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Faith and Film Music - The
Music and The Meaning
 One of my first
experiences with film
music came as an
adolescent, when I
discovered my father's
original soundtrack of
from BEN HUR: A TALE OF
THE CHRIST on LP. I
remember opening the
box-set of records and
somehow knew that these
were special. I blew the
few dust particles that
found there way onto one
of the records (as I had
seen my father do to other
records many times before), placed it down
on the record player and
then gently dropped the
needle down. I remember
some triumphant fanfare
bolting out of our
hi-fi...and...I was
instantly repulsed and
thought, "Why would anyone
buy a record of this?" I
put the record back
quickly and joyfully dove
back into my Saturday
morning cartoons. Despite
my innocent dismissal of
this classic score,
something had
subconsciously been
planted that morning. A
number of years later, I
would recall that record
set being stored away and,
taking a break from
recording mixes of my
favorite 12 inch singles
for a bit, decided it
would be a good idea to
preserve these records on
my new-fangled metal
cassette tapes. I blew the
dust off them again and
then went about recording
each side of each
record...making sure I had
all the proper dolby
switches turned on for my
serious archival work.
Fast forward 20 years and
I don't know what ever
happened to those heavy
cassettes, but I still
have those records.
Of course, The Bible!
There it sits on many-a
nightstand . . .just as
dusty as my father's old
Ben Hur records. At least
one Bible probably sits on
the shelf of every
screenplay author or
studio executive in
Hollywood. The Bible, of
course, makes a great deal
of sense as
movie-material. It is
veritable treasure trove, ranging from epic
stories to
intimate tales of
relationship. Many of these
story-seeds are
full of the two magic
Hollywood ingredients: sex
and violence. Further, the
Bible is public domain, so
no royalties, no
contracts, no one has to
pay a thing for portraying
any of these tales in
whatever manner they so
choose (or will they?). So
too have composers
benefited from such
material. What a platform
from which to unleash an
orchestra for an epic
confrontation or divine
miracle! And that is
exactly what composers did
and continue to do.
The Divine Opportunity
The 1950's and 60's were
the heyday of the biblical
epic, producing some of
the most expansive and
memorable film scores of
the era; however, as
social attitudes and
practices changed...along
with censorship, so did
the type of biblical film
being produced. While the
stories from the Torah or
Old Testament gave plenty
of opportunity for
Hollywood to go crazy with
their budgets, the
principle story of the New
Testament, that of Jesus
Christ, could be
considered less "epic" in
nature (from a studio's
point of view) and so many
of the films based on his
life have been
considerably different.
Not that the studios
didn't try. Both KING OF
KINGS and THE GREATEST
STORY EVER TOLD were large
films centered on the life
of Christ. Each of these
films were also initial
failures, both critically
and at the box office. The
culture was changing and
so the type of biblical
movie and accompanying
score would change along
with it.
The 1970's and 1980's were
beyond the era of the epics and the focus
completed its shift to the
life of Jesus and the "end
times." JESUS CHRIST
SUPERSTAR, JESUS OF
NAZARETH (the
mini-series), and Martin Scorcese's THE LAST
TEMPTATION OF CHRIST were
rare successful
productions. While each of
these garnered a good
share of award
nominations, including an
Oscar nom for JESUS CHRIST
SUPERSTAR for best music,
each also drummed up their
own bit of controversy and
studios began to tail away
from the subject matter.
Still, independently
financed films focusing on
the "end times" of the
world began to increase in
number. The most famous of
which are from the A THIEF
IN THE NIGHT series,
which, in three films,
interpreted some of the
events of the Book of
Revelation. While some
members of the audience
might have been scared
into a measure of faith,
it certainly wasn't due to
those film scores, as they
featured some of the most
gut-wrenchingly bad film
music of all time.
Studio film's based on the
Bible all but faded out
during the 1990s, but the
expanding cable television
networks brought new
opportunities for
smaller-budgeted films and
mini-series to be
produced. One major
exception was the debut
project from a brand new
major Hollywood studio.
Dreamworks SKG's debut
feature film was daring on
two counts: one, they
chose to launch with a
animated feature film, and
two, they chose the story
of the biblical character
of Moses. THE PRINCE OF
EGYPT successfully
launched the studio and
also put the first
successful epic (albeit an
animated one) back on the
big screen. The film's
score and songs by Hans
Zimmer and Steven Schwartz
played more than a minor
role in the film as the
music garnered several
awards and nominations.
Revival
As we've moved into a new
millennium, there seems to
have been somewhat of a
resurgence of films based
on biblical stories. While
there have been a number
of feature films and TV
series that have been well
received, the turning
point would have to be Mel
Gibson's THE PASSION OF
THE CHRIST with its
eclectic score by John
Debney. Since it's
successful release in
2004, the studios have
gone into high-gear. There
are plans for a number of
films in this genre such
as RISEN (a story of the
first Easter), a new
animated film about the
TEN COMMANDMENTS, and a
film (a la 300) which is
to be based on a graphic
novel, WAR IN HEAVEN,
supposedly chronicling the
rebellion of Lucifer.
The Biblical epic may be a
thing of yesteryear, but
indy-film producers and
Hollywood continue to
release feature films
which center around
stories from the Bible.
Just one small step back
reveals that much of
Western society remains
enamored with both the
light and dark, good and
evil sides of religious
experience. While it's far
easier and cheaper to
crank out horror films
based on rickety, religio-babble,
with increasing frequency,
a writer, producer and
director will have enough
courage to take on a
project the retells some
of the most widely known
stories of Western
civilization.
This Tracksounds feature
isn't about the tenets of
any western religion. It
is about the memorable
music attached to some of
the films connected to the
Judeo-Christian tradition.
