Soundtrack Review: The Other Boleyn Girl by Paul Cantelon (2008)
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This is a review of the motion picture score for The Other Boleyn Girl by Paul Cantelon.
Yesterday I reviewed The Tudors and now it’s time for the review of The Other Boleyn Girl by Paul Cantelon. Who is Paul Cantelon? He is a classical musician who made his debut at the age of 13 at UCLA’s Royce Hall. His solo works consists of classical piano recordings. He has scored for a few movies in the past, including The Diving Bell & the Butterfly. I haven’t heard his music before and I’m sure many of you are in my position. I’m a big fan of The Tudors and since this movie is set in that timeframe, I am looking forward to it. Hopefully the score can get me more excited. Here is the track list of The Other Boleyn Girl:
- Opening Titles
- The Banquet
- Henry Is Hurt
- Henry Returns
- Mary Tends To Henry
- Going To Court
- Mary And Henry
- Anne’s Secret Marriage
- Anne Is Exiled
- Mary Is Pregnant
- Anne Returns
- Anne Charms Henry
- Mary In Labor
- Mary Leaves Court
- My Sweet Lord
- Mary Lies For Anne
- Queen Katherine’s Trial
- Banished
- Anne’s Coronation
- A Baby Girl For Anne
- Henry Wants A Son
- Anne Miscarries
- Anne Conspires
- Anne And George
- Guilty
- The Execution
- Finale
With 27 tracks and total playtime of 1:02:21 it’s a hefty score to put out there. Paul Cantelon has created a score I didn’t expect for this kind of movie. Sometimes it feels like he was composing for a modern thriller, and it’s fair to say I was expecting a little more music from that time period of Henry VIII. This score is very interesting though, because what it has in bucketloads is moods. The songs change all the time, and you can really feel the sadness of certain songs, the drama and the happiness. I haven’t heard that in a long time, and in that area Paul Cantelon shows much promise.
Although The Other Boleyn Girl is interesting, you can’t help feel a little ripped off because this is a chance to shine, and Paul Cantelon didn’t quite take it. Sure, he gave it a good go, but it feels like any other movie when it comes down to it. If you liked the score to Untraceable, you might like this, but in my opinion, it failed on so many levels. For me, the clear winner is The Tudors by Trevor Morris (since I promised a comparison). Listen to The Other Boleyn Girl below:
http://soundtrackgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/boleyn.flv
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Comments
Well, maybe this is one of those movies where the score is present but not really a factor. I hope so as I want this movie to be good.
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Unfortunately, directors don’t seem to take the score to their films as seriously as they should. An example of a score done right, that actually benefits the film, is Conan the Barbarian. God damn is that a good score.
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When you have the time, you can either email me your response or just post it in response to this reply.
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Agreed. Conan The Barbarian is a wonderful score with amazing orchestration. I will send you an email 
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I really want to see this film, it opens in SA soon, mainly just to see how bad it really is. I will listen for the score too, keeping your points in mind.
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Can’t wait for your review!
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I completely agree. I am a big fan of soundtracks and was excited to check out both this and The Tudors. I love the Tudors show and agree that the soundtrack is excellent. However, The Other Boleyn Girl soundtrack falls way short. I was excited to check it out on iTunes, but when I listened to it in its entirety, I found that it did not live up to my expectations. This was a highly hyped movie that didn’t live up to most of its hype either.
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Glad you agree Kt. I did get around to see The Other Boleyn Girl, but it was as bland as the score. It should have been much more. Meanwhile, season 2 on The Tudors is great and I’ve been listening to the music. I think we can all expect an even better score for season two
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This doesn’t bold well for me ever seeing this film.
Film-Book dot Com’s last blog post..Lucy Pinder hosts Television X
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