James Horner - The composer who revived interest in Classical Music through film scores

James Horner’s unnatural death in a plane crash has made the world of music-lovers sadder and poorer. The man has given us some of the most memorable original music scores, creating exhilarating instrumentations that blended the orchestral mastery with Afro-Celt rhythms which stood the test of time in every decade. Much, much before “Titanic”, his film scores in “Balto”, “Aliens” and “Braveheart” topped the charts. But undoubtedly, “Titanic” swelled his fame to near and far, from India to China and music-lovers poured their devotion and dollars to buy this soundtrack like never before. It is still rated the second-most-sold OST of all time. Released in 1997, “Titanic” soundtrack showcased what happens when you make John Williams pour out precise notes into the wild and imaginative soundscapes of Hans Zimmer - the soundtrack had that kind of eclectic mix - it hit the high notes of pure classical music, chorals and celtic sounds, sonorous instruments contrasted with the majestic pianos and percussions rarely used in puritan classical music. Many of the scores used in “Titanic” were re-invoked by the world’s leading Orchestras and composers and re-interpreted for years since 1997. “Back to The Titanic” was another re-introduction by the master composer himself after the stupendous success of the film’s OST. 

What differentiates James Horner from other composers is that he competes with the film director in energising the scenes that forces the director to re-think. Look at the shots of his films like “Braveheart”, “The Mask of Zorro”, “A Beautiful Mind”, “Troy” and “Avatar” and you will understand this obsession and orientation of James Horner to throw all his musical genius into the shots which heighten the director’s cut. This gives energy and impetus to the audiences making them connect better than with other composers. Hollywood’s greatest music composers of the modern era have each established their niche but James Horner is special because he listened to the director but added his own charms of re-interpreting the scene with maximum evocativeness and impact. That sets him apart as a populist composer and a clever composer who knows when to minimise classical overtures and when to highlight new repertoires of music. John Williams is hailed as the greatest music composer of our times - and he has got nominated for the Oscar atleast 45 times (the maximum number of times for any individual after Walt Disney); he has been magnificent in subjugating himself to a George Lucas or a Steven Spielberg in film scores but his box office success has been less consistent than James Horner, should you discount some of Spielberg's collaborations. James Horner rarely got nominated for the Oscars but the few times he got nominated, he went home with one and many of his films outside of “Titanic” and “Avatar” coasted home as blockbusters, perhaps insinuating that his music played a bigger role in the popularity of the film reaching the masses - “Apollo 13”, “A Beautiful Mind”, “Braveheart”, “The Mask of Zorro” etc. There were other talented composers like Michael Kamen and Hans Zimmer but the world had room for only John Williams and James Horner for the top spot. As Hollywood became more success-led, and budgets soared, and music needed neo-classical and Eurasian sensibilities, John Williams lost out to James Horner and Hans Zimmer in getting diverse subjects from gladiatorial themes to animation projects. The new directors are moving on to new music directors and selecting more directors without the baggage of an orchestra conductor or the trappings of an old-world composer, for example, Steven Prince, Trent Reznor. Many of them appear to score unconventional music with new sounds without adherence to sheet music and classical notations but the modern movie world is once again moving away from pure Western Classical music. It takes the grasp of geniuses like James Horner (or John Williams) to get the grooves back to the basics of orchestral beauty blended with vibrant instruments rather than chasing new sounds with impure range of syncretic instruments and technobeats.

With James Horner’s untimely death, an era of music composers who were passionate and committed to resplendent classical music ends. The mantle still falls on the remaining legends like John Williams (who is still a nonpareil Maestro) and folks like Hans Zimmer and Michael Kamen. But James Horner was a trailblazer in fusing divine interpretations for earthly visuals whether it is Jake entering the Na’vi world in “Avatar” or Mel Gibson rising to avenge his enemy’s deeds or those unfathomable waters speaking through the ship moving at a pace that ensured its end in sight. All of us have different choices for James Horner’s top scores because he has collaborated with many directors attempting different flicks. His music will endure this age and forever -because it truly belongs to the ages. R.I.P James Horner. The broad message is clear - Don't save the best for the last, you may go to grave with your best song yet to say, "My heart will go on...". James Horner didn't do that - he may have had many scores uncomposed yet, but he almost died empty by giving his best to the world of music.

Here are my top 5:

Titanic
Braveheart
The Mask of Zorro
A Beautiful Mind
Avatar

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"The Amazing Spiderman" Movie Review (138 Minutes)

“The Amazing Spiderman” comes back with an unfamiliar bang and unhurried charm. Andrew Garfield (remember the skinny guy who played the CFO in Facebook “The Social Network”?) replaces the effable Tobey Maguire, and Emmy Stone replaces Kirsten Dunst. Director Mark Webb seems to love his surname so much that he ought to make a webby film out of it. He has done a pretty decent job of building a credible first take on the Spiderman. It delves on the improbable origins of Peter Parker in the annals of cross-genetics and how Peter’s father helps Dr. Curtis Connors in his research using complicated calculus formulae that go into making alogirithms that alter biologically.

