Public Enemies (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2009 film Public Enemies directed by Michael Mann. The soundtrack was released under the Decca Records label on June 30, 2009, featuring original score composed by Elliot Goldenthal and licensed music from the 1930s and 1940s. The album received positive reviews from critics.
Elliot Goldenthal composed the film score in his second collaboration with Mann after Heat (1995).[1] As Mann talked about Billie Holiday's from the onset, Goldenthal and Mann "sifted through tons and tons of American blues" even before the former began writing music. This "freed [him] from doing two jobs—writing the source music and dramatic music at the same time". Goldenthal wrote dramatic music which did not necessarily sound like 1931 or 1933 but crosses various times. Unlike Heat, that had utilized electronics and processed sounds due to its contemporary setting, the score for Public Enemies had to sound acoustic, as the use of electronics or synth sounds make it inappropriate.[2] For the most part, Goldenthal approached it with a classical symphony score, that was reminiscent of George Gershwin's and Ludwig van Beethoven's musical style.[3][4]
Goldenthal commented that Mann "doesn't like too many twists and turns in the music's structure. He really responds to things that evolve very, very slowly. He wants music that the images, the edits, the dialogue can float above without it corresponding too much."[5] He considered Mann's collaboration was highly iterative with the latter often suggesting unexpected musical ideas and Goldenthal responding with a range of musical textures and approaches. The score featured a mix of orchestral instruments, jazz ensembles and ethnic instruments to enhance the sonic palette and atmosphere.[4]
Goldenthal wanted to describe the complexity of John Dillinger through music, exploring his inner turmoil and gregariousness. Musically, Goldenthal considered it as a reaction to how Americans perceive him. As Dillinger moves from one prison to another, "the music starts off with a moody sense of captivity and then goes into a sense of almost exhilaration" and Goldenthal wanted the audience to react to Dillinger as a "homespun, Robin Hood-type figure". The collision between Dillinger and the type of criminals that did not want to be really noticed, affected the music. Another important cue is Dillinger's death, where Goldenthal wanted to build that in a sense of an edifice in a city that made him an icon in the American fabric. FBI agent Melvin Purvis was described it a "patrician-type" where he was a good cop but forced to do things under the government stamp, while Baby Face Nelson was a bad criminal, and the "regal thing came out of the nobility good winning over evil at that point."[5]
Reception
Steve Leggett of AllMusic wrote "Some soundtrack albums work all on their own apart from the film they were assembled to support, and some, of course, don't work so well stripped of the visual association. This one, thankfully, is haunting and memorable all on its own, flowing with it's[sic] own pacing and telling its own story, ending, in this case, in darkness and tears and Johnson's otherworldly slide guitar."[6] Landon Palmer of Film School Rejects wrote "Perhaps most jarring, however, is Elliot Goldenthal’s score, which has moments of immense power, but comes and goes awkwardly and abruptly, taking one out of the experience of watching the film and making some scenes lose their intended emotional weight."[7]Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote "There is a surging, sombre orchestral score by Elliot Goldenthal which channels the spirit of Bernard Herrmann's music for Taxi Driver."[8]
Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote "Elliot Goldenthal’s brooding score combines with period music to create an effectively eclectic soundtrack."[9] Bernard Hemingway of Cinephilia described it as "a score that resonates richly with the narrative’s themes."[10] Trevor Johnston of Time Out wrote "Elliot Goldenthal’s orchestral score strikes up to suggest some tragedy unfolding, but we’re just not swept up in it".[11] Jonathan Romney of The Independent called it a "routinely lush score".[12] Anne Thompson of IndieWire wrote "Elliot Goldenthal’s jazz-inflected score works to pump things up".[13]
Music editor – Bob Badami, Chris Brooks, Curtis Roush, Katrina Schiller, Philip Tallman, Steve Durkee
Executive producer – Bryan Carroll, Kathy Nelson
Music coordination – Jules Cazedessus, Shinnosuke Miyazawa, Angie Teo
Music preparation – Eric Stonerook, Mark Baechle
Orchestra
Conductor – Jonathan Sheffer
Orchestrators – Elliot Goldenthal, Robert Elhai
Additional orchestration – Bruce Fowler, Jeff Toine, Angie Teo
Instrumentalists
Baritone saxophone – Greg Huckins
Bass – Ann Atkinson, Bruce Morgenthaler, Chris Kollgaard, Francis Wu, Mike Valerio, Nico Abondolo
Bassoon – Ken Munday, Rose Corrigan
Cello – Andrew Shulman, Cecilia Tsan, Tina Soule, Chris Ermacoff, Dennis Karmazyn, Jen Kuhn, Larry Corbett, Stephanie Fife, Tim Landauer
Clarinet – Charles Boito, Gary Gray
Flute – Dan Higgins, Steve Kujala
Harp – Katie Kirkpatrick
Horn – Brad Warnaar, Brian O'Connor, Dan Kelley, David Duke, Jim Thatcher, Kristy Morrell, Steve Becknell
Oboe – Chris Bleth
Percussion – Bob Zimmitti, Dan Greco, Ray Frisby
Piano – Bryan Pezzone
Timpani – Greg Goodall
Trombone – Bill Reichenbach, Charlie Loper, Phil Teele, Steve Holtman
Trumpet – Malcolm McNab, Rick Baptist
Tuba – Doug Tornquist
Viola – Andrew Duckles, Brian Dembow, David Walther, Matt Funes, Roland Kato, Shawn Mann, Thomas Diener, Vickie Miskolczy
Violin – Alan Grunfeld, Ana Landauer, Bruce Dukov, Darius Campo, Dave Ewart, Endre Granat, Eric Hosler, Eun Me Ahn, Helen Nightingale, Jackie Brand, Joel Derouin, Josefina Vergara, Julie Gigante, Kevin Connolly, Liane Mautner, Lily Ho Chen, Marc Sazer, Natalie Leggett, Neel Hammond, Phil Levy, Richard Altenbach, Roberto Cani, Roger Wilkie, Songa Lee, Tammy Hatwan, Tereza Stanislav, Tiffany Yi Hu
Management
A & R direction for Decca Label Group – Brian Drutman
Album direction for Universal Pictures – David Buntz
Chairman, Decca Label Group – Chris Roberts
Director of scoring for Universal Pictures – Tiffany Jones
Executive in charge of music for Universal Pictures – Harry Garfield, Kathy Nelson
Music business affairs For Decca Label Group – Sheryl Gold
Music business affairs for Universal Pictures – Phil Cohen
Music consultant – Aran Mann, Becca Mann, Fred Sokolow, Jessie Mann, Kurt Mangum, Patrick Ferris, Zach Cowie
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
