Customer Reviews

Carlito's Way: Original Motion Picture Score

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Patrick Doyle's score to the 1993 film Calito's Way is easily one of the most emotional scores composed. From the sweeping violins of the main theme to the ten-minute long "Grand Central" finale, this score toys with your emotions in the way only music can.

If you enjoy film scores, or are a fan of orchestral music, I cannot recommend this score enough. Like the film that it accompanies, and the book on which the film is based, this score has been cruelly over looked.

An undiscovered masterpiece - treat yourself.

I am perhaps biased because Carlito's Way is perahps the greatest movie of all time in my opinion, but this musical score is awesome.If you are a fan of this movie then each piece will invoke memories from the first time you sat down to watch this masterpiece!Even if you are not a fan of the movie the music is powerful!This is great to listen to while you sit on your patio and sip on some wine!

If you have seen the film then you will know that its music speaks for its self. If you havent seen the film, well then your eyes & ears have missed a real treat! If there is a more powerfully moving sountrack availible, I've yet to hear it... (Platoon & Jaccobs ladder included)

The score begins and ends with a powerful elegy that encompasses the tragic aspect of this film. It's a string piece, very sad, reminds me of Barber's Adagio for Strings. Up until track 7, the score consists mostly of jazzy lounge music that evokes the seamy nightlife atmosphere that Carlito inhabits. There are also some very lyrical, romantic parts that underscore his love for Gayle. Starting with track 7, the tension builds, leading to a quote from the elegy. Track 8 is a very suspenseful, tight cue that underscores Sean Penn's character getting it between the ribs. Track 9 introduces an exciting ostinato as Penn's character is assassinated, and this ostinato is given a full blown treatment in the very explosive and thrilling cue, track 10, "Grand Central." It's an awesome, 10 minute long, action extravaganza that closely follows the momentum and shifts in tension as Carlito is chased through the subways into Chicago's Grand Central. The ostinato from track 9 is excitingly performed on low brass, while we are treated to a driving French horn triplet lick. The cue resolves with an outburst of brass-punctuated violence and a romantic flourish as Carlito nears his goal, before leading into tragedy and the accompanying elegy.

I was surprised when I read these two credits on the same poster: 'Music By Patrick Doyle' and 'Directed By Brian De Palma'. It's strange that a composer who worked on scores for movies based on Shakespeare's plays works with one of the most interesting -if not the best -directors of the latter half of the 20th century.

Yet the result is one of the most overwhelming and fantastic scores of the 90s. Patrick Doyle begins his composition with an elegy that conveys the tragic life of Carlito Brigante(Al Pacino). The romantic cues 'Carlito and Gail' and 'Where's My Cheesecake?' are truly a great treat from Doyle. Surprisingly, I wasn't expecting the spectacular chase music on 'Grand Central', a track that demonstrates the wide range of music that this British composer can produce. Of course he has written some action notes, but nothing like this one.

This is a remarkable piece of music. One of Patrick Doyle's best.

I think this is one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard. It almost makes you cry! A definate on the essential CD list.