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Poor Things (soundtrack)

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Poor Things (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film score by
Jerskin Fendrix
ReleasedDecember 8, 2023
GenreFilm score
Length43:54
LabelMilan
ProducerJerskin Fendrix
Singles from Poor Things (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
  1. "Bella"
    Released: November 14, 2023
  2. "Lisbon"
    Released: November 14, 2023

Poor Things (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack to the 2023 film Poor Things directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and starring Emma Stone. The film's original music is scored by pop musician Jerskin Fendrix in his feature composition debut and features 21 tracks in the soundtrack album. It was released by Milan Records in conjunction with the film's release date, December 8, 2023. Two singles—"Bella" and "Lisbon"—released on November 14.

Background

[edit]

In June 2023, pianist, violinist and songwriter-musician Jerskin Fendrix was recruited as the film's composer in his feature scoring debut, as well as Lanthimos' first film to have a film score, as his previous films use source music.[1] Lanthimos' listened to Fendrix's debut album Winterreise (2020) and "couldn't even describe it", but found that "there was something in it that just felt so right about it".[2] The album being a mix of humour, surprise, irreverence and depth, Lanthimos felt it perfectly fit for the protagonist Bella Baxter, played by Emma Stone.[3][failed verification] Fendrix further takes inspiration from several other principal characters to score the film, which he described it as:[2]

"If there's some kind of injustice or [the characters are] upset about something it comes out in this extremely endearing and kind of cute and embarrassing way. And [so] my toolbox, musically, is talking about feelings in a very embarrassingly kind of open way. There was also the cosmetic side of making sure that [the score] could keep up with how extraordinarily imaginative all of the production and the costume designs were. But, at the core of it, I think it really had to be very emotionally vulnerable and non-verbal."[2]

In order to find the emotional vulnerability faced by those characters, he wanted instruments that involved air and mechanics. He used an assortment of woodwinds—pipe organs, uilleann pipes—and sampled synthesised breath and vocals giving the sense of the protagonist, Bella, who saw and felt so much being unable to fully articulate it and has been layered and developed into textures of the score over the course of Bella's adventures. To highlight Bella's emergence from her naivety and vulnerability, Fendrix used mallets and strings to craft a sense of chaos and complexity to Bella, who wanders in a strange city. The score partly acts as a window to Bella's mind.[2]

On the creative musical process with Fendrix, Lanthimos said:[4]

"When I ultimately started editing, I used all of that music and edited it according to the scenes—that’s how it worked for the whole film. In the end, after the shoot, Jerskin didn’t have to compose almost any new music for the film. We used the stuff that he had written before he saw anything. Music needs to be something different, it needs to add a layer, even if it’s contradicting—to enhance it in a way that’s not really expected. Jerskin is extremely talented, and he did that wonderfully."[4]

Track listing

[edit]
No.TitleLength
1."Bella"1:43
2."'Wee'"3:40
3."Bella and Max"1:14
4."'Mother of God'"1:11
5."Victoria"0:53
6."Reanimation"0:58
7."Bella and Duncan"2:36
8."'I Just Hope She's Alright'"0:53
9."Lisbon"2:35
10."O Quarto" (Soundtrack Version) (Carminho)1:16
11."Portuguese Dance I"1:09
12."Portuguese Dance II"1:55
13."'Goodbye Later Dove'"1:51
14."Duncan and Martha"1:21
15."Alexandria"2:48
16."Paris"3:03
17."Bella / Les Yeux Bleus / Estore's Song"1:37
18."London"2:20
19."Alfie"2:30
20."Alfie and Victoria"1:53
21."Bella, Max and God"1:35
22."'Poor Things' Finale and End Credits"4:53
Total length:43:54

Reception

[edit]

Even before the release, Fendrix's music met with critical acclaim, during the film's premiere at the 80th Venice International Film Festival.[5] Raphael Abraham of Financial Times said that Fendrix "adds discordant notes parping on the soundtrack".[6] Jonathan Romney of Screen International wrote "the sounds here range from eerie string shrieks and toy room staccato rhythms to a lusher style that evokes a hyper-distorted variation on Michael Nyman."[7] Calling the score "remarkable", The Hollywood Reporter-critic David Rooney described it as "a kind of punk-classical panoply of sounds, often dissonant, jarring, agitated or lugubrious, elsewhere mischievous and capering".[8]

Jessica Kiang of British Film Institute wrote "the score – the first from experimental musician Jerskin Fendrix – tells the story all on its own. Scraping, naive single instruments initially struggle to stay in tune, before combining into a swelling, symphonic whole at the end, mapping onto Bella’s rapid-order experience."[9] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called it as "insinuatingly strange".[10] Guy Lodge of Variety wrote "experimental pop artist Jerskin Fendrix’s gnawing, atonal score — mirroring Bella’s switching fixations by doggedly stressing one instrument at a time — stands out for its severity."[11]

Rory Doherty of Dread Central wrote "The English musician debuts his film composition talent with tremendous results. His discordant motifs and harshly plucked strings mesh with Bella’s wide, feverishly curious eyes and unbalanced footing. He even provides a sonorous chorus in the scenes demonstrating her voracious sexual appetite. When Poor Things reaches its heartfelt close, the sound of triumphant musical sentimentality is overwhelming, like it’s personally beckoning you into its deeply human oddities."[12] Lex Briscusso of Film School Rejects called it as "haunting, pulsing, and grandiose".[13]

Charts

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Weekly charts

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Chart (2024) Peak
position
UK Soundtrack Albums (OCC)[14] 19

Accolades

[edit]
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Ghent International Film Festival 21 October 2023 Georges Delerue Award for Best Original Music Jerskin Fendrix Won [15]
Golden Globe Awards 7 January 2024 Best Original Score Nominated [16]
Academy Awards 10 March 2024 Best Original Score Nominated [17]
Ivor Novello Award 23rd May 2024 Best Original Film Score Won [18]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Jerskin Fendrix Scoring Yorgos Lanthimos' 'Poor Things'". Film Music Reporter. Archived from the original on November 15, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Shachat, Sarah (November 14, 2023). "Music for 'Furious Jumpers' — Preview the 'Poor Things' Soundtrack with an Exclusive Track". IndieWire. Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  3. ^ "Jerskin Fendrix and Yorgos Lanthimos are the perfect pairing". Far Out. June 23, 2023. Archived from the original on November 15, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Jerskin Fendrix Details 'Poor Things' Soundtrack: Hear "Bella" & "Lisbon"". Stereogum. November 15, 2023. Archived from the original on November 15, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  5. ^ Montgomery, Daniel (September 2, 2023). "Venice Film Festival reviews: 'Poor Things' is 'bonkers' and 'astonishing,' Emma Stone is 'stupendous'". GoldDerby. Archived from the original on September 7, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  6. ^ Abraham, Raphael (September 4, 2023). "Five stars for Yorgos Lanthimos's Poor Things — Emma Stone burns up the screen". Financial Times. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  7. ^ Romney, Jonathan (September 1, 2023). "'Poor Things': Venice Review". Screen. Archived from the original on September 20, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  8. ^ Rooney, David (September 1, 2023). "'Poor Things' Review: Emma Stone Is Stupendous as a Reanimated Woman Reinventing Herself in Yorgos Lanthimos' Fantastical Odyssey". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 7, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  9. ^ Kiang, Jessica (September 4, 2023). "Poor Things review: pleasure for the eye and soul". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  10. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (September 1, 2023). "Poor Things review – Emma Stone has a sexual adventