by Lancelot on 11/24/2001
 
Deceptively beautiful is Randy Edelman's striking score for director Alan Parker's 1990 film about Japanese internment in the United States during World War II.

There is no mistaking the primary reason a score collector/aficionado would want this CD in their library: the powerful and terrifying "Fire in a Brooklyn Theater," one of the strongest cues in a virtually inestimable line of music cues in history.

Not to deny the score that value, however, the remainder of the score is a moving experience in itself. The theme as heard in "...Brooklyn Theater" is varied in its intensity throughout the score. The main theme, opening and closing the disc, is almost timid in its romanticism. The tender love theme is crafted delicately with the piano, as Edelman does so well on many occasions.

However, what some might attribute as the detraction of this CD -- and you knew there would be one -- is the smattering of '40s period songs perfomed rather capably by Japanese vocalists. As these song cues break up the score internally, some of the emotion of the stand-alone score is interrupted. However, to let the presence of these songs come between experiencing and enjoying this score would be a regretful loss.