When it arrived in movie theaters in October of 2019, one of things that made Todd Phillips Joker feel markedly different from the slew of other popular films with comic-book origins was its simmering, relatively minimalist score. While she relied primarily on the traditional orchestral instrumentation of John Williams, Danny Elfman, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hildur Gudhnadottirs take on the category was something more intimate and internal. Using Phillips screenplay as her inspiration, her ominous score dwells in the lower pitch range, with the cello representing Arthur Fleck, and tympani among a small handful of other highlighted timbres. Recurring themes include pounding heartbeats and footsteps, as in early track Following Sophie, the pulsing Meeting Bruce Wayne, and about halfway through, the more expansive Arthur Comes to Sophie, which adds pitch-bending dissonance as well as instruments. The score continues to build gradually in terms of strength and texture, bringing more instruments to the foreground as it progresses. In fact, at least most of the time, a whole 90-piece orchestra is performing the score, but it was mixed to push the majority of components into the background -- often to the point of being inaudible. This was intended to symbolize the complicated, emergent layers of the psyche of the main character and something Gudhnadottir has referred to as a ghostly presence within the recording. By the 12th of 17 cues, Subway has audible brass and denser strings, and the final two tracks come the closest to more-typical contemporary thriller fare while remaining unique to the world of Joker. Along with its unsettling combination of percussive effects and plodding, sagging sustained pitches (as well as Foley and field recordings also in play), Gudhnadottirs fresh approach and inspired mixing technique make Jokers score not only effective but distinctive. ~ Marcy Donelson
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