Customer Reviews

The Good Thief

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

 

 

"The Good Thief" is the director Neil Jordan's French Riviera caper done to a whole new riff, and its beautiful, eclectic soundtrack echoes its idiosyncratic sensibilities: exotic, elegant, jazzy, and cynically romantic. It is music that transports you to the smoke-filled nightclubs, sleazy alleyways (dutched and glowingly-lit) and midnight highways of Nice and Monte Carlo. Both distinctly French and unapologetically multilingual (English, Arabic, French), like the cultural melting pot that is the film's setting.

Tracks of Elliot Goldenthal's atmospheric and percussion-intense score interlace with ballads (Leonard Cohen's "A Thousand Kisses...", Bono's gorgeously languid "That's Life"), French rock (Johnny Hallyday's "Noir C'est Noir"), and a number of songs from French-North African artists (including Cheb Mami, who collaborated with pop singer Sting in his "Desert Rose"). "Minuit" and "Parisien du Nord" - combining traditional Algerian desert music with Western influences: blues, hip-hip, rock and roll - are probably unlike anything you've ever heard. There's also the cinematic and dreamlike instrumental piece "Flashback", and legend Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin pairing up in the delicious "Je T'aime...Moi Non Plus".

The soundtrack journeys through a dizzying array of musical styles, that all somehow come together in a melting and stylish whole. There are no weak moments. This CD is highly recommended, especially to anyone who enjoyed the movie, or is interested in world music.

The memorable soundtrack to Neil Jordan's 2003 film "The Good Thief" is finally available in the United States, and it doesn't disappoint after 2 years of anticipation. There are 9 instrumental tracks and 7 songs with vocals. The score was composed by Elliot Goldenthal, who won an Academy Award for his score of the 2002 film "Frida". The music is a mixture of North African rhythms and urban jazz, with lyrics in French, Arabic, and English. The CD alternates between vocal and instrumental tracks, which I don't find the most effective presentation. When I put imported the CD to my computer, it arranged the tracks by artist, and it turns out that it is more flattering to Elliot Goldenthal's score to listen to his tracks in succession.

The soundtrack starts off with the rousing Arabic "Minuit" by Cheb Khaled. The next vocal track is the sexy meditation on a gambler's life "A Thousand Kisses", which is thankfully long. Those who have seen the film will remember Leonard Cohen's gravelly voice well. "Verite" by Rachid Taha owes a little to disco, and Cheb Mami & K-Mel's "Parisian du Nord" is a French/Arabic rap. Johnny Hallyday sings "Black is Black" in French: "Noir Est Noir". U2's Bono delivers a nice rendition of "That's Life", popularized by Frank Sinatra.

Elliot Goldenthal's jazz score makes use of homemade instruments -plastic utensils- to create the sound that enhances the film's reserved tone and Nice's underground energy. It's alternately haunting, industrial, lyrical, synthetic, and frenzied. But it is, perhaps ironically, better when not alternated with the vocal tracks. The last track on the CD, "Redemption Rehearsal", is a long sensual piece that touches upon every style in the score along the way. This soundtrack nicely evokes the brooding, grittiness, and glamour of "The Good Thief" and contains some fine examples of world music as well.

I think this is a perfect movie, and I love the soundtrack as well. I especially like Cheb Mami. The only thing I don't like is Jane Birkin's panting - ewww[...].

Every other song on this is just filler music from the movie. It evokes a simmilar mood as the other songs but it is lack luster compared to the other published music on it. I bought it for those songs.