Friday, April 20, 2012

Film Score Friday - Alberto Iglesias - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy


Once again two things have happened. Firstly, there aren't any scores I have access to this week for new films, or at least one's that piqued my interest. Second, I haven't seen this film, although I have been meaning too. The film is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, directed by Tomas Alfredson, and it stars Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, and Colin Firth.

Here's the trailer to the film:


I'm a sucker for spy/detective thrillers, so I myself am a bit surprised I haven't seen this yet, especially since it was Oscar nominated. Regardless, I do plan on seeing it sometime soon since the end of the semester is coming.

Now, onward to the score!

On first impressions, the score reminds me of the soundtrack to the video game L.A. Noire. It has these moody jazzy sections that help set up the time period in the film and bring out the noir film feeling. The entire soundtrack is a bit laid back, yet feels like it's on edge the whole time. There are muted feelings of suspense brought out by the dark tones of the string section, and the use of eerie trumpet solos and piano accents add to that. However, Iglesias does bring in woodwind instrument to warm things up and combat the darker  tones of the trumpets and string sections.

I'll have to judge how it really stands after actually seeing the film, but this score, while really  well done, isn't one you'll really just listen to for the musics sake. It, like many scores, feels purpose driven and made to complement the film and do that only. Which isn't necessarily bad, that is after all what Iglesias was hired to do, it's just nice when a score stands entirely on it's own. I have found though that is it a nice score to put on as background music while writing or working on something.

If you want to hear the score, check it out on Spotify!

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