's effort is subdued, but unfortunately quite uninteresting. Whereas Williams used plenty of long line melodies and careful orchestration, Portman has unfortunately stuck to the now rather tired combination of strings and woodwinds for the entire length. Almost every track has a rocking motif that while couldn't really be called the main theme, is about the most memorable thing in the entire score. There are melodies, but are generally so non-descript as to pass by without anyone noticing. Unfortunately, the rocking motif rarely changes, it's like Michael Nyman with no imagination. There aren't even any interesting changes in harmony or orchestration.

A few times it lifts itself up a bit, notably Visser Finds Tunnel (tracks names lack 'the' often) where the mood changes to a little more optimism and a quickening tempo starts to increase the interest level. Sadly, by the next track we're back to square one with the original mood. The lack of the rocking motif in the March to Stalag 6A just shows how uninteresting the other material actually is. The score rallies slightly at the end with McNamara Trades His Life which manages to adopt a more interesting tone where the proper main theme actually comes to life (rather ironic given the track title) in a genuinely quite stirring finale. After all the quiet, low string renditions, it finally becomes appealing, although the End Credits return to more plodding 'cellos and dithering clarinets.

I'm inclined to suspect that used sparingly, a score like this would be most effective within the film. The crushingly reverential tone is about right, although I suspect that if every minute is filled with music, it would soon start to drown the film in its own noble intentions. Either way, on CD it's just more than a bit of a yawn. When the rocking motif starts on the piano I half hoped it would break into Where Dreams Are Born from Williams' AI since it's the same interval, but alas Portman's melodies are disappointing and largely unmemorable. For Portman completists only I think.