CD REVIEW - The Prestige


The Prestige
Music by David Julyan
Hollywood D000001402 (U.S.)
17 Tracks 48:21 mins

Although it's good to see director Christopher Nolan return to his collaboration with composer of choice David Julyan, following the Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard-scored Batman Begins, I must confess to not being a fan of Julyan's music, which is normally of the atmospheri variety, with little in the way of melody, as is the case here. The fact that Batman begins turned out to be of similar ilk, makes me wonder why the powers that be couldn't have gone with Julyan in that instance, and, as someone who admires director/composer loyalty, I hope that Julyan gets the chance to score the Batman sequel.
So what of The Prestige? Well, the film stars Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson, plus other Nolan collaborators Christian Bale and Sir Michael Caine, in a story of two rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London.
Julyan's score is a mixture of orchestra and electronics, and although here only 48 minutes are presented, seems interminably long on disc, due to its atmsopheric, mysterious and largely dark and dissonant nature. Only a hint of melody emerges here and there, with delicate piano cutting through the dissonance in tracks like "Borden Meets Sarah" and "No, Not Today. " Obviously, not having seen the film, I cannot judge the score's true effectiveness, but on disc I'm afraid it just leaves me cold.