The Insider: Music From The Motion Picture
Directors making strong characteristic decisions about the music in their films are, aside from being few in number, generally people who depend on a particular composer--directors like Steven Spielberg (John Williams), Steven Soderbergh (Cliff Martinez), and John Carpenter (himself). Michael Mann is that rare director for whom musical literacy has less to do with professional partnership than with a hunger for aesthetic exploration. From his days withMiami Vice, in which he spearheaded the integration of pop songs with a scene's motion, Mann has been relentlessly creative in the scoring of his work--setting producerTrevor Jones(a knowledgeable technophile) loose inThe Last of the Mohicanswilderness and gettingElliot Goldenthalto blend electronic, hard-rock, and orchestral effects for a haunting score toHeat. The common theme is mood, at times profoundly spiritual, fashionably effete, or resolutely cold. These are the temperaments of Lisa Gerrard, best known for her work with the prototrance actDead Can Dance, and her sometime partner Pieter Bourke. Their score forThe Insideris a rich montage of paranoia and momentum, perfectly suited to Mann's moralistic corporate thriller. Mechanized drums flirt with ambient music while, soaring above, thick clouds of synthesized drones recallPeter Gabriel's fortunate work on the big screen.--Marc Weidenbaum