Score of the Month #11 - Joker by Hildur Guðnadóttir (2019)
Simply, I loved Joker! It was totally different to what I was expecting and I thoroughly enjoyed the reactions from the audience, some of whom were clearly expecting another action-packed Marvel/DC style film we have been annoyingly bombarded with in recent years; the Joker was definitely not that…
Going into the film, I didn't really know what to expect in terms of the music. I did no prior research, didn't listen to any audio snippets, or pay much attention during the development of the film and honestly, I am so glad I didn't! I had heard the name Hildur Guðnadóttir before, but from a performance perspective as she was the featured cellist on the late Jóhann Jóhannsson’s (a fellow Icelandic) score for Arrival and many others. While I didn’t instantly make that connection, I had that “where have I seen that name before” while in the auditorium.
The score surprised me, I love that it’s primarily focused around strings and light percussion throughout, and while there is the addition of brass, sound design, heavier percussion and chorus towards the third act, we maintain simplicity throughout with a monotonic, textural approach. That is not to say the score is minimal in context, as I think it harbors and embodies a lot of the very conflicting, dark and troubling emotions and thought patterns in which Phoenix’s Joker is living.
I feel there is a nod to the Zimmer’s themes from the earlier Nolan Batman trilogy, but executed in a new and subtle way which ensures originality on Guðnadóttir’s part. I guess you could say it’s in the articulation, lots of bass tremolos from the offset, introduced first in “Hoyt’s Office”, scrapes, cluster & air effects and the anarchic feel which concludes “Following Sophie” with the aggressive bowing of the strings and the ticking sounds in “Escape from the Train”, I personally appreciated it.
As an initial observation, the low end in terms of the strings are second to none throughout, ax enamel would be“Penny in Hospital” which is deep and rich in contrast with the violas/violins. The harmonic touches on the violins first heard in “Young Penny” are excellent and I love that the supporting ensemble is essentially playing at the edge of silence, very subtle and quiet, sul tasto in many ways. It just compliments the solo elements very well.
The score starts to amplify from “Meeting Bruce Wayne” onwards with hits of distortion and musical sound design being introduced within “Arthur Comes to Sophie” and “Hiding in the Fridge” (which is just pure musical sound design). These cues are packed with raw energy, framed in lunacy and have murder written all over them. Brownie points for the Pendereki-esque clusters and glides in “Arthur Comes to Sophie”, I love this stuff.
“Penny Taken to the Hospital” has to be noted, a short cue which took me by surprise… The tempo rise on many of the leitmotifs from the beginning of the film with the addition of a driving rhythmic section in a pretty upbeat way was surprising. I can’t actually remember at the time of writing this what was happening on the screen, It’s going to be one of the main focuses for me when revisiting the film.
The “controversial” subways scene (which I didn’t think was all that big of a deal to be honest) is voiced great with the cue… Yes, you guessed it “Subway”. Here Guðnadóttir merges some of her ideas first introduced in “Meeting Bruce Wayne”, especially if we look at performance style, those swelling portamento performances are hard at work and with the addition of brass clusters, effects, percussion and ambient sound design, she paints an awesome environment for the scene to play out in the world of the film.
My favourite cue, which to be fair is an amalgamation of many ideas, performed on an electric cello with added choral qualities is “Bathroom Dance”, I would say I was actually moved by this scene in the cinema. The loudness in which the cue played out against a silent sequence showing the Joker dancing in his bathroom while playing out a fantasy in his head was frankly stunning. Cinematographer Lawrence Sher noted that; "the score was such an instrumental part, not just to Joaquin's performance, but to the camera operating, to the sort of energy in the room, and to make that scene really come alive”… Furthermore, she notes that Phoenix had an earpiece that fed music to him so he could shape his performance from the music right on the spot. I think this says it all….
I could have ended this review there, but I felt we needed to mention “Call Me Joker”… This cue serves as a finale for the film, it’s powerful, energetic, sublime and it’s probably the most conventional in terms of sound (if that is even a thing for this score). We hear full string ensembles and while the design elements are still present to a point, we don’t hear so much of the bends, warps and effects. There’s a constant pulse, like a beating heart thought the build… It’s heroic, emotional and large scale… I love it!
Well done, Hildur! If you ever read this, I very much am looking forward to watching your career grow!