Regardless of one's
religious background, it
is difficult not to be
moved by Rozsa's themes
for Jesus Christ in BEN
HUR or KING OF KINGS...or
by his Esther/Love theme
from Ben Hur. How can one
not be awe-inspired when
Elmer Bernstein's or Hans
Zimmer's music plays over
the parting of the Red
Sea? Neither is this an
exhaustive list, but a
growing one. As movies of
this nature continue to be
released and feature
noteworthy scores, they
will be added to the list
below. For now, enjoy the
full reviews written by
the Tracksounds staff.
Some are all new while
others have been newly
revised. When you're
finished reading you too
might want to go through
some of those old boxes
stashed away in the
garage, attic, or basement
and see what musical
treasures might lay
beneath a couple layers of
dust!
Select Reviews from the
Last 50 Years of Film
Music
Released by Rhino Records
(1996)
Rating 10/10
Miklos
Rozsa (1907-1995)
fashioned a career--and
subsequent legend--in film
music, by often providing
the grandiose score to
several productions of
epic scope, and while it
seems unfair to label him
“the John Williams of his
time”, that may give some
younger readers an idea of
the strength and
impression of his musical
signature. His career as a
film composer spanned 70
years, a landmark that few
composers have matched.
“BEN-HUR” was written in
the late middle of his
career, already following
previous popular
“sword-and-sandal” epics
of the 1950’s, including
“JULIUS CESEAR” and “QUO
VADIS”. Already showing
that the Biblical epic was
a strong genre for film,
Rozsa would return again
to the genre for 1961’s
“KING OF KINGS”, and
1962’s “SODOM AND
GOMORRAH.”
Read the full review of
Ben Hur
Released by Geffen Records
(2002)
Rating 7/10
Peter
Gabriel is more known for
his eclectic contributions
to pop music and the
creative, innovative
animated videos that would
accompany some of his
biggest hits, notably
“Sledgehammer” and
“Steam”. Gabriel certainly
has a more spiritual side
to his music, however, and
is not afraid to pursuit
it, whether or not it is
perceived as “popular”,
particularly in comparison
to his bigger radio hits.
Read
the full review of
Passion: The Last
Temptation of Christ
Released by Dreamworks
Records (1999)
Rating 9/10
No
small part of the critical
and commercial success of
THE PRINCE OF EGYPT was
the film's award winning
music. A combination of
evocative score and
inspirational vocal
numbers, the soundtrack
helps to carve the film's
highs and lows and propels
the epic story forward. At
the same time, the music
remains an entertaining
stand-alone listen. The
score's backbone is forged
upon a handful of
memorable themes crafted
by Schwartz and Zimmer.
Read
the full review of The
Prince of Egypt
Released (1999)
Rating 6/10
This special release found
in Wal-Mart's special
PRINCE OF EGYPT collectors
package, is a great
release, despite its
feeble six track length.
There are two tracks by
Hans Zimmer not released
on The Prince of Egypt
score CD and one vocal
track which does appear on
the released score. They
are two very important
pieces and equally
enjoyable.
Read
the full review of The
Prince of Egypt
(Collectors Edition)
Released by Angel Records
(2000)
Rating 8/10
In the
Spring of 2000, CBS aired
its mini-series, JESUS:
THE EPIC MINI SERIES,
directed by Roger E.
Young, who has helmed many
other biblical mini-series
such as: MOSES, JOSEPH,
and SOLOMON. Some 21
million viewers watched
this original broadcast
and was one of the
highest-rated series of
the 2000-2001 season. In
2004, in effort to
capitalize on the success
of Mel Gibson's THE
PASSION OF THE CHRIST, the
two-hour, second-half was
re-aired, but to much less
audience interest. The
original series, as it
aired in 2000, was already
trimmed down by 40 minutes
compared to the European
release. This rendition of
the life of Christ covers
all of the main beats of
the story but ads in a
number of contemporary
twists...some of which
certainly tread the line
of orthodoxy and reveal
thought-lines that are
explored much more fully
in films such as THE LAST
TEMPTATION OF CHRIST or
THE DA VINCI CODE.
Read
the full review of Jesus
(The Epic Mini Series)
Released by Varese
Sarabande (2003)
Rating 6/10
THE
GOSPEL OF JOHN, is a
docudrama of the Easter
story. The impression one
gets from the film is that
it is something you might
catch on a
History-of-the-Bible
television special,
perhaps on the Discovery
Channel. The score is
something that you come to
through having seen the
film, or possibly by
chance. I’ll note here
that I happened upon this
album in a retail store a
couple years ago, merely
out of curiosity for the
composer’s work, and I
purchased it based on the
strength of the sound
clips that I heard. The
clips that I heard
included a stirring theme
as well as ethnic-flavored
wind music, and some
female vocals. I’m not
certain what made this
unique from every other
Bible-genre film score
written, except that as an
enthusiast of film music
on the whole, I was
intrigued enough to hear
what Jeff Danna had to
contribute to the genre.
Read
the full review of The
Gospel of John
Released by Sony Classical
(2004)
Rating 8/10
Originally, Mel Gibson
considered having the
final cut of THE PASSION
OF THE CHRIST devoid of
any subtitles or
underscore. But after
realizing these elements
would help move the story
along, he finally decided
on John Debney as his
composer—an intriguing
choice, seeing as how
Debney had written more
comedy scores than
anything else. Many
wondered if Debney could
handle the dramatic
material. As a Catholic,
his heart echoed the
sentiments of the film’s
message, but could he bear
the weight of this
assignment? Would the
burden prove to be too
much?
Read
the full review of The
Passion |
