|
|
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Horner Score Worth Taking Your Chances On, 19 May 2004
For starters, this score was nominated for Best Original Score, one of four of Horner's work in the last quarter of 2003 (the others being The Missing, Radio and Beyond Borders). Which in a way is surprising - this is almost certainly the quietest score of the year.House Of Sand And Fog is a film based on the Oprah Winfrey-endorsed novel by Andre Dubus III about the lives of a woman who was evicted from her home and the subsequent owners, an Iranian family, both claiming that it is an absolute necessity for them to live in the house, and the resulting dramatic conflicts that occur. It is a relatively low budget film - though having a powerful cast including Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Conelly - which explains the minimalistic nature of the score. The score is pretty much themeless, but contains a lot of atmospheric music (someone remarked that at one point he couldn't differentiate between this score and Lisa Gerrard's Whale Rider), mostly by piano or synths, and sometimes strings. There is no action scoring, weird music, cheerful fanfare or anything like that - just pure drama scoring. Perhaps because of this, this is more a functional score, one that works in the film very well, rather than one that is enjoyable on the album. However, for Horner fans, this soundtrack shows a side of Horner that one has not really seen before. Usually in his scores even when quiet you could hear layers of strings in the background. Instead, we see Horner perfecting the slow, quiet, careful piano taps he first utilised in The Four Feathers. It is perhaps not the easiest soundtrack you can just pop into the player to listen for 70 minutes, but it is definitely a pleasant experience.
|
