The Warped Ones Part One: Enter Mayuzumi

The Warped Ones (1960)
Part One: Enter Toshiru Mayuzumi

Get ready for this one, folks. The Warped Ones, the second film in the Eclipse Series The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara, is where things start to get a little more interesting. This Japanese New Wave film features a score by Toshiru Mayuzumi that will take your breath away with its free jazz score. The film itself is a wild ride from start to finish and the music reflects that fact.

One of the things I would like to accomplish through this blog would be to introduce you to some new music you might not be aware of in a variety of styles of music. I would like to show how looking closely at movie scores and soundtracks can be a gateway into new worlds of music. This has certainly been the case for me. Hearing the music of Frank Zappa and seeing films like 200 Motels, which satirized a lot of 20th Century classical music, was certainly a gateway for me which lead to my interest in all kinds of music and ultimately lead me to compose my own symphonic, “classical” and art music. I hope this blog might do its own part in expanding your musical horizons. Looking into Mayuzumi certainly expanded mine.

In this installment of Criterion Improvisations, I would like to take a look at Mayuzumi who would also score the next three films in this Eclipse set. Even though Masaru Sato did a great job scoring Intimidation (1960) for Kurahara (see my last column), I believe Mayuzumi and Kurahara are a match made in heaven, as the director starts to get more and more bizarre throughout the 60’s.

Mayuzumi was an adventurous composer and unlike Sato (who only wrote film scores)wrote a lot of music for the concert stage. With the piece X,Y ,Z (1955), he was the first Japanese composer to work with musique concrète. That same year also he became the first Japanese composer to write an electronic music piece, Shūsaku I. Around this same period he also wrote 12-tone pieces, aleatory pieces and compositions for prepared piano as well as an orchestral piece called Elektoplasm that featured electric guitar. (I’d like to see, hear and possibly play that score someday – I am a concert guitarist myself. Check out www.donpride.com to find out more.)

Near the end of the 50’s, his music started to reflect his interest Buddhist chants. He wrote the “Nirvana Symphony” in 1958. The symphony is very colorfully orchestrated and is should be very accessible to most listeners. The symphony is in six movements:
1. Campanology I – orchestra
2. Suramaganah – Buddhist chant
3. Campanology II – orchestra
4. Mahaprajnaparamita – Buddhist chant
5. Campanology III – orchestra
6. Finale – chant and orchestra combined

It is quite a musical journey for the adventurous listener and I recommend it highly. The whole piece is around 35 minutes long and combines Eastern and Western music in a way that is highly original and not “cheesy” or “new agey” in any way. If you like Bright Sheng then I bet you would like this music. Of course, if you haven’t heard Bright Sheng yet, then you should definitely check out his music as well to see what exciting things are going on in contemporary classical composition today. You can download the “Nirvana Symphony” on itunes or amazon in a performance by the Tokyo Metropolitan symphony that is quite nice.

I think I’m going to end this “improvisation” right there. I have ordered Mayuzumi’s Mandala Symphony from anmazon and it should be here on Wednesday. This piece was written in 1960, the same year The Warped Ones was released, and will make an excellent companion as we continue to follow Mayazumi’s career in both film and on the concert stage together next time. In the meantime, please check out the “Nirvana Symphony” and let me know what you think.

Next time: Mayazumi’s Mandala Symphony and The Warped Ones

Intimidation (1960)

Intimidation (1960)

I would like to begin Criterion Improvisations with a look at the 28th Eclipse set, The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara. This week we look at the soundtrack to the first film in the set Intimidation, released in 1960.

The music in this film is composed by Masuro Sato, who may not ring a bell at first but is actually very important in the world of Japanese film. He attended school at National Music Academy where he studied with Fumio Hayasaka. Hayasaka did the scores to many of Akira Kurosawa’s films including Rashomon (1950) and Seven Samurai (1954). When Hyasaka died unexpectedly in 1955, Sato took over for him and worked with Kurosawa for the next ten years, scoring such classics as Throne of Blood(1957), The Bad Sleep Well (1960) , High and Low(1963) and Yojimbo (1961). Sato also composed scores for Kenji Miziguchi and did several of the Godzilla movies as well. In all, he wrote the film scores to over 300 films before he died in 1999.

