feeling a bit nostalgic....curious. i used to be "dzap76". i remember posting a copy of a paper i wrote on Nyman's music. too bad its not on this message board anymore. oh well! anyhow, i believe the music in this film is intentionally intrusive. i don't recall exactly what i wrote, but i believe he structured the score around the various drawings (scenes), with a grand finale. beautiful use of ground bass (to emulate the Baroque style) while using modern instrumentation. i remember the music perfectly complemented the film and served to enhance it. it was meant to be intrusive as the themes Nyman constructed developed along with the characters and the plot. without it, the film would not nearly have been as good. using more "conventional" composition techniques would have been all-and-good, but would have diminished the particular charm of this movie. it is quite experimental to match Greenaway's often abstract approach. ach...enough.
well, i haven't seen this film or heard the soundtrack for a while. but i remember it alternately rocks and is lyrical at times. quite dramatic. i just appreciated the mix of Baroque and Minimalist composition techniques (which--not surprisingly--complement each other....hmmm, perhaps one of Greenaway's themes for the film), and the unique instrumentation (in which Nyman participates himself as a keyboardist). i esp. like the use of saxophones!
"This is pure Kafka."
"Who's Kafka! Tell me!"
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