Customer Reviews

The General's Daughter: Music From The Motion Picture

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Like almost everyone else I too knew I wanted to buy the soundtrack about one minute into the movie. The strange thing is a few weeks ago I was looking for "folk" music and had heard some of the Alan Lomax recordings so I was the only one in my group who came close to identifying the first song. Most of my friends thought it was in a language other than English. It made the movie for me.

If anyone needed to be reminded of the importance music can have on the emotional and contextual impact of a movie, they would only need listen to this soundtrack after seeing the film that inspired it.

An ocean of ink has been used to vilify the sloppy obviousness of the script, the ham-handed direction, and the disservice done in the adaptation of Nelson deMille's military-based thriller. Nearly most of its shortcomings, however, are truly redeemed by a brooding, chilling score by Carter Burwell that is so damn good, it seems like it belongs in another film.

But the watershed moments come courtesy the stylings of Greg Hale Jones, who sampled Library of Congress recordings of Black spirituals, field songs, children's patty-cake style cadences ("She Began To Lie") and mixed them with synthesizer and electronic drum lines that effectively underscore and highlight the film's themes of murder, betrayal, dishonor and retribution so much better than the script; like ghosts from the past of the Deep South that constantly permeate and haunt the lives of its native sons and daughters, and most especially throughout the events that take place in the film.

The result is so memorably effective, you're almost better off listening to it while reading the source material in lieu of watching the movie. Absolutely one of the most underrated scores of the last decade (equalled only by the remarkable RAVENOUS score by Michael Nyman and Damon Albarn.)

I saw "The General's Daughter" at a midnight showing and my companion and I said after two minutes we had to have the music - regardless of whether the movie was good or not. Luckily it was good. I ordered the music (from Amazon of course) when I got home at 5 am. The opening song "She Began To Lie" with its primitive sound and childlike quality was somehow errotic at the same time, and the military-sounding percussion in the background suggested what was to come in the story. The play on words of sea lion/she lying was musically and psychologically ingenious. The rest of the soundtrack is wonderful, too, militaristic, suspenseful, and powerful, but the opening music is what made me want the CD. Not only have I listened to it many times but have talked about it with my friends who have heard it. Great soundtrack.

The re-mix of old folkroots music by Greg Hale Jones is truly inspired. I don't think I've ever been so bowled over by a movie soundtrack before, and I'm definitely going to get my hands on some of those Library of Congress recordings and Alan Lomax Collections soon. Just brilliant!

When I went to see this movie I heard the music and score and I had to have the soundtrack. This is one of the most creative soundtracks I have heard in a long time. I love the use of the old time negro spirtual combined with the synth drums.

Director Simon West coined the term in the liner notes to the soundtrack for his film "The General's Daughter"; southern gothic. The phrase fulfills the images of the sultry, steamy Deep South blending with the native strains of field songs that echo from times past, yet puncuate a very contemporary tale. The director further reveals his choice to move this military opus' sound away from the brass and drums so often played in the genre, and this is achieved to a tremendous effect. The sound first whispers, then screams of Savannah and the Georgia low country. The action-past within the film takes place far away, but Georgia is where the scornful dust has settled. The eerie cries of "Sea Lion Woman" cast a timeless image of young black girls jumping double-dutch under a climate of oppression, while the ageless "Mighty Good Road" sends a chill across the back of the neck as if long-dead field hands or chain gang workers whispered in your ear. The culmination of the film's visceral sound is the coupling of these ancient cadences with Carter Burwell's original score. The composer once again sets the pace for a compelling tale of human darkness, as he did so skillfully in "Miller's Crossing" and "Fargo". The original score and source music are paired as effectively as the film's two Army investigators, played by John Travolta and Madeleine Stowe, and the end result is a compelling and evocative musical compilation.

If you want to listen to a soundtrack that really renders the exact atmosphere of its movie, well, listen to this soundtrack and get it ! The movie is full in emotions and suspense which is well rendered in the soundtrack and especially the first songs ... so typically from the South of America, deep, warm and catching.

I remember sitting in the theatre and being stunned by the opening score, a haunting remix of "Sea Lion Woman." After buying the actual soundtrack, however, I found the album to be somewhat lacking. Perhaps the work songs and spirituals remixed by Greg Hale Jones leave something to be desired without the visual imagery of the film to accompany them. I was also frustrated by the fact that the music seems to take precedence over the beautiful voices. The rest of Carter Burwell's score is interesting, but not as rich as his music for Fargo, Being John Malkovich, and The Spanish Prisoner. If you were drawn in by the folk songs, I recommend purchasing the original Library of Congress recordings and Alan Lomax Collections, which can be found in the "miscellaneous" section of many record stores, and which are beautiful and haunting in their pure, unmixed forms. Finally, a more accessible option might be the album "Play" by Moby, which also features remixes of old spirituals and folk tunes. Moby also synthesizes the music and the folk songs more flawlessly than Jones, whose remixes will seem jarring once you have listened to the original Lomax recordings.

The film was good , but overrated . I watched it in the theater and didn't leave upset ... just for the opening music in it . I went strait to the store , bought this soundtrack and all night was listening to the same song : " She Began to Lie " Christine Shipp . #1 and remix # 20 ( even better ).

This was the first soundtrack that made me wanna run outta the movie and rush to a record store. The way the old-time field-music has been adapted is masterful. This soundtrack truly deserves an Academy Award.