V for Vendetta: Music From The Motion Picture
Hot off two critical successes (Pride & PrejudiceandThe Brothers Grimm), Dario Marianelli went all dark and moody with his score for James McTeigue's dystopian thrillerV for Vendetta. Marianelli occasionally bursts out with powerful cues such as "Governments Should Be Afraid of Their People," but he mostly focuses on building a sense of pervasive dread and growing tension. Interspersed among his cues are three songs which in the film are part of V's personal jukebox of "forbidden" tunes; all three are intimate and lovely, and it's striking to see how well contemporary artists like Cat Power and Antony & the Johnsons sit next to Julie London's 1950s croon. Finally, many viewers of the movie have been struck by the powerful setting of the final scene to Tchaikovsky's memorable 1812 Overture. It's hard not to be. That piece is actually incorporated in "Knives and Bullets (and Cannons Too)"; the track starts with a nice-enough dramatic build-up by Marianelli, but when the overture (originally written to celebrate the Russian victory against Napoleon's troops) comes in, marking the disc's final two minutes, its sheer power and grandiose bravura make everything that preceded sound diffident.--Elisabeth Vincentelli