A Beautiful Minimal Minute

CARTER BURWELL

One of my favorite films is "Barton Fink,"

directed and written by Joel and Ethan Cohen. It's surreal, minimalist plot
and quirky yet gorgeous cinematography never fail to delight me
no matter how many times I see it.

Minimalism, as a modern movement, began with musical composition and fine art 

but has also made it's mark in many of the best films
of the last 40 years. The use of a minimalist score or plot can be used
to heighten tension, bring about an ethereal mood or,
as in the case of this Choen classic,

paint a surreal background that is so delicate 
it borders on the supernatural.

Right from the first few notes
of Carter Burwell's incredible score, the audience
becomes acutely aware that this will be like no other film experience.
The entire screen is filled with an image of ordinary wall paper.
The camera, very slowly zooms into the wall, 
accompanied by an agonizingly slow double bass pizzicato
in a 4 note descending minor scale.
The bass is soon joined by a solo violin line and then a 
slow staccato of 2/4 piano triads. When the full
orchestra enters, it quickly crescendos and we are stunned
by it's equally instantaneous diminuendo.

We're not in Kansas anymore.
In fact, it's as though we've left the planet altogether and entered
some kind of alternate universe where things are never as they seem,
and that wallpaper, covered in a repeating pattern of flames,
with a beautifully dark and mysterious treatment,
takes on an enormous importance that it would never have
in the real world. In this minimalistic, "anti-world," springing from the
imagination of these master artists, we seem to be sure
we will see that wallpaper again.

The scene is the opening credits.
It lasts for only 1 minute, yet is one of the most
excruciatingly beautiful, audio and visual
sensory experiences I have ever had.

Hans Zimmer's Inception Conception

   Whenever I see "Music by Hans Zimmer" in a film's credits, I always know that I'm in for a treat. His work on "The Thin Red Line," "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Night," not only hold their own as pure audio art but are so integrated with the visuals of these films as to become seamless extensions of their cinematic content.

   His collaboration with Christopher Nolan has produced films of dark and powerful beauty but "Inception" has another conceptual aspect to it's musical score that deserves comment.

   Here we experience a film with a complex and sometimes mind-boggling plot that involves flashbacks, flash forwards, dreams, dreams within dreams and even dreams within dreams within dreams. When I saw the film, once again I noticed the closely knit audio visual connection but when listening to the score by itself, I was struck by the simplicity and apparent lack of thematic material. It seemed to be in stark contrast to my recollection of the film which was so kinetic and "activity driven."

   The music seems to be static and reminiscent of some of the works of Arvo Part (Yet Zimmer seems to write with a sledge hammer as compared to Part's writing with a feather.)

   The juxtaposition between a film that seems to go everywhere and a soundtrack that goes nowhere was a brilliant concept that, although you might not think it, makes for another powerful and seamless work of cinematic art.