The Lord of the Score

[Mister Underhill]

That bit about being an “emotional guide” was what jumped out at me too, Bb. My first reaction was to think, “Hmm... if you need the music to tell you how you should feel, something’s wrong.” Upon reflection, though, I think Shore is at least partly right.

A good score is a complex animal. It can set mood, mirror (or set) the pace of a scene or sequence, create tension and suspense, support – or subvert – the on-screen action, and, yes, tell us how we should feel.

It’s certainly a delicate craft. When a score simply repeats what we’re already getting from other elements of the film, or when it tries too hard to make us feel something that just isn’t there, then you have bombast, heavy-handedness, ponderousness.

I think that Shore’s score, like PJ’s direction, does sometimes bludgeon the audience rather than seducing them, but that’s a matter of taste, I guess.