So anyway, Herr V. and I have had this discussion before (brief as it may be) about Monsieur Jarre (pronounced Zhar-ay FYI) and his, umm...music. We concluded that he basically has 3 or so scores, with about a dozen variations on each. There's the big (occasionally overblown) epic score, the schmaltzy romantic score, and the electronic score. You can basically plug one of these categories into every score he's ever composed...or so I thought.
Enter his score for the 1984 cult comedy flop Top Secret!. VareseSarabande was kind enough to release this little gem as part of their bi-annual CD Club release series. With only a thousand copies in print, it was basically gone within 8 hours of listing on their site. I always check the day they list (at about 2:00 a.m.) just to make sure I get one if it's one I want. If you're interested, they are likely available (read: scalping) at you favorite online retailer or auction house. But I digress...
This is a great score! In the tradition begun with the likes of Airplane! and Ghostbusters, the score plays completely straight against the obsurdity of what's on screen. Listening to it for the 17th time, it's become clear that Mr. Jarre does in fact have fantastic compositional and orchestrational chops. It's also clear however that he's chosen not to use them for the bulk of his long, and famous (or infamous) career! From reading the liner notes, a few things also become clear, first of all, Jarre's got a great sense of humor. Secondly, his English, even after all these years as a Hollywood composer, still sucks! And thirdly, the gag with the "Anal Intruder" has to be one of the single funniest sight gags in the short history of cinema.
I'd say that amongst the "must-have's" of Maurice Jarre, I'd include Lawrence of Arabia (duh), Enemy Mine, Ghost, and most certainly Top Secret!.
2 comments:
Using this same argument, John Barry has only ever written two scores: James Bond and Somewhere in Time, Out of Africa and Dances With Wolves.
I'm not saying they aren't good, they just tend to fall pretty much into these categories.
So, um, yeah...ok.
I guess we're the only two in the group that have a real solid frame of reference to this post...hmph!
I still say we really need to get a top-25 or so all-time scores list going - when we have an extra minute and what not!
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