Soundtrack Review: She, A Chinese (2010)
Movie Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the motion picture score: She, A Chinese by John Parish.
“She, A Chinese isn’t your average Hollywood score.”
She, A Chinese is an indie movie written and directed by Xiaolu Guo and starring Lu Huang as the main character Li Mei. It is the story of a young woman who escapes from he Chinese Village to travel West, and I mean West, like London West. However she is not long in paradise as entrapment is very much the case in London as well. A limited release all over and not scheduled for USA as of yet this movie might be hard to come by but it has already won a few prices at Hamburg Film Festival for Best Screenplay and a Golden Leopard at Locarno International Film Festival. The soundtrack is being released by Dreamboat Records and the composer is John Parish.
Track List
01. Li Mei (****)
03. Banjo X (****)
04. Li Mei Makes a Break (****)
05. Drone X (**)
06. Li Mei & Brother Qiang (***)
09. Snake at the Docks (****)
10. Spikey’s Place (**)
11. Spikey’s Death (***)
13. Rachid (****)
14. Unseen/Mr. Hunt (****)
15. Li Mei & Rachid (*****)
16. Link X (***)
17. November (****)
John Parish is a British musician and producer best known for his work with singer and songwriter PJ Harvey. He has however worked on many soundtracks including Batman Forver, The Crow: City of Angels and The Sum of All Fears. She, a Chinese is a movie most people have never heard of, but hey we don’t always have to review the famous ones right? I thought it would be fun to do this one since it’s not my usual kind of soundtrack. I had no idea what to expect and that was a perfect starting point.
Not Your Average Hollywood Score
She, A Chinese isn’t your average Hollywood score so let just get that out of your system right away. It’s very much in the alternative section, and I was afraid that I would hate it, but luckily I didn’t. It has a very grunge, indie rock vibe going on closely following Li Mei’s journey through the movie. It felt like a road movie kind of score and made me a believer after the second listen. The first time it was kind of off-putting because I usually don’t listen to this kind of music but it grew on me. Parish has created a very interesting soundscape with lots of guitars that sounds like they been through hell. There’s a very varied mix of instruments, but it’s mainly focused on the guitar.
Li Mei’s journey starts with the title theme ‘Li Mei’ which is mostly a lonely guitar playing describing the character and what she is like. It makes me want to meet her as she sounds kind of twisted, but in a fun way. ‘Rachid’ is another character with a cool guitar theme, but this time more rock style. It’s really hard to describe the sound until you have heard it, so make sure you listen to the sample below. My favorite cue on the score is ‘Li Mei & Rachid’ which is a potent mix of percussion and guitar and it even has a more mainstream theme at the end which doesn’t happen a lot here. It all ends with ‘November’ which is another guitar theme played on a rusty guitar and that’s pretty much it. It’s twisted but fun stuff.
Conclusion
She, A Chinese grew on me as I didn’t like it much the first time. I have come to appreciate it and want to see the movie. John Parish will probably never be a mainstream composer, but this is his style and I applaud him for it. It’s always interesting and fun to take a look at scores not produced in Hollywood and She, A Chinese to be fair would probably not fit in there. I like this, I really do, but I think this is a score for a special time and a special mood.
Listen to She, A Chinese by John Parish below:
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