Composing Greatness: #3. Rachel Portman - "Chocolat" (2000)

Scene from Chocolat

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.

Series Composer: Rachel Portman

Entry: Chocolat (2000)

Collaborators (If Available): N/A

Nomination: Best Original Score (Musical or Comedy)

Did She Win: Yes

Other Nominees:
-Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Tan Dun)
-Gladiator (Hans Zimmer)
-Malena (Ennio Morricone)
-The Patriot (John Williams)

Additional Information

This is to help provide perspective of where each composer is in their Oscar-nominated life as it related to the current entry.

Oscar Nomination: 3

Oscar Wins: 1

Track List

1. "Minor Swing"
2. "Main Titles"
3. "The Story of Grandmere"
4. "Vianne Sets Up Shop"
5. "Three Women"
6. "Vianne Confronts the Comte"
7. "Other Possibilities"
8. "Guillaume's Confession"
9. "Passage of Time"
10. "Boycott Immorality"
11. "Party Preparations"
12. "Chocolate Sauce"
13. "Fire"
14. "Vianne Gazes at the River"
15. "Mayan Bowl Breaks"
16. "Taste of Chocolate"
17. "Ashes to the Wind/Roux Returns"
18. "Caravan" 

Note: Listen to 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.

Theme Exploration:

"Main Titles"

The one thing that has been exciting about Rachel Portman's scores over these three nominations is how they have grown and changed. While The Cider House Rules was an excellent score, it's interesting to hear her with a full orchestra giving one of the undoubted best works that I've covered on Composing Greatness. There's a power and emotion in the strings that builds, rhythmically skipping along with a power that is beautiful and tender. She definitely makes a strong case here for how underrated she is as a composer, creating something that holds its own for the entire running time. There's a power to the layers and composition that pops and holds your attention. This is a work of genius, which is odd considering how adequate the film it's accompanying ends up being.

Interesting Standout:

"Vianne Sets Up Shop"

One of the underlying themes that's apparent since the opening track is that there will be a mix of guitar-driven music played in between the beautiful score. What's impressive is how well it works within the larger tapestry. Even then, Portman's ability to make fun and energetic flamenco-style music is a testament to her craft. The percussion is fun and it never feels inauthentic. It has an understanding of what the style of music calls for to be compelling while driving the rhythm forward in meaningful and exciting ways. With all of that said, the closing track "Caravan" is maybe capable of being a standalone song because of how perfectly it orchestrates the bridge and melody.

Best Moment:

"Passage of Time"

It's telling that it was tough to pick a piece of score from this film that is better than the rest, if just because Rachel Portman nails the production of the entire thing. However, this track is indicative of what makes everything on it so wonderful and so engrossing. It's a track that mixes the quieter, somber moments of meditation with the more upbeat shifts in time. There's a whirlwind of energy here that is breathtaking and it is all perfectly paced in ways that only a master composer could achieve. Also considering that the orchestral quality is beautiful, it's great to see a track like this that is also emotional. While there's about five other tracks that were vying for this spot this week, I think that one that encapsulates the styles meshing in meaningful ways is a good sign of why the Chocolat score deserves a lot of love.

Did This Deserve an Oscar Nomination?:
Yes

It's incredible to think that Rachel Portman only got three nominations over less than a decade. It's also great to see how charismatic she was in bringing classical period piece styles into different ways. Even then, Chocolat is quite easily the best of the three here and it's in large part because it does feel like Portman was given a chance to make something in a studio with musicians and a focus that emphasizes her strengths. Here she makes everything count whether it's in the melody, or the way that the strings and win instruments mix, or even the occasional dive into guitar-driven tracks. While she's been generally great, I think this is the most balanced and effective example of what she has to offer as a composer. I only wish that this column could run a little longer, and that there were more female composers to get into. It's still a shame that Portman is the most nominated female composer at three while John Williams has an astounding (and not all of which deserved) 56 nominations. One could hope the new class of Academy voters starts to change that.

Best Theme

A ranking of all themes composed by Rachel Portman.
1. "Main Titles" - Chocolat (2000)
2. "Main Titles" - The Cider House Rules (1999)
3. "Main Titles" - Emma (1996)

Best Winner

A ranking of all winners composed by Rachel Portman
1. Emma (1996) for Best Original Score (Musical or Comedy)

With the end of the Rachel Portman series, it's time to pick another composer. It's tough to pick one, in part because the John Williams column took over a year to complete. However, I am still sticking with the theme of picking composers that I feel rest in his shadow in some capacity. Where Portman was the most nominated female composer, I decided to look at a modern contemporary of Williams who is probably overdue for an Oscar at this point. I'm talking about a composer who has an impressive amount of nominations, but has an abysmal track record when it comes to winning. It was a tough decision, especially given that I felt like considering the almost-as-iconic Hans Zimmer or the 21st century John Williams equivalent in Alexandre Desplat (who would be a lot of fun), but I felt in my heart I had to go with someone else, in part because I've already dabbled with Zimmer and Desplat for this column (and they're both winners).

I am going to dedicate the next column to composer Thomas Newman, who has an excellent 14 nominations to his credit. What I hope to achieve over the course of Newman's column is understand what it is that made him a deserved Oscar nominee to begin with, but also hopefully answer the questions as to why he has never won over the 14 nominations. I'll admit that there's already a few that I feel didn't deserve to even show up (if you're good at research, I've probably discussed it on this blog before), but it's still going to see the evolution of a composer whose work includes The Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, WALL-E, Bridge of Spies and more. So come back in September for the start of the series, which I hope will be productive in understanding Newman's career through awards.