• Composed by Alan Silvestri
• Intrada / 58m

Robert Zemeckis’s strange Welcome to Marwen follows a man who tries to deal with his PTSD suffered after a violent attack on him by constructing a fictional village (the titular Marwen) and living out various fantastical storylines. I often jokily say in these introductions that a ludicrous plot is based on a true story; this one apparently actually is. The film was widely panned and has attracted very little audience, but it does give film music fans yet another artefact from one of the most enduring composer/director partnerships in Hollywood, that between Zemeckis and his longstanding collaborator Alan Silvestri, their 17th film together. It must have been a tricky film for Silvestri to really get the tone right for – his score manages to have a dual personality of its own, one part light and sweet and pastoral, the other militaristic. The opening cue presents both of these personalities – the warm main theme opens it up before the militaristic action theme takes over. The latter reminds me very much of Elmer Bernstein’s music for comedies in the 1980s, remaining resolutely tuneful and really rather bright; its B-section is unmistakably Silvestri. A third theme (also militaristic, though a little more gentle) is then introduced in the following cue, “You Are Saved”.