ClintMansell Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Hollywood, please. Leave The Fountain's soundtrack alone!

Somehow, in the course of my writing, I neglected to ever watch the Frost/Nixon trailer, something now rectified thanks to it being attached to Australia. I was into it right up until a familiar theme started playing ... and then I just felt an inexplicable disgust. I wondered what, exactly, Ron Howard (or whoever at Universal put together the trailer) was thinking. Why on earth would you use The Fountain for that movie? What about the music is appropriate for the mood and story you're trying to convey? (A similar problem plagues Mansell's Lux Aeterna piece from Requiem for a Dream -- for every trailer that uses it beautifully, like The Two Towers, there's one that just cheeses it up, like Babylon A.D.)

I confess, I have a weird, protective feeling towards this soundtrack. It's one of my favorite films and scores, one I listen to constantly. I'm convinced that even if you didn't see the film, or hated it, Clint Mansell's score is music enough to stand on its own -- something few soundtracks really are. Honestly, if you don't own it, put it on your Christmas list -- you won't regret it.

I was remiss in posting this when it popped up via CHUD a few days ago -- but with The Wrestler winning the Golden Lion in Venice this week, it's as good a time as any. The buzz on this film is growing by the second, awards for Darren Aronofsky and Mickey Rourke probably wait in the wings, and all the critics who slammed poor Aronofsky as having lost his way with The Fountain are his number one fans again. (What do you bet that many people are going to change their tune on that film, claiming to have loved it all along? Whatever gets us a Criterion release.) Lacking an official trailer (though undoubtedly, we'll have one soon), here's a glimpse of the film from Venice, along with some commentary from Aronofsky and Rourke. I'm trying to figure out if Rourke is kidding or not ...

Expect more on The Wrestler from our lucky colleagues at TIFF, as the film has its public premiere on Sunday. In the meantime, you can get a preview of Clint Mansell's score over on his official MySpace.