I will be reviewing the scores to Contagion and Drive.  Both these films were scored by Cliff Martinez, and he has done a wonderful job on both

Contagion

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Contagion presents a dark scenario where the the world’s population is infected with a deadly plague, killing tens of millions of people, and threatening the human race with extinction.  The film revolves around several different characters who are closely and differently involved with this outbreak.  The film ends with an eventual cure for the disease, but only after millions and millions of deaths, and a full year to inoculate the world’s population.

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Cliff Martinez’s score for this film is both effective and appropriate.  Almost completely electronic, its repetitive and driving nature serve to fit the tension and psychological stress conveyed by the film.  The music is often modular and minimalist, almost like a modern sounding Philip Glass.

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The most fascinating element in this score for me is Martinez’s dynamic treatment of the score.  Usually, when the music needs to be quiet, the composer will write quiet music.  And when the music needs to fade in and out, the composer will accomplish this dynamically.  Martinez instead uses EQ and phasing to control the dynamics of his cues.  The shift in EQ has a very subtle psychological effect that could not happen with exclusively dynamic changes in the music.

Drive

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Drive centers around a man who drives car stunts by day, and is a getaway driver for-hire by night.  The main character himself says very little in the film, and we see him navigating the tumultuous waters of a robbery gone-awry, not knowing what to do with the $10,000,000 of someone else’s money.  Aesthetically, the film is a combination of the video games Driver and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

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The music for Drive is very similar to Contagion.  Electronic, modular, minimalist, repetitive.  The first scene is brilliantly underscored by a measure that just repeats and repeats and repeats!  The unflinching nature of the music in this scene serves to illustrate the inner psychology of the driver.  There are several montages in the film that are covered very well by score.

If you haven’t seen either of these films yet, I suggest you do!  At the very least, go see them when they come out on DVD.

Personal Side Note

I got engaged this weekend!

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