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2001 - North vs. Kubrick
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Topic: 2001 - North vs. Kubrick
Kevin
OscarŪ Winner
I've been in the debate over Alex North's score to 2001 for a while, and I'd like to throw out some comments here to get other's opnions.
Which score would have worked better for "2001" I really don't think you can get an accurate representation without bias towards Kubrick's choice.I've had the same conversation with some friends of mine who love the movie (and all think it's probably the best movie of it's type). Even though we all have North's score, and think it's wonderful (and wish we could have heard what he would have done with the rest of the film), it's hard to say whether it's "better" than the music Kubrick chose.
Why? Because we're so familiar with the movie as it stands. It's hard to divorce yourself from what has been "familiar" for these 30 years and put something in it's place. Imagine a lost score to "Jaws" or "North by Northwest?" We are so used to the music we have come to know so well, it's nearly impossible to imagine a movie with different music. The music we've hear all these years just "fits."
While I see what the beauty of North's score is, and can't help but wonder what the movie would be like with his score, I can't get out of my head the images and music of what I've seen all these years. I've gone as far as running the movie without sound and playing the North score to see what it would do for the movie. Since the timings are off due to the edited version of the film, it doesn't quite match up. But it is darn good.
"2001" is a classic movie. A great movie. Would it be better or worse with a different score? I don't think anyone could tell. Obviously it would give the movie a different "feel," but would it change the movie? This is something that can (and will) be debated for a long time.
(This is part of an old e-amil I sent to FSM. I'd like to get people's feelings on this)
Kevin
NP - Rush (Clapton)
posted 04-14-1999 07:37 PM PT (US) S Smith
unregistered
I've made reference to this before, but in a different light; that light being the shoddy way Kubrick treated North over the whole thing.As to whether or not it'd be a better film, that's probably all subjective. I really like the North score. I think it's excellent. The only way we could tell for SURE would be to have the film re-scored with North's music.
posted 04-14-1999 09:17 PM PT (US) SFT
OscarŪ Winner
You have a point there Kevin. It is hard to imagine "2001" with another score, even if it is Northīs. But it has allways been like that, I think. Can any of you honestly imagine STARWARS without Williamīs score or PSYCHO without Herrmannīs score? I donīt think so. Any other composer could have written these scores, and we would still be saying that no one could have done a better job. (I must say though, that I find it VERY hard to imagine anyone doing a better job on BATMAN than Elfman did, even if i still have this in mind).Speeking of "lost scores" how about Bernard Herrmannīs TORN CURTAIN? I really think itīs much better than John Addisonīs. It would have given the movie a much higher level of intensity, and I think it was a BIG mistake Hichcock made when he fired Herrmann from the project.
SFT
NP: Darkman, Danny Elfman
[This message has been edited by SFT (edited 04-15-99).]
posted 04-15-1999 02:23 PM PT (US) Gae
OscarŪ Winner
SFT, It was no mistake that Hitchcock sacked Herrmann. I wrote my thesis on the Psycho score and apparently by the time they got round to filming "Torn Curtain" Hitch was worried that Herrmann was getting more famous and more attention than he was. He started making demands on Herrmann to write a more commercially sounding score, undermining Herrmann's artistic integrity. I've Heard some of Addisons score and although he's a fine composer the music I heard sounded too light-hearted,almost comical. Interestingly there was a Documentary on Herrmann where they projected his score onto the knife stabbing scene which had no music written for it....wow, what a difference it made to the whole suspense and atmosphere. Without any music the scene was rather lame (and this is what Hitch wanted!!). If it wasn't for Herrmann's suggestion "The Shower scene" in "Psycho" would have also been left unscored. Can you imagine that? Gae
posted 04-15-1999 06:19 PM PT (US) Old Infopop Software by UBB