By Erin V.

The music created by Bernard Herrmann for such Hitchcock classics as North By Northwest stays in the mind of film and music lovers forever.  I was reminded of this, when earlier this year, Polanski’s The Ghost Writer was released.  And with it, came a wonderful score by Alexandre Desplat, reminiscent of the feel created by North By Northwest yet distinctive on it’s own.

This is part two in a series on what I consider some of the memorable scores of the year so far.  Tune back in next Thursday (August 26th) to find out what I consider to be holding strong in my number one spot currently.

The Ghost Writer is very much a score that complements the movie, although I still like it on it’s own.  It’s a very orchestral score, with lots of little rapid motions throughout rather than overblown crashing to try to elicit suspense.  The themes do utilize frequent ostinato to blend from one to another.  The slight minimalism feel works here as the score gradually evolves as the film goes along.  This evokes the feeling that we are discovering new tones along the way as, in turn, more of the mystery in the story is revealed.

The opening track on the CD ‘The Ghost Writer’ (reprised again as the last) is the theme for the movie, and the orchestral feel is clear.  A drum beat is used here with horns and strings playing the melody before it is taken over by chimes, triggering a haunting, yet beautifully mysterious feel.   These themes are recurrent, shaping both the slower pieces of discovery and the faster pieces of pursuit.  Like the characters in the film, all of the instruments seem to play with each other, mixing themes whilst answering each other – (e.g. track #7).

I think what worked so well about the music, and simply the whole film, is that it’s all based around the one character of The Ghost.  He is our window into the whole story.  We find out things along with him, knowing basically only what he does.  The score very much to me sounds like it is his score – the nagging questions and concerns in his head, trying to sort themselves out.  Besides a sense of suspense, there’s a real curiosity in the music.  The decision to reprise the first track again at the end was an interesting choice, which if you’ve seen the film I think you may get why.  It’s about a journey that has a definite beginning and ending to it.

The Ghost Writer is a film about a man thrown into something that gets him deeper than he wants – or expects – but naturally, he wants to figure it out.  And that’s the feel the score evokes.  The film was great, as was the score, and together, they work perfectly.

Overall, Desplat’s The Ghost Writer score is pretty close (near-tied) on my list to Zimmer’s Inception.  Watch the movie and listen for the score.

The entire CD of The Ghost Writer runs for approximately 45 minutes.

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Tune in next week for part three of this series, where I will profile my favourite soundtrack of the year.

My picks for the scores of the year so far…

3. Click to read my thoughts on Inception – Released on CD Aug. 3rd (Canada), July 13th (USA)

2. The Ghost Writer – Released on CD Mar. 2nd (Canada), Feb. 23rd (USA)

1. Click here for Part 3 ??? – find out Aug. 26th