Search - Nick Cave & Warren Ellis :: The Road

Cave & Ellis Provide A Haunting & Atmospheric Score That Wil

Kaya Savas | North Hollywood, CA | 01/20/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Nick Cave & Warren Ellis continue their collaboration with director John Hillcoat. Those familiar with their sound know just how amazing they are. Subtle and simple melodies echo powerful emotions through their scores. You won't find a 70 piece orchestra here. Their most notable scores are The Proposition and the masterpiece that is The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford.



The Road is the most recent Cormac McCarthy novel adaptation. A haunting and harrowing look into human nature in a post apocalyptic world. It contains everything of the genre but is presented in a much more quieter way. This is not Mad Max. The main theme is somewhat reminiscent of Eric Satie in that it's a minimalist piano tune. Of course it's backed by that signature violin that has become the Cave & Ellis sound. Tracks like "The Road" and "The Mother" have a nurturing and hopeful tone, and that sets up our main characters on their journey. Within the score you will also find some terrifying music; atmospheric horror that will make your tear up, put a knot in your stomach and tingle your spine. If I had to compare the style it would be to Akira Yamaoka's work on the Silent Hill franchise. "The House" and "The Cellar" are quite unsettling tracks to listen to and even more so if you've seen the film. While the score plunges into a hellish nightmare at times it resurfaces back to that nurturing beauty towards the end.



This is an amazing score. It is nothing short of brilliant and stands up with their previous work as something all film enthusiasts should take note of. While it may be less thematic and more atmospheric than their previous work it doesn't change the fact that this score will emotionally move and stir you in a profound way."

Harrowingly beautiful

Jon Broxton | Thousand Oaks, CA | 01/18/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"A harrowing post-apocalyptic drama based on the acclaimed novel by Cormac McCarthy, The Road stars Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee as an unnamed father and son desperately trying to survive in a North America ravaged by the aftermath of nuclear war, avoiding gangs of lawless cannibalistic killers, seeking shelter from desperately cold weather conditions, and constantly pushing south in search of food, and other survivors. Director John Hillcoat's bleak film is a meditation on life, on the retention of humanity in the face of desperation, and the lengths to which people will go to protect their families.



For the music, Hillcoat once again turned to songwriter and musician Nick Cave and violinist Warren Ellis, who worked on Hillcoat's previous films The Proposition and To Have and To Hold. Like the film itself, Cave's music is desolate and unforgiving, a bleak and dour musical depiction of a bleak and dour world. His score is mainly string based, with textures here and there for woodwinds, piano and, oddly, a tinkling celesta-type instrument that occasionally creeps into the mix, giving the score a child-like feeling. The majority of the score is thematically limited, and is instead content to present a series of ambient, almost droning orchestral textures, although there are one or two cues that stand out. "The Road" is a restrained, minimalist piano piece overlaid by a yearning solo violin that seems to lamenting the loss of the world, and acts as the score's main recurring thematic element.



Variations on this style of writing appear later in cues such as "The Real Thing" and "The Far Road". Later, cues such as "The Cannibals", "The House", the nervous, rhythmic "The Journey", and the horrific "The Cellar" are filled with eerie electronic loops, thumping percussion, string-based dissonance and disturbing sound design elements that recall Jonny Greenwood's work on There Will Be Blood, and successfully depict the horror of the cannibal gangs that the father and son must avoid. The few moments of additional warmth come in cues such as "The Mother", "Memory", the surprisingly lovely "The Church", and the conclusive "The Beach", which incorporate hesitantly tender cello solos, gently sweet piano melodies and a less harsh aspect. However, even in cues such as these, the respite is fleeting; Cave knows that his protagonists are living in a hellish environment, and the music doesn't allow them to rest for long.



This isn't a score which will appeal to score fans who enjoy tender, lyrical music; although the melodic core is always there, Cave intentionally makes a lot of his music cold, distant, unapproachable, and a little on the harsh side. While this suits the film to a tee, and although I liked it a lot, it doesn't make for easy listening."

Sad and Hopeful at the same time.

Michael Lebron | Buffalo, New York United States | 01/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This soundtrack is perfect for this movie. Most of the soundtrack is very sad and yet there's an underlining of hope as well. I loved the movie even more because of the music. Some of the songs really pull those tear strings."