Customer Reviews

The Cell (2000 Film)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you have seen "The Cell" - and liked it, like me - then you probably couldn't help but notice the distinctive music that played throughout. It was stark, it was intense, and it interspersed with the scenes so well, you would think that a great musical soundtrack was normal in real life. This soundtrack is not disappointing. Howard Shore did a fantastic job at orchestrating the music and composing it. My favorite track (as well as my friends') is "The Drowning" because there's some *very* festive clapping going on, and in the scene in which it plays, I can honestly say I thought Catherine and Carl were going to do a little dance...but alas, it didn't happen. So anyways, if you were entranced by the brilliant sounds in the movie, you will not be disappointed by this CD, it's haunting, entertaining, and a great listen. Don't miss out.

Howard Shore is one of the master film composers, because instead of using music to complement the action onscreen, he uses it to remind us what's going on in the heads of the characters during their actions.

Take that approach with a character whose mind is broken, and you have "The Cell." Shore's collaboration with The Master Musicians of Jajouka is chaotic, and you absolutely can't hum along with any of it, but it fits the film. In other reviews, people disagreed with equating Middle-Eastern music with evil. CONTEXT is important: in "Navy Seals," it would be a racist soundtrack. In "The Cell," It augments the mood of disorientation and fantasy central to the plot.

Much of the film takes place inside Stargher's brain, so the score sets us adrift in a terrible place with few melodic anchors. We aren't given a comfortable, reassuring melody until tracks 8 and 19. One drawback is that repetition and long pauses don't transfer well from film to casual listening.

I wouldn't recommend the soundtrack for those seeking catchy, easy-to-remember passages. Also, young children may find the dischord and sudden crescendoes scary. Shore has successfully approximated the sound of fear and rage entwined.

I found it a pity that this inspired effort by Howard Shore went unnoticed by the people who decide Oscar nominations.

Just when film scores are at the lowest point possible with MI:2 and Gladiator, along comes Howard Shore to show that, yes, a film score can be every bit as original and avant-garde as John Cage. (probably a bad example, but he's all that came to mind).

Also, it seems these other reviewers here have forgotten that scenes in a desert might invoke Arab influences, something not politically biased in any way. But, the seeming chaos of the Master Musicians of Jajouka was intended to shock the viewer, and be a preparation of sorts for what is to come. Indeed, in the liner notes, Shore says he had been wanting to write with the Master Musicians for some time.

The following is excerpted from an interview with Howard Shore found at a website called soundtrack.net:

"I notated the score in a way that was very non-Western. I used a kind of notation that's been around for at least 50 years - the Polish avant-garde developed the techniques, but I developed my own manifesto with a way of interpreting the music that I wrote. The music wasn't written in a particularly Western fashion, in terms of bars and staves."

This music is NOT the fluffy norm of most recent film scores, and is rather challenging to listen to. Highly recommended to those who want a challenge; decidedly NOT recommended to those who only like pastoral and lyrical melodies (which Shore is very much capable of).

this is dark,disturbing music that has shore's characteristics through and through!if you liked this film,rent some of david cronenberg's films(howard's been doing his scores exclusivly since '85 or so)and you'll undoubtably be searching for those soundtracks as well!I can't wait for howard's next score for peter jackson's "king kong" remake,and I'm hoping they'll release the score for cronenberg's 2002 masterpiece "spider"soon as well!get this for great halloween music if anything!

This is one of the coolest scores in many years. Howard Shores' use of percussion and dissonant textures is strangely gorgeous. Most know him for his Lord of the Rings music but this is far more inventive and a wild listen.

I feel this is one of Howard Shore's best film scores. However it is not for everyone. It is a very good collaborative venture between Mr Shore and the Attar family. Together these artists have woven a musical palette that is certain to enthrall Shore fans. The running time of the CD is just under sixty minutes.

Howard Shore's "The Cell" is a fantastic score heavy wth Arabic influences. He required the help of the Master Musicians of Jajouka to make it more of a listening experience. Shore isn't exactly a favrite of mine but this CD is the exception. "The Cell", the first track, seemed chaotic and all mixed together with thick orchestrations and the Jajouka Musicians playing their instruments with full force. "Whalen's Infraction" is something kind of strange. "Tide Pool" was a very loud, scary cue but it is one of the best on the album. "Sing a Song of Sixpence" was like "Vital Signs" without the strings playing in between. "The Drowning" is my second favorite track on the album, with the clapping hands as Catherine's mind changed from a paradise with a Virgin Mary look-a-like to something out of a Marilyn Manson video. The pheasant went from white to brown amd foggy at the corners. "Vital Signs" is a great, calm finale to a loud, chaotic score. If it wasn't for this track, the whole CD would have just been very creative noise and well organized clamor. "You Can Find The Feeling" was a waste of space on the CD, but it replaces an end credits cue, which should have been there. Howard Shore isn't one of my favorites but this put him on my radar.

This is difficult to rate. Please note that this score is VERY DIFFERENT from Howard Shore's other work. As noted, it is bombastic and progressive in nature, as if Howard Shore was trying to emulate the work of John Corigliano. If you liked the score to Altered States, this one is a must. If you are looking for scores like Silence of the Lambs, pass it by.

Following the theme of the movie, the soundtrack darks and haunting. Well scored, the sense of darkness of a killers mind seeps out of the tracks, infectiously haunting in its sound. I must applaud the use of middle eastern instruments, which is not common. Overall: excellent music for reading Lord Byron or Poe. Not reccomened for the paranoid. And if your of the daring type, fall asleep with it on but beware of what you dream. Just remeber, its not real.

Howard Shore has written some of the scores that matter the most to me--for Cronenberg, for THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. But his score for THE CELL is bombastic and bludgeoning, a lot of sound and fury passing as music. Dreadful. I hope he finds his way soon. The closest thing to a Bernard Herrmann of our time should do better than this.

david g