Composing Greatness: #18. The Freshman Class of the 2010's - "Joker" (2019)

Scene from Joker

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.

*NOTE: Also part of the Oscars 2020 Edition series

Series Composer: Hildur Guonadottir

Entry: Joker (2019)

Collaborators (If Available): N/A

Nomination: Best Original Score

Other Nominees:
-Marriage Story (Randy Newman)
-Little Women (Alexandre Desplat)
-1917 (Thomas Newman)
-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (John Williams)

Track Listing

1. "Hoyt's Office"
2. "Defeated Clown"
3. "Following Sophie"
4. "Penny in the Hospital"
5. "Young Penny"
6. "Meeting Bruce Wayne"
7. "Hiding in the Fridge"
8. "A Bad Comedian"
9. "Arthur Comes to Sophie"
10. "Looking for Answers"
11. "Penny Taken to the Hospital"
12. "Subway"
13. "Bathroom Dance"
14. "Learning How to Act Normal"
15. "Confession"
16. "Escape from the Train"
17. "Call Me Joker"

Note: Listen to the score here.

Exploring the Music

The area of the column where I will explore the music in as much detail as I see fit for each entry.

What's So Great About It?

Not since Johan Johansson's Sicario score has there been a score as moody and fraught with tension as this. What makes it twice as effective is the way that these strings slowly linger,  like the synapses in Arthur's brain as he tries to hold onto sanity. The way that things fall into the foreground feels like a journey into his mind, making us understand him on a musical level that is something haunting and others beautiful. It's one of those powerful pieces of music that overwhelms with its power in classical music while still being one of the most post-modern nominees in the entire decade. What it lacks in conventional rhythm, it makes up for in an atmosphere that captures the sense of mental disarray better than just about any other composition on this list. It's arguably one of the best superhero scores of the decade outside of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as well. 

What's So Bad About It?

Like Marriage Story, there's something a bit disappointing about a score that comes up a bit short. There's not a lot to go off on this score as it's not even 45 minutes long. While it uses every minute to its fullest effect,  it doesn't give enough time for the average track to resonate, meaning that these motifs are gone before they get to sink their teeth into the ambiance. Also, the cello is low enough that at times it's hard to hear and some melodies could be lost in that process. It's a good score, but those who don't like the droning sound of a cello may find plenty to dislike about this. 

Did This Deserve an Oscar Nomination?:
Yes

If anything can be suggested by the back-to-back nomination of superhero scores Black Panther and Joker, it's that there's so much room for personality in this genre. Whereas it feels like most follow a generic pallet, Hildur Guonadottir's choice to make the music queasy and insular is an inspired choice that elevates the scenery from pulpy knock-off to something more poetic and tragic. It's one of many first-timer scores that should've been nominated this year and makes one hope that Guonadottir comes back with work that's even more powerful, possibly even rivaling the string-heavy magic of Mica Levi. That is the one flaw about the Freshman Class of the 2010's. While they're mostly great, only three have had multiple nominations. It's early yet for some, but one can hope with a group this interesting that the 2020s produce something even more profound and strange. Joker feels like it's ushering in that era of new composers who dabble in classical with brilliant approaches that have yet to be seen.

Up Next: I return with a new series sometime later in 2020

Best Theme

A ranking of all themes composed by The Freshman Class of the 2010's.

1. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross: "Hand Covers Bruise" - The Social Network (2010)
2. John Powell: "This is Berk" - How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
3. Mica Levi: "Intro" - Jackie (2016)
4. Jonny Greenwood - Phantom Thread (2017)
5. Nicholas Britell: "Eden (Harlem") -  If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
6. Ludwig Goransson: "Wakanda Origins" - Black Panther (2018)
7. Hildur Guonadottir: "Hoyt's Office" - Joker (2019)
8. Johan Johannsson: "Cambridge, 1963" - The Theory of Everything (2014)
9. Mychael Danna: "Piscine Molitar Patel" - Life of Pi (2012)
10. Will Butler & Owen Pallett: "Sleepwalker" - Her (2013)
11. Gary Yershon: "Mr. Turner" - Mr. Turner (2014)
12. Ludovic Bource: "The Artist Overture" - The Artist (2011)
13. Justin Hurwitz: "Mia Gets Home" - La La Land (2016)
14. Johan Johannsson: "The Armored Vehicle" - Sicario (2015)
15. Terrence Blanchard: "Gone With the Wind" - BlacKkKlansman (2018)
16. Nicholas Britell: "Little's Theme" - Moonlight (2016)
17. Hauschka & Dustin O'Halloran: "Train" - Lion (2016)
18. Steven Price: "Above Earth" - Gravity (2013)

Rank the Nominees

A ranking of the nominees for Best Original Score as part of the Oscars 2020 Edition series.

1. Thomas Newman - 1917
2. Alexandre Desplat - Little Women
3. Hildur Guonadottir - Joker
4. Randy Newman - Marriage Story
5. John Williams - Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker