2007-04-21
What could one expect when hearing of Darren Aronofsky teaming up with Clint Mansell again? Well… the two have left their mark on film, music and in general history with "Requiem For A Dream" and "π" (as well as with their other works individually), so having these two to alongside
Kronos Quartet and uber-post-rock band
Mogwai is bound to be either orgasmic or a sorry flop. Have no fear, "The Fountain" is by all means no flop, orgasmic to its fingertips, and in some way even surpasses the ambience created in the aforementioned "Requiem For A Dream" soundtrack. As for the movie, the third by Aronofsky so far – I'd have to see it first, for "Requiem..." is a pretty tough competitor.
This is not a Mogwai album nor one of those "String Quartet tribute" albums, but rather an exploration written by Clint, inspired by and incorporated within the storyline, with the kind help of both Kronos Quartet (a renowned string quartet who've worked with various artists from various genres including folk, experimental, jazz, classical and electronic music) and Mogwai. The score was written throughout the film's production, in opposed to the usual way of doing it in the post-production process, and was initially meant to be done as a percussion-only piece, later it was to incorporate David Bowie in some of the songs, and even went as far as assigning
Antony And The Johnsons frontman Antony Hegarty for the ending song "Together we will live forever", ultimately replacing him with pianist and orchestrator Randy Kerber.
Much like in "Requiem For a Dream", Mansell develops his themes from the very opening ("The Last Man") and uses, deconstructs and reconstructs them throughout the journey. The soundtrack as a whole is built much like a three-act theater play, in sync to the three time periods in the movie (from the 16th century to modern days to the 26th century), so its minimalist string beginning teases the senses, while follower "Holy Dread!" slowly surrounds you with tension, luring you in with eerie ambient effects, low frequency cello drones and swelling, almost tribal drumbeats up to the point where the actual tribe jumps on you out of the darkness - both Mogwai with lengthy guitar tremolos strums and repetitive beats on drums, and Kronos quartet with harmonic and disharmonic whiffs seize you, unnoticing "Tree Of Life" has already started, deep in the haze of guitars, strings, keyboards, synthesizers and your innocent mind caught between the stimulations.
"Stay with me" opens as if just coming out of a dream, not exactly remembering who was chasing you and why you were running, leading into "Death Is A Disease" with its slightly haunting presence developing and developing with no highlight, but rather ebbing into "Xibalba" (the underworld in Mayan mythology); a mournful track, so beautiful yet so bleak, causing thoughts of personal loss with each violin note and ultimately putting the whole story in risk of ending there, with death.
"First Snow", "Finish It" and "Death Is The Road To Awe" all reprise the themes shown previously, as if injecting adrenaline straight into the heart of the protagonist's dying love, going through highlight after highlight, putting breath back into the dying one and taking your own at the same time, vigorously ending the story, leaving just enough space for an epilogue – "Together We Will Live Forever" – to finish with Randy Kerber's piano, reflecting while the curtain descends and your eyes slowly get used to the lights.
Clint Mansell couldn't have chosen better partners to perform his haunting pieces; having worked with Kronos quartet before certainly shows, as he manages to get them to present deep feeling and inner thoughts in such a natural order. Mogwai, as influential and significant as they may be, don't take over but rather overlaps with Kronos, completing the whole concept of "The Fountain".
"The Fountain", in the unavoidable comparison to "Requiem For A Dream", manages to elevate from "Requiem…" by working just as well out of the context of the film as in its context, marking Mansell as a great modern composer with a distinctive style and a promising future complimenting Aronofsky's stunning work.
Ofer Vayner