Eclipse collectors have had a chance to see one of Kurohara’s films before in the set Eclipse Series 17: Nikatsu Noir (another great box set), which contained the film I Am Waiting, an earlier film from 1957 starring Yujiro Ishihara.

Before you read any further, go watch the film, especially if you are sensitive about “spoilers.

The score to this film is probably the least adventurous of all the films in this Eclipse set but nonetheless expertly done. One thing all of Kurahara’s films have in common in this set is the way they only use music very sparingly at very specific points in the film. Most of this film, the only soundtrack is the dialog and effects track.

The film starts and ends with a train whistle and the same music. The first train begins the downfall of Japanese business man Kyosuke and the train at the end seals his fate (I won’t give that away). One underlying sonic theme I noticed was the sounds of loud whistles, buzzers, phones and alarms throughout the film. The very dissonant score reflects this as well. During the credits we have strings playing aggressive chords in a rhythm that recalls Psycho (which was released later the same year) accompanied by a chromatic and angular melody in the brass. Most of the musical ideas within the film are presented over the credits. The rest of the film simply recasts these ideas with different orchestration and variations. When the opening music is brought back at the end of the film it gives the film a musical continuity that is probably only subconsciously felt the first time through.

When the protagonist starts to formulate a plan to rob his own bank, we hear pizzicato violins playing minor seconds quarter notes in counterpoint to a trombone playing the melody from the beginning of the film. The use of dissonant harmony throughout the film seems to reflect the sound effects, creating a recurring feeling of unease throughout the film. The same music returns again as he begins his robbery of the bank, giving the viewer a hint that this robbery will not go as planned. Most of the robbery itself has no music at all, effectively increasing the sense of tension with sound effects brought up loudly in the mix and with no dialogue. The opening melody played by the trombone is taken up by an unaccompanied muted trumpet later in the film when the protagonist meets his blackmailer and ultimately kills him.

The orchestration of the score reminds me of Kurosawa films, with the use of marimba wood blocks, strings and brass instruments. I am reminded of the staccato use of the marimba in the soundtrack to Yojimbo, which I recently listened to. This wasn’t apparent to me until I listened to the score without the picture, which I would suggest doing, especially over the opening credits.

Overall, the score to Intimidation is pretty conventional. You might never notice the subtle use of music and sound effects as you watch the film. However, I guarantee to you will notice the music in the next film in the series which I will look at next time. Until then, I would recommend you take a second look at Intimidation and note the effective use of sound and silence throughout the film.

NEXT TIME: The Warped Ones

Welcome to Criterion Improvisations

Welcome to my new project. I will be taking a look at a subject I haven't seen addressed before on the various Criterion blog sites: the soundtracks to the films in the Criterion Collection and the equally exciting Eclipse Series.

I can thank Criterion for introducing me to a whole new world of film I never knew about before I started collecting Criterion films way back in the laserdisc days. As a musician, these films are what I watch when I'm not composing, practicing, playing gigs or spending time with my family. They have been a guilty pleasure for a long time. This blog is a way for me to do something creative with all the film knowledge I've accrued over the years. This will be a learning experience for me as a writer who is dipping his feet in the film blogging world. Hopefully I can contribute something useful and unique.

I had thought of going through the Criterion Collection by spine number, which has been done before but instead, I am going to write about each film as I either acquire or re-watch them. I am currently working my way through the excellent Eclipse set The Warped World of Koreyoshi Kurahara. The music on these films is fabulous and inspiring for me to write about. I will tackle each of these films, one by one. After that, I will be re-watching The Orphic Trilogy, featuring the films of Jean Cocteau (himself a composer) featuring the music of les six composer Georges Auric. Heck, maybe we'll also look at Beauty and the Beast as well while we're at it. If this sounds like an interesting start to you, then you are in the right place.

But first, in fulfilment of a homework assignment for a Music Technology class at USM: Alexander Street Publishing: Is It Worth $5000? This will only be posted for a limited time so read it quick if you are interested.

After that, it's on to the soundtrack to Intimidation, the Japanese film noir from 1960 directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara.