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| The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) promotional material |
Welcome to a weekly column called Theory Thursdays, which will be released every Thursday and discuss my "controversial opinion" related to something relative to the week of release. Sometimes it will be birthdays while others is current events or a new film release. Whatever the case may be, this is a personal defense for why I disagree with the general opinion and hope to convince you of the same. While I don't expect you to be on my side, I do hope for a rational argument. After all, film is a subjective medium and this is merely just a theory that can be proven either way.
Subject: The Girl in the Spider's Web is released in theaters this Friday.
Theory: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) is Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' best score.
As far as franchises go, there's nothing too exceptional about The Girl in the Spider's Web release. Coming seven years after the previous film, it follows the exploits of Lisbeth Salander. What makes the film special isn't that it's only the third iteration of the character (Claire Foy follows Rooney Mara and Noomi Rapace), but that it's the first film to be adapted from source material not written by Stieg Larsson. The author tragically died before he could see his renowned work become international best sellers that altered the course of contemporary crime fiction. The Girl in the Spider's Web is based on the fourth novel in the series, written by David Lagercrantz, and has gotten flack for not understanding the character as well as Larsson did. Of course, few authors could ever capture a character as well as their creator, but as audiences may see this weekend - Lagercrantz's obsession is more with turning Salander into a one-dimensional Jason Bourne-style action hero than a complex woman with a rich internal life.
It only feels right then that this week's Theory Thursday owes some credit to the franchise writ large. The general conversation has thankfully been about which actress played Salander better: Mara or Rapace (soon Foy will dilute the question even more). I think there's a lot of great arguments to have for both of them, whether it be Rapace's ability to mold the role in the original Swedish roles, or how Mara added an intensity and rouge appeal to her fashion sense. I don't think it would be great to dedicate this week's column to parsing between the two. Instead, I thought that I would take a look at the 2011 adaptation from David Fincher, whose film not only adapted it to American audiences so perfectly, but featured one of the greatest marketing campaigns of the modern era. With Mouth Taped Shut, he found ways to tap into the story's antagonistic nature while slowly unveiling details about the film. However, there is some magic that gets ignored, which is the magic of the partnership between Fincher and co-composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
To most audiences, Reznor and Ross' first collaboration with Fincher was the best. In 2010, the duo would earn an Oscar for Best Original Score for their cinematic debut The Social Network. It's hard to argue against this decision. It was a fresh new take on composing that wasn't rooted in classical scoring, even forgoing strings and orchestras altogether. What made it impressive was that for a film about the founding of Facebook, it felt like a digital counterpoint; a mood piece where the score played like a quiet dorm room personified. The electronic touch was quiet, bubbling with energy that would crop up at points in a moody atmosphere. In some ways, it is the point where The Academy began to recognize a modern style of composing that has only become more accepted in the years since. While it's far from the first electronic score, it may be the first prestigious one, and it helped that The Social Network struck a chord with audiences that ushered in the story as well as the music. It was the start of a new iconic partnership, and one that would be tested with their next film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
In a lot of ways, it would seem like the 2011 film was supposed to feel rushed. It's one of the quickest turnarounds for Fincher in his entire career. However, it was the point where Reznor and Ross not only proved themselves as composers, but also created what has unfortunately been overlooked as their masterpiece. It's true that you could suggest that Reznor's work with Nine Inch Nails features some of his best work as well, but as a composer The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a unique and beautiful change of pace. If The Social Network could be seen as a minimalist masterpiece, Reznor and Ross would go for maximalist effect, managing to throw everything into a score that helped to capture the cold procedural nature of Fincher's Sweden. What was even more incredible was that in spite of making a daunting wall-to-wall soundtrack, the album featured even more masterful work. If it wasn't their best work, it was easily their most.
If I had to make the argument however, it was their best. While I will admit a caveat that I haven't listened to all of their scores, especially outside of their work with Fincher, I do have issue thinking that any of them compare to the daunting task of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's three hour score, which expand upon ideas put into place with The Social Network. What is present is a cold atmosphere that is downright experimental. The familiar demon notes kick in to add an uncertainty to the atmosphere before including instrumentation that is unnerving. Tracks like "Orraculum" feature a percussive measure that ends abruptly, but builds with chimes and an atmosphere that feels glossed over by a haze. It's true that some of the tracks have a redundancy to them that may keep this from wholly innovative, but the mix of electronic instruments with elements that sound like ticking clocks and chimes make it all one large look into the mind of these characters. There is something concrete, but it's also vaguely insane.
It's true that because of its length that the entire score is easily their most daunting work. Who has time to listen to that much music at any given time? Even some of the tracks can disappear from memory because of how overwhelming the track list is. However, it is effective in the singular listen, managing to feature tracks that can be enjoyed part and parcel. If the idea of diving into a three hour album is too much, I suggest doing it in small chunks, whether it be one track or merely a third (an hour) of the music. Go until you're feeling overwhelmed. With that said, notice the craft that went into each song. The Social Network plays like a digital ennui, but The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is more of a hybrid of techniques, and makes music that is experimental by nature, but even more suggestive of where film scores can go. Imagine mixing electronic sounds with ambient sounds to create a sense of madness in a cold environment.
While the score would go on to win awards, it didn't get the duo another Oscar nomination. There's a good chance that it was because of the film's reputation for "bombing" in spite of doing decent box office. However, it could just be that the music was always the most daunting part. Each track is a piece of meditative music that veers off into some of the most chaotic music that Fincher's ever set his films to (The Dust Brothers' Fight Club notwithstanding). It's true that no track is immediately as iconic as The Social Network's "Hand Covers Bruise," but the expansive work takes listeners into the mind, and the extent, of Reznor and Ross' creative potential. The advice is to just listen at your leisure and understand each track for what it does. Some of it may be redundant and not as interesting, but as a whole picture it's a great collection of music. There have been tonal scores that feel as interesting as this, such as certain works by Johan Johansson, but the audacity alone makes this a curiosity that shouldn't be denied. Few scores work at only an hour, but Fincher, Reznor, and Ross make that look like chump change here.
It's tough to argue that any of the trio's collaborations are bad. While Gone Girl is maybe the weakest of the three, producing the least interesting melodies, it is done deliberately. The film is meant to embody chaos that hides under a mundanity. The way that the score plays like morose clouds rolling over the listener is pretty effective, even if the package is initially hard to love because of its lack of flair. In some ways, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's music was exorcising everyone of their creative tendencies so that Gone Girl could be "boring." With that said, it's their third different type of score with Fincher, and once again they find ways to explore a thematic style of score that isn't traditional. If nothing else, that's what these collaborators do so powerfully. They play with perceptions of music, and then reinvent it in manners fitting to the tone and visuals of Fincher's work.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as a film is one of the more underrated films of Fincher's career, in part because it doesn't have the immediacy of The Social Network. In fact, it coming a year after that film makes it feel like it never stood a chance at recognition. It's a pulpy epic with violence, corruption, and a chilly interpretation of what a remake should be. However, it also proved that American remakes of iconic world cinema isn't necessarily a pejorative. Fincher knew how to adapt it to a sensibility that was more recognizable to his audience. Even more than the film's underrated quality is the score, which is unlike almost every other score of 2011, and most of the films in the seven years since. Whereas you could argue that The Social Network left more of an obvious stamp on modern film making, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo exists as an indulgent experiment of images and sound that are even more strange, serene, and clever. As The Girl in the Spider's Web comes out (composed by Roque Banos), it's hard to imagine it being as singular as Fincher's vision, or Banos' score as memorable as Reznor and Ross. It may still be good, but the 2011 adaptation proved that there was more than one way to make a crime thriller, and hopefully it will get more credit as it's reassessed over time.
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| Scene from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) |
It only feels right then that this week's Theory Thursday owes some credit to the franchise writ large. The general conversation has thankfully been about which actress played Salander better: Mara or Rapace (soon Foy will dilute the question even more). I think there's a lot of great arguments to have for both of them, whether it be Rapace's ability to mold the role in the original Swedish roles, or how Mara added an intensity and rouge appeal to her fashion sense. I don't think it would be great to dedicate this week's column to parsing between the two. Instead, I thought that I would take a look at the 2011 adaptation from David Fincher, whose film not only adapted it to American audiences so perfectly, but featured one of the greatest marketing campaigns of the modern era. With Mouth Taped Shut, he found ways to tap into the story's antagonistic nature while slowly unveiling details about the film. However, there is some magic that gets ignored, which is the magic of the partnership between Fincher and co-composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
To most audiences, Reznor and Ross' first collaboration with Fincher was the best. In 2010, the duo would earn an Oscar for Best Original Score for their cinematic debut The Social Network. It's hard to argue against this decision. It was a fresh new take on composing that wasn't rooted in classical scoring, even forgoing strings and orchestras altogether. What made it impressive was that for a film about the founding of Facebook, it felt like a digital counterpoint; a mood piece where the score played like a quiet dorm room personified. The electronic touch was quiet, bubbling with energy that would crop up at points in a moody atmosphere. In some ways, it is the point where The Academy began to recognize a modern style of composing that has only become more accepted in the years since. While it's far from the first electronic score, it may be the first prestigious one, and it helped that The Social Network struck a chord with audiences that ushered in the story as well as the music. It was the start of a new iconic partnership, and one that would be tested with their next film, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
In a lot of ways, it would seem like the 2011 film was supposed to feel rushed. It's one of the quickest turnarounds for Fincher in his entire career. However, it was the point where Reznor and Ross not only proved themselves as composers, but also created what has unfortunately been overlooked as their masterpiece. It's true that you could suggest that Reznor's work with Nine Inch Nails features some of his best work as well, but as a composer The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a unique and beautiful change of pace. If The Social Network could be seen as a minimalist masterpiece, Reznor and Ross would go for maximalist effect, managing to throw everything into a score that helped to capture the cold procedural nature of Fincher's Sweden. What was even more incredible was that in spite of making a daunting wall-to-wall soundtrack, the album featured even more masterful work. If it wasn't their best work, it was easily their most.
If I had to make the argument however, it was their best. While I will admit a caveat that I haven't listened to all of their scores, especially outside of their work with Fincher, I do have issue thinking that any of them compare to the daunting task of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's three hour score, which expand upon ideas put into place with The Social Network. What is present is a cold atmosphere that is downright experimental. The familiar demon notes kick in to add an uncertainty to the atmosphere before including instrumentation that is unnerving. Tracks like "Orraculum" feature a percussive measure that ends abruptly, but builds with chimes and an atmosphere that feels glossed over by a haze. It's true that some of the tracks have a redundancy to them that may keep this from wholly innovative, but the mix of electronic instruments with elements that sound like ticking clocks and chimes make it all one large look into the mind of these characters. There is something concrete, but it's also vaguely insane.
It's true that because of its length that the entire score is easily their most daunting work. Who has time to listen to that much music at any given time? Even some of the tracks can disappear from memory because of how overwhelming the track list is. However, it is effective in the singular listen, managing to feature tracks that can be enjoyed part and parcel. If the idea of diving into a three hour album is too much, I suggest doing it in small chunks, whether it be one track or merely a third (an hour) of the music. Go until you're feeling overwhelmed. With that said, notice the craft that went into each song. The Social Network plays like a digital ennui, but The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is more of a hybrid of techniques, and makes music that is experimental by nature, but even more suggestive of where film scores can go. Imagine mixing electronic sounds with ambient sounds to create a sense of madness in a cold environment.
While the score would go on to win awards, it didn't get the duo another Oscar nomination. There's a good chance that it was because of the film's reputation for "bombing" in spite of doing decent box office. However, it could just be that the music was always the most daunting part. Each track is a piece of meditative music that veers off into some of the most chaotic music that Fincher's ever set his films to (The Dust Brothers' Fight Club notwithstanding). It's true that no track is immediately as iconic as The Social Network's "Hand Covers Bruise," but the expansive work takes listeners into the mind, and the extent, of Reznor and Ross' creative potential. The advice is to just listen at your leisure and understand each track for what it does. Some of it may be redundant and not as interesting, but as a whole picture it's a great collection of music. There have been tonal scores that feel as interesting as this, such as certain works by Johan Johansson, but the audacity alone makes this a curiosity that shouldn't be denied. Few scores work at only an hour, but Fincher, Reznor, and Ross make that look like chump change here.
It's tough to argue that any of the trio's collaborations are bad. While Gone Girl is maybe the weakest of the three, producing the least interesting melodies, it is done deliberately. The film is meant to embody chaos that hides under a mundanity. The way that the score plays like morose clouds rolling over the listener is pretty effective, even if the package is initially hard to love because of its lack of flair. In some ways, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo's music was exorcising everyone of their creative tendencies so that Gone Girl could be "boring." With that said, it's their third different type of score with Fincher, and once again they find ways to explore a thematic style of score that isn't traditional. If nothing else, that's what these collaborators do so powerfully. They play with perceptions of music, and then reinvent it in manners fitting to the tone and visuals of Fincher's work.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as a film is one of the more underrated films of Fincher's career, in part because it doesn't have the immediacy of The Social Network. In fact, it coming a year after that film makes it feel like it never stood a chance at recognition. It's a pulpy epic with violence, corruption, and a chilly interpretation of what a remake should be. However, it also proved that American remakes of iconic world cinema isn't necessarily a pejorative. Fincher knew how to adapt it to a sensibility that was more recognizable to his audience. Even more than the film's underrated quality is the score, which is unlike almost every other score of 2011, and most of the films in the seven years since. Whereas you could argue that The Social Network left more of an obvious stamp on modern film making, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo exists as an indulgent experiment of images and sound that are even more strange, serene, and clever. As The Girl in the Spider's Web comes out (composed by Roque Banos), it's hard to imagine it being as singular as Fincher's vision, or Banos' score as memorable as Reznor and Ross. It may still be good, but the 2011 adaptation proved that there was more than one way to make a crime thriller, and hopefully it will get more credit as it's reassessed over time.
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