Composing Greatness: #4. Thomas Newman - "American Beauty" (1999)

Scene from American Beauty

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: Thomas Newman

Entry: American Beauty (199)

Collaborators (If Available): N/A

Nomination: Best Original Score (Musical or Comedy)

Did He Win: No

Other Nominees:
-The Red Violin (John Corigliano)*winner
-Angela's Ashes (John Williams)
-The Cider House Rules (Rachel Portman)
-The Talented Mr. Ripley (Gabriel Yared)

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: 4

Oscar Wins: 0

Track List

1. "Dead Already"
2. "Arose"
3. "Power of Denial"
4. "Lunch with the King"
5. "Mental Boy"
6. "Mr. Smarty Pants"
7. "Root Beet"
8. "American Beauty"
9. "Bloodless Freak"
10. "Choking the Bishop"
11. "Weirdest Home"
12. "Structure & Discipline"
13. "Spartanette"
14. "Angela Undress"
15. "Marine"
16. "Walk Home"
17. "Blood Red"
18. "Any Other Name"
19. "Still Dead"

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:

"Dead Already"

Of every score that I've heard from Thomas Newman prior to this column, this is the one that stands out the most. It could be that it sounds different from the John Williams and Danny Elfman types who are more string oriented. Having listened to it another time, the American Beauty score is especially striking thanks to how it uses meditative music to create this serene sense of peace mixed with an ongoing sense of chaos. This opening track perfectly uses Eastern instruments to create a sound that may at first be out of place, but its ambient tone mixes well with the eventual guitar that kicks in and finds something new and innovative within the classical. What is here is a score that explores the chaos of the mind, only ever returning to classical in moments of deep inner thought. It's brilliant in its own way. 

Interesting Standout:

"American Beauty"

This is arguably among Thomas Newman's most recognizable themes in his entire career. For me anyways, I was humming the piano line in my head as I was preparing to do this column. It has a peaceful serenity to it that escapes the vibe of the remaining score. It's because it's the moment of clarity, the one that pulls away from the ambient nature that surrounds it. It's both peaceful and a bit creepy. There's a desire to find the meaning, and it all boils down to a simple piano line. There's a lot to love in this particular score, and this is the one moment that totally strips away the artifice and finds the heart of the thematic melancholy throughout the music and film.

Best Moment:

"Lunch with the King"

Again, this score is an embarrassment of riches and could have applied any number of pieces to the best moment column. However, if there's one track that fits within the theme of the upbeat instrumentation, this is a pretty good example. It's the catchiest, most upbeat number that sees the themes of chaos play through the ambient style in ways that are a lot of fun. Thomas Newman's score is very effective in being both melodic and anti-motif at points that it all becomes a sort of collage of sound. It's a beautiful sound, and one that feels interpretive to the audience. It all depends on what you hear in the chimes banging erratically, but I personally find a lot to enjoy in it.

Did This Deserve an Oscar Nomination?:
Yes

I know that it's controversial, especially given my appreciation for Little Women, but this is the first score that Thomas Newman excelled at and probably should've won. Given the cultural impact of American Beauty in 1999, I have trouble seeing how the music doesn't have an impact on that. I know it has become taboo in recent years, but I think that the music is able to stand on its own as something groundbreaking from a mainstream film composer. This is a wonderful score that plays against the traditional score while highlighting techniques that capture film score's ability to make us feel something deeper. This is a joyous, melancholic score that incorporates different styles in interesting ways, and does it so effectively that it's a bummer that it doesn't have more popularity. I would say it should win the category, but I can't say that I'm familiar with The Red Violin, so that would be unfair to judge. 

Up Next: Road to Perdition (2002) for Best Original Score

Best Theme

A ranking of all themes composed by Rachel Portman.
1. "Dead Already" - American Beauty (1999)
2. "Orchard House" - Little Women (1994)
3. "Shawshank Prison (Stoic Theme)" - The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
4. "End Titles" - Unstrung Heroes (1995)