Mission to Mars

Ennio Morricone is not, in any way, readily associated with science fiction or other space related type films. In fact it's probably the one genre he's never really explored and while this would seem like an ideal chance to try the genre, Mission to Mars is not really a science fiction film, neither is it a docu-drama such as Apollo 13. It seems that De Palma was aiming more for a 2001 style space odyssey to explore the origins of man. The film itself has not met with good reviews and in a fortunately rare occurence, Morricone's music has been roundly panned. In fact many observers have singled the score as almost a reason the film doesn't work. While Mission to Mars is somewhat unusual, I can't honestly believe that its integration to the film is the failure some have said it its.

Whatever the merits of the score in the film, the album is generally an excellent musical experience that actually conjurs up space rather nicely. Having said that, it is neither John Williams style bombast, nor is it spacey sounding synths. In fact the entire thing is perhaps a more mysterious and mystical approach; more akin to Alex North's 2001 than anything else. It is not that the music itself is similar, but rather that the music is taken written from a slightly different point of view. Perhaps the Star Trek concept of the unknown possibilities of human existance would be the easiest way to define angle taken. A Heart Beats in Space does indeed feature a sampled heart beat at the beginning and close of the cue (fortunately not so loud as to be disturbing). However, it is Morricone's gently lilting orchestrations and use of choir that is most striking. The basic material of the cue is simple; an ascending choral motif being the most memorable, but the effect is impressive.

A Martian is one time when, for reasons that are hard to articulate, I feel the score might not work so well. In trying so hard to conjure a sense of awe and inspiration, as well as nobility and grandeur, the music sounds though it should stand alone. With the actors all reacting to a CGI martian, I can imagine that the music might be too overpowering as it stands and perhaps make it seem possibly laughable. If placed in the context of pure music, the approach is sublime, but as film music I am not so sure. The only place where the score doesn't work very well is most prominently in And Afterwards? A skittering synth motif, played against turgid, dissonent choir and goodness knows what else conjurs the right atmosphere, but synth itself is frankly horrible and the fact that it's occasionally mixed rather high doesn't help. The choral arrangement also sounds very much like some of John Williams' Close Encounters more dissonent music.

A Wife Lost has yet another slightly unfortunate encounter with a synthesiser as Morricone has chosen to employ a synth choir, even more irritating given the real choir is available. In fact, the melody that the synth carries would almost certainly have been given a wonderful treatment had Edda Dell'Orso's services been employed. Alas she does not make an appearance in this score. Without doubt the most stirring cue is Where? which picks up the kind of material in A Martian and after a more atonal first half bursts into typical Morricone brass and choir exultation, not dissimilar to The Ecstacy of Gold cue from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. This would probably have been as good a place as any to close the score, but the two final cues bring things to a more subdued close.

The score so confounds expectations that many will be surprised by it, not necessarily for the best. I had to listen to it many times before truly appreciate what Morricone had written. What is perhaps more bizarre is that the first couple of times I didn't know whether I should like it or not. If some of the synth parts had been either mixed differently, or even omitted, it would have been an absolutel top rate score. However, it's just perhaps a little long and does drag ever so slightly on occasion. The lyrical moments have a captivating beauty, even if the thematic material is less striking than Morricone's obviously sweeping style. In reaction to the comments about the score not working in context, the temptation is to say that the score is too good for the film. Fine, until you realise that about 90% of Jerry Goldsmith's entire output has been too good for the film, but he always manages to make it fit in. When such a strong consensus delivers the opinion that the score doesn't fit, then that is perhaps the time to ensure they part company. Whatever the merits of the film might be and the score in the film, the score as music is just about the most original thing to come from such a film in ages. Frankly it shows up scores such as Armageddon as the thin, bland and vacant experiences they are.