Soundtrack Review: Atonement by Dario Marianelli (2007)
This is a review of the motion picture score for Atonement by Dario Marianelli.
This is part 2 of my 3 part series of Dario Marianelli scores. The score for Atonement won virtually every award this year except the BAFTA. What is it about Atonement that makes it so delicious in the eyes of reviewers and Joe Public? Is it the originality? The competition? The style? The sound? I’ll give you my view in a moment. Here is the track list of Atonement:
1. Briony
2. Robbies Note
3. Two Figures By A Fountain
4. Cee, You and Tea
5. With My Own Eyes
6. Farewell
7. Love Letters
8. The Half Killed
9. Rescue Me
10. Elegy For Dunkirk
11. Come Back
12. Denouement
13. The Cottage On The Beach
14. Atonement
15. Clair De Lune (by Debussy)
Most of the 15 tracks have a nice length to them and total play time is 50:28. Let’s get straight to the point and find out why this score is so much better than every other score last year according to the critics. First of all, it ties greatly in with the movie and the clever use of a typing machine used as a percussion instrument reinforces that perception. Second of all, it is original in a way. You can’t say there have been many scores like Atonement recently. It has a classic feel to it, and perfect timing because everyone was screaming for something “classic” sounding. People are perhaps tired of all the action scores and Media Ventures-like sounding scores coming out.
When I first listened to it, I wasn’t impressed to be honest. As silly as it sounds, this score stand and fall on the typewriter-ish theme and if the typewriter sound annoys you then you might let it affect the whole perception of the score. It feels a little too dramatic for the movie which had its moments, but it hardly got my pulse racing. This score does not feel relaxing and nice like Pride &Prejudice, but definitely more dramatic. It also has 2 parts to it, tracks 1-7 and tracks 8-15. You can really feel a change with the cue “The Half Killed” which is possibly the best cue on the album. I like that cue better than “Elegy for Dunkirk” which is also excellent. Tracks 1-7 feels a little bit like fillers, and my mind goes: “Come on, get on with it…” then track 8 comes and you feel relieved and happy you listened to this score after all. I was perhaps too harsh of this score before, but now I appreciate it. Although not as good as Pride & Prejudice, Dario Marianelli has created a special score. Listen to Atonement below:
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Comments
You’re right about that. Without the score, it wouldn’t be the same. It just goes to show how important music really is in a movie.
Yeah, this was definitely one of the most innovative movie scores of 2007. The typewriter sound tied in nicely to the plot, acting as a unifying motif throughout the film.
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Interestingly, I knew from the trailer that this was going to be an amazing score. Hearing it again is really haunting. It wouldn’t have been the same movie without it. Not even close.
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