The movie,
Shaolin, takes place during the early years of
China, when
feuding
warlords, battling to expand their power-base, threw China into chaos.
During this time, the
Shaolin Temple
opened its doors to the wounded. Hao Jie
(Andy Lau), a young military leader, finds refuge at the Shaolin Temple after
his sworn brother Huo Lung betrays him, wiping out his entire family. It is at
the Shaolin Temple that Hao Jie finds inner peace, learning
martial arts
from
the crazy monk known as Wu Dao (Jackie Chan). When Hu Lung brings his army to
bare on the Shaolin Temple, the peaceful monks are forced to take up arms to
protect their beloved temple and the refugees that call the temple their home.
The musical score of
Shaolin was created by French composer
Nicolas Errèra
whose career as a composer and musician began shortly after completing
his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur of Paris and at l’École
Normale de Musique in Paris. Co-founder of two electronic pop bands and host of
the Radio Nova radio show known as The Pudding, Nicolas Errèra has also
composed music for commercials, the
John Malkovich
play
Good Canary
and over
forty scores for both French and international films including
The Butterfly,
Cravate Club, The Over-Eater,
Nocturna, Me Two, Sticky Fingers, Connected
and
XIII the series.
According to Errèra, director
Benny Chan
wanted the score of
Shoalin “to take the point of view of an European composer mixed with
Chinese sonorities.” To that end, Nicolas Errèra combined the
Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra
with several instruments known to the region, such as the
Chinese
erhu
performed by virtuoso Guo Gan. The result is an epic musical score
infused with the beautiful ethnic sounds of China.
I’m a huge fan of the sounds of the Orient and love it when
composers use such the two stringed fiddle known as the erhu, the
dizi
bamboo
flute, the
dagu drum
and more. It gives the music an exotic feel and
successfully deposits the listener into the storyline’s setting, surrounding
them with the sounds of the Orient. The music is infused with orchestral music
that at times is quite sad and at others set with grim determination. These
compositions would fit the film perfectly in scenes where Hao Jie witnesses his
family’s betrayal and in scenes when he is undergoing martial arts training.
The soundtrack of Shaolin is everything I expected it to be
and more. There is an intrinsic beauty in the
music of the Orient
blended with
the sounds of traditional orchestral music. Even the tracks meant to pump the
adrenaline of the listener have an essential beauty that makes the Shaolin
Soundtrack quite a remarkable bit of composition and an album music
aficionados should not miss.
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talonkarrde@g-pop.net.
