Monday, 12 May 2008

• Joshua

  Review: Joshua
  Composed by: Nico Mulhy
  Released by: Moviescore Media
  Year Written: 2007
  Year Released: 2008
  Length: 46:37
  
  This is the first time that I have heard a score by composer Nico Mulhy, a 27-year-old composer. Indeed, "Joshua" was the first major scoring assignment Mr. Mulhy had received. However, he had some genuinely impressive training. For several years, Mulhy was tutored by the likes of Christopher Rouse and John Corgliano ("The Red Violin"). Then Mulhy worked as an assistant to famed composer Philip Glass ("The Illusionist"), and was able to assist Glass in providing music for several feature films. Now Mulhy gets a chance to shine on his own. What are the results?
  
  Well, very impressive, I must say. I wasn't too impressed by "Joshua" as a film, however. The movie plays very much like the type of arthouse horror film it was billed as, providing plenty of intellectual thoughts and ideas but very few scares. Additionally, some of the characters seemed a little bit less the credible. Ultimately, the movie came off as little more than a paranoid experiement. However, Mulhy's score does absolutely everything it was supposed to do, and served as the most genuinely unnerving and mysterious element of the film.
  
  The music starts in a manner that Mulhy refers to as "sun-drenched and idyllic", but I wouldn't go that far. There's certainly an element of tranquility and beauty early on, but more than a small dose of creepy insinuation as well. Mulhy uses very peculiar orchestration and employs a refreshingly unique sound for the score. Plucked strungs, struck pianos, and eerie orchestral sound design slowly creep in around Mulhy's fragile melodic base, offering successful portrait of vulnerable characters being set up for destruction.
  
  The music is very subtle and very complex, Mulhy refrains from jumping too far in any direction. Much like the film itself, a key element of the score is refined restraint. However, unlike the film, Mulhy is able to use this restrained feeling to generate some genuine unease. Consider "The Park", a supposedly happy cue which sounds like the equivalent of a nervous half-smile. Then listen to "Joshua Hiding", where Mulhy employs quietly sinister swells of terror rather than bombastic blasts. It's very impressive writing, and Mulhy demonstrates the kind of maturity that we haven't heard from a composer this young in decades. I'm sure that many will feel Mulhy's talent suggests he should join the likes of Rouse, Adams, Corigliano, and Glass, taking most of his skills to the concert hall. However, I hope that the world of film music finds a place for him, too. Mulhy is a great new talent, and of the few immediately unique voices I've heard in recent years. "Joshua" is a very modern and very engaging film score.
  Rating: ****1/2 (out of five)
  Track Listing:
  1. New Baby (03:03)
  2. Choking (03:19)
  3. A Lot to Say (01:09)
  4. Mummification (01:28)
  5. 47 Days Old (03:36)
  6. The Park (00:50)
  7. Buster (02:03)
  8. Through the Ceiling (02:56)
  9. Hide and Seek (08:56)
  10. 63 Days Old (00:44)
  11. Seth and Apep (01:39)
  12. Home Video (04:48)
  13. Formula (02:54)
  14. Textbook Abuse (01:38)
  15. Joshua Hiding (03:41)
  16. Nobody Will Ever Love You (03:53)

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