Noteworthy Scores And Soundtracks: Hans Zimmer and
James Newton Howard’s The Dark Knight Score
August 26, 2008 at 5:56 am Posted in music Tags: hans zimmer, james newton howard, scores, soundtracks, the dark knight
Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard – Like A Dog Chasing Cars
I’ll let you in on a little secret: I find it almost impossible to write about the music I love. I mean really. Truly. Love. The kind of music I’d shoot someone in the leg for.
I’m not kidding.
Bam. Right in the leg. New patella for Johnny. Blood-spurts and swear words. That kind of music. That kind of love.
Truth be told it’s the only kind that can render me silent.
One listen to this track should explain why: when it comes to music such as this my writing will always come up short. Always, always, always. Period. It isn’t about developing my craft, and it isn’t about distancing myself emotionally. Nothing I could write about The Dark Knight’s score would come close to capturing the magnitude of its effect, the depth of its affect.
It’s tempting, the call to wax poetic about the score’s significance. I could hum about Zimmer’s excellent restraint from the bombast throughout the film’s entirety. I’m even certain, if prompted, that I could supply argument enough to declare The Dark Knight Zimmer’s best score since 2000’s endlessly-aped Gladiator. There also lies temptation to discuss Howard’s fascinating use of percussion. The prevalence of skillfully crafted aural anticipation. Repetition. Thoughtful phrasing. You name it.
A link here. A link there. A jump aboard the “Collaboration Conversation” train. Etc.
But the point of this score, ultimately, — and the beauty of most film scores I consider indescribable, even when, as with this track, they sag somewhat around the middle — is that it makes the audience, and this viewer/listener in particular, feel “like a dog chasing cars.”
It’s a matter of pursuing the unattainable for the sake of the pursuit. To quote Heath Ledger, “I wouldn’t know what to do if I caught one!”
Which is the dilemma I’ve faced these past five weeks: I caught one; it’s called The Dark Knight score by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, and it’s a beautiful, vigorous, devastating display of competence. As is the film.
At the very least I can write an entry about Zimmer and Howard’s work.
At least I can do that.
[Buy The Dark Knight OST]