A couple of weeks ago I saw Fifty Shades Of Grey, which explores the relationship between a college student and a wealthy man, who’s secretly into sadomasochism. I didn’t think it was either a good or terrible movie, but I wasn’t too invested in the shallow story or the relationship between both characters. I didn’t get much out of the movie. Both of the leads (though neither performances weren’t anything to brag about) did their best with little the script had to offer. Some of the dialogue/lines were ridiculous and unintentionally funny. Kudos to them for being able to deliver ‘em with a straight face. The love scenes were tame for the film’s risqué subject manner. Even though I haven’t read the book (and don’t plan to either) I found the film failed to improve upon it or tell a more compelling story, which was probably a difficult task in itself. A more experienced director (e.g. David Fincher or Paul Verhoeven) could’ve pulled it off, imo.
Elfman’s subdued score mostly underscores the movie. While the songs are put to the forefront and pretty much overshadows Elfman’s music. So the score doesn’t really leave a strong impression in the movie. It’s a very low key and rhythmic score, which is more contemporary compared to Elfman’s usual output. The score consists of strings, guitars, piano, and synthesizers, which reminded me of Elfman’s The Next Three Days.
The main theme/motif characterizes the sophisticated relationship between Ana and Christian. It’s mostly played on piano. It’s a very simple motif that Elfman’s able to interweave into nearly every track. There’s also a second theme/motif that represents Ana’s innocence, which can be heard in the track “Ana’s theme”. It’s a very dense motif that I feel (unless I missed something) is underused on the album. Maybe with repeated listens it’ll resonate more in other cues for me, but it didn’t have the same impact as the main theme/motif, imo. Elfman also briefly introduces a third more grim/bleak motif (in “Did That Hurt” and “Show Me“
that represents the lovers inner turmoil of their relationship. It somewhat reminded me of a theme/motif from Dario Marianelli’s underrated “V For Vendetta” score titled “Evey’s Reborn”.
It’s a well paced album which is barely over 46 minutes long. The cues that stood out of for me were “Shades of Grey”, “The Red Room”, “Ana And Christian”, “Clean You Up”, “The Contract”, “The Art Of War”, “Did That Hurt?”, “Bliss”, “Show Me”, “Counting To Six”, “Variations On A Shade”. I believe some cues were unused and replaced by songs in the film. “Shades Of Grey” was probably meant for the main titles and “Variation On A Shade”, which has a very contemporary remix approach with the use of synthesizers utilizing and deconstructing the main theme/motif, for the end credits. “Bliss”, which is a very choral and ethereal cue, isn’t congruent with the tone of the rest of the score, which is mostly ambient and textural.
I enjoyed this score. I think it does an admirable job guiding the listener musically with Ana’s journey into Christian’s dark sexual world. Since in the film this is Ana’s first real relationship with another man in certain cues it plays up the awkwardness of it. However, it never glamorizes or play up the love scenes. I also believe the score on album makes up for whatever’s lacking in the performances, script, and direction. I also believe that this is one of those scores that’ll have stronger repeatability, where you’ll notice things that you didn’t from the previous listen. Highly recommended to fans of Elfman’s more subdued and textural scores, such as “The Next Three Days”.
