Visit the Movie Wave Store | Movie Wave Home | Reviews by Title | Reviews by Composer | Contact me

THE VISITOR
Low-key dramatic music is a real winner from Kaczmarek
 A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

Music composed by
JAN A.P. KACZMAREK

Rating
* * * *



Piano
BERNARD BAYER
Violin
ANDREW GRAYBILL
YI-HUAN ZHAO
Viola
LUKE MAURER
Cello
MAREK SZPAKIEWICZ

Orchestration
JAN A.P. KACZMAREK

Engineer
RAFAL PACZKOWSKI
Produced by
JAN A.P. KACZMAREK
THOMAS MCCARTHY
MARY RAMOS

Album running time
53:53

Released by
VARESE SARABANDE
Catalog number
VSD-6890

Album cover copyright (c) 2008 Overture Films; review copyright (c) 2008 James Southall

Richard Jenkins plays Walter, a college professor who has just about given up life in The Visitor.  Then, on a trip to New York City, he discovers a couple of illegal immigrants squatting in his apartment - the film chronicles his frustrating attempts to help them out, up against the nameless, faceless "system" which causes so many of us so many problems in life.  It comes from director Thomas McCarthy, whose previous film The Station Agent got rave reviews - this one has done as well, but hardly anyone saw it, which is a real shame.

Music plays an important role in the film, with part of Walter's enlightenment coming from one of his unlikely new friends teaching him how to play the piano.  The score is composed by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, who hasn't worked on a single high-profile project since winning an Oscar a few years ago; and it's one of his best.  The vast majority of it is composed for string quartet and piano, and while the composer is content to keep a monochromatic sound, with little deviation from the same small set of themes being repeated again and again, it is very beautiful music, of real heart and passion (and there are more than a few hints of Philip Glass).

Occasionally though he does venture into far darker terrain ("Tarek Arrested", "The System Says NO") and it's interesting here how he manages to produce a stark, uncomfortable sound from the same ensemble which has been playing such enticingly beautiful music for the most part beforehand.  These slight deviations from the otherwise-constant tone make the album just about justify its 54-minute length, with the underlying beauty of the music meaning it doesn't ever run out of steam.  Kaczmarek can write very beautiful low-key music when he puts his mind to it, and he's never put his mind to it quite as successfully as here.

Tracks

  1. The Visitor Overture (5:04)
  2. Walter's Etude No 1 (2:20)
  3. Walter the Professor (1:24)
  4. Walter Drives Through New York (2:28)
  5. Meeting Mouna (3:48)
  6. Trip to the Detention Centre (3:13)
  7. Tarek Arrested (1:44)
  8. Walter Plays Half of His Etude No 1 (2:30)
  9. Evening With Mouna (2:25)
  10. Waiting for Tarek (1:11)
  11. Looking at the Liberty Statue (1:25)
  12. The Loneliness (1:45)
  13. The System Says NO (3:14)
  14. Walter and Mouna Together (5:18)
  15. Walter Feels Alive Again (2:39)
  16. Back to the Detention Centre (2:17)
  17. Walter Plays Etude No 2 With Almost No Mistakes (6:14)
  18. Je'Nwi Teni (Don't Gag Me) Fela Anikulapo Kuti (5:05)
    19.