A good deal of time gets spent in establishing how Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) goes on to investigate his roots from adopted father Martin Sheen (always good to see him back in any cameo), meets Dr Curtis Connors, gets bitten by a genetically altered spider and shoots webs at will and walks on walls and jumps from one skyscraper to another in union-jack-red-and-black attire that still looks like an urbane swimming trunk. What can get a spider? A Lizard. And so, the villain Dr.Connors becomes a giant mutant lizard that stomps the streets of New York and pulverizes people and caravans of cars like a Godzilla – most of the stunts between the Spiderman and the giant lizard are nightly in nature. I wonder if this is deliberately done to counter the ensuing next big release of the Summer is Batman’s “The Dark Knight rises”. Nevertheless, the plot moves on to more complex matters – the lizard-man becomes more menacing and engulfing for mankind and our friendly Spiderman gets help from New York Police just in time to thwart Dr.Connor’s dangerous tricks. In between, a decent romance between Andrew Garfield and Emmy Stone that is more prolonged than seen in Spidey movies (without a love triangle).

How Good is the characterization and the performances? To be fair, Andrew Garfield gives a towering performance that will appeal well to the fans of the Marvel Comic character. Early versions of Spiderman starring Tobey Maguire had a genuine likeability about him so it kind of grew on you with an earthy and credulous touch. Present version takes off on the same path of first part of Spiderman released in 2002, takes a long time to establish the family background, the upbringing, and then the accidental transformation of a boy-next-door into discovering the webby instincts. The scenes showing the adhesive nature of the superhero’s hands and feet, and the commanding horsepower of his routine actions resulting in weird consequences like glass-shattering, basket-ball goal-post smashing are eye-popping and well-picturised. Even a simple act of googling his own spidey behavior results in the unraveling of the keyboard letters which is intense and believable. The origins of a superhero and the coming of his age were never shown so fluently in any movie before. Those sequences bind you more the friendliness and acuteness of this character. Most humor is embedded in these initial sequences, afterwards the plot gets thicker and serious with the unbearable tightness of being Spiderman getting to Peter Parker’s head. Character-wise, Martin Sheen, Sally Field and Rhys Ifans (who plays Dr.Connors) play their parts flawlessly. Dr.Connors character lacks texture and depth and definitely comes nowhere close to the swagger of the villain seen in first three Spidey movies. That is the major flaw in this movie – the villain’s characterization lacks substance and enough justification and as if there’s a late realization of this, Director Mark Webb shows him just after the movie’s primary title credits in conversation with another invincible power as to how to betray Spiderman yet again.

How Good is the 3-D Effect? Not that good. Except in one of the final stunts where the giant lizard leaps out of nowhere to browbeat the Spiderman, I could not perceive the third dimension with any telling effect. These days, the camera work in 2-D is so exceptional that one need not wear 3-D glasses to feel you are walking in the air with Spiderman over the nightly skyscrapers of the Manhattan, or “touch” that totempole of an Empire State Building or puke a web on the villain’s face. That’s a bit disappointing. Andrew Garfield, as I said before, has worked his lanky frame to give a unique tilt to the character, almost as incredibly as Tobey Maguire does. I am sure the shutterbags will soon report how Andrew has also done gymnastics, martial arts, weights and high-end cardio to stand out as an agile Spiderman – who needs to move at top velocity, in non-linear fashion, at tangent to gravity, within vertical limits. The effort shows - like one pose where he literally does a Shirshasana.

Is there anything else to rave about? Yes, there is. James Horner- that majestic Music composer – the only stalwart who scored award-winning music on a par with John Williams – has scored memorable BGM. Its on Sony Classical and I am going to own one.

I went with low expectations, having watched all of the three Spidey films. This one was quite watchable with few guffaws and one or two Indian tricks. One is Irrfan Khan – it is quite a forgettable role, I wonder if it can be even called a cameo as memorable as what he did in “Slumdog Millionaire”.

Of course, we Indians cannot match Hollywood in SFX or scripting or storyboarding or marketing of a franchise. The spiderman and other comic heroes will continue to make money. The First Spiderman walked away with $400 million at the Box-Office. In India, it collected Rs.26.2 crs. The second, Rs.33.4 crs and the third, Rs.68 crs. All this, when the Income Tax Officers didn’t adjust the Cost Inflation Index for the four years very high between 2002-2007. And we Indians, we will continue to make films that please us not what the world watches. If they make about Spiders, we will make about houseflies. So be it. As far as “The Amazing Spiderman” goes, the Rupee depreciation is going to assure that with 1000 screens hit with the movie (762 screens for “Avatar”), Hollywood is going to rake it even more. Well done, Mark Webb.

"The Karate Kid" Movie Review

"The Karate Kid" is a charmingly good movie which shows China in a sweet spot as they are in - set in Beijing  with Kungfu and rich culture as backdrop, not GDP-hungry Shanghai. Jackie Chan returns in the remake of the movie with the same title made in 1984. He excels as the Kungfu Master and shows his subtle side with impeccable grace, while child superstar Jaden Smith proves his mettle again and takes his acting talent to new highs with range of emotions. Its an evergreen inspiring plot of growing up years and will be the perfect film to kickstart the academic year for kids. The movie has some breathtaking imagery from China's picturesque locations including The Wall and Wu Dong province. The movie has universal appeal and has the right mix of humor, entertainment, emotions and action sequences with clean narration by Director Harald Zwart. Sure to be a blockbuster. Music is another high for "Titanic" music director James Horner.