K-19 the Widowmaker
Given the film's fevered, rooted-in-cold-war-history nuclear tensions and claustrophobic, intensely Russian settings, promising newcomer/Hans Zimmerprotégé Klaus Badelt (The Time Machineand contributions toGladiatorandPearl Harbor) was saddled with more than a few expectations in scoring director Kathryn Bigelow's Soviet sub thriller. But Badelt has admirably risen to the occasion, conjuring up an orchestral score (masterfully performed by the Kirov Orchestra and Chorus under Valery Giergiev) rooted in moody Russian classicism--and a dash of Zimmer's favorite Holstian drama as well. The centerpiece here is the neo-classical Suite for Orchestra and Chorus in G Minor, its four movements ("Fear," "Fate," "War," "Soul") powerfully underscoring the film's unrelenting pressure cooker of drama and emotion. Badelt's use of excerpts from Richard Einhorn'sVoices of Lightsuite ("Reactor") is equally inspired, its haunting choral touches and spare, evocative arrangements imparting some compelling gravitas to the story's dark sense of impending doom. A score as noble, if emotionally ominous, as the 20th-century Russian masters who inspired it.--Jerry McCulley