A film of some depth, Robert Redford’s The Horse Whisperer – based on the very popular book by Nicholas Evans – works as a romantic weepy if that’s how you want to watch it, but also looks at broken relationships in several different ways. Redford (directing himself for the first time) plays the eponymous character tasked with helping a horse badly injured in a terrible accident, while also repairing the relationship between the horse’s young owner (Scarlett Johansson – 13 when the film was shot) and the horse, and between her and her mother (Kristin Scott Thomas). It’s all set against the spectacular wide open spaces of Montana and is a very handsome film.
As a big John Barry fan, I was so disappointed at the time when news broke that he had left the film following a disagreement with Redford (some reports suggesting it was over a single scene – but an important one); as a big Thomas Newman fan, his subsequent hiring helped to soften the blow a little. It was reportedly far from plain sailing for Newman too, but however difficult the process may have been, the end result was a very fine score.
The film is a neo-western, set in the present day but very old fashioned in many ways, and Newman brings many elements to the table which are essentially his own very distinctive take on the classical western sound. From the strumming guitars of the opening “Angus” to the fiddles and guitars of “Pilgrim’s Progress” and the more action-like “Iron”, you’d never mistake this music for anyone else’s, but it’s an interesting side to the composer we haven’t got to hear that often.
A side that we did get to hear very often from him in the 1990s was a more traditional big, orchestral theme and there are some beauties here. “Montana” is gorgeous – the great big melodic leaps from the horns evoking the big sky country quite magnificently. He finds other ways of conjuring up very clear images of the landscape – the tentative piano and processed sounds (a bit like birdsong or a breeze through long grass) of “Runaway Meadow” are far less spectacular but no less enticing.
In “Rancher’s Wife”, there’s a captivating melancholic air as Newman trots out yet another great melody. There are darker moments, too – the brass seem to take on jagged edges in tracks like “Accident” and “Tunnel” – which helps to bring a very nice, well-rounded feel.
The score’s most famous track – with very good reason – is the sensational “The Rhythm of the Horse”. Gorgeous winds are joined by guitars before the orchestra takes over what is a wonderful standalone theme, which sticks long in the memory. Full of joyous spirit, it’s one of the best tracks Thomas Newman’s ever written.
It’s easy to imagine an Out of Africa-style score from John Barry which would have supported the film really very well (and we can reportedly hear some of it on his The Beyondness of Things album, though nobody has ever been able to definitively identify which ones) but there’s no denying how good Newman’s score is (nor, frankly, how very different it is from anything Barry would have written). It’s got so many layers and can be enjoyed on so many levels, but it’s the combination of its vivid atmosphere and really great themes that makes it such a winner.
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