by cine-sin on 9/3/2002
favorite track: 13
 
Being a film score collector is one of the reasons why I want to own a holiday cabin in regional Australia sometime in the near future. A lot of this has to do with wanting to enjoy the great outdoor landscape. Another reason is so that I can have an escape far from the madding crowd of cosmopolitan neighbours - where I can blast my scores to no end.

One of the first off the play list would be Signs. The score is intricate, suspenseful and even atmospheric. It needs to be played loud.

In addressing the Signs detractors who drearily complain about the score's slowness - what the hell is wrong with slow? Seems to fit in with much of the pace of the film, if you ask me.

So as Howard quietly plods along with "Baby Monitor" and "Recruiting Officer," following the entrancing opening cues - we all know this is going to lead to somewhere.

In his review of Unbreakable, James Barry (SoundtrackNet) refers to "Orange Man" as "pulling out all the stops." Similarly, he refers to "Malcom is Dead" (Sixth Sense) as the grand finale. Barry has his finger on the supernatural cinematic/score pulse. Think back to "Empathy" in Christopher Young's The Gift and it's the same methodology.

Shyamalan's male protagonists eventually lead to the point of some form of transcendence - whether it be moralistic, faith, or meeting of the divine otherness. In any case, its a major realisation and the way Shyamalan and Howard offer it to us creates its own force to be reckoned with.

So, as the score spins its cycle, we know we will be lead to the monumental. In terms of Signs, this means the striking "Hands of Fate" cues. So, I say let the cycle be and maybe I'll wake up to circles in my outback garden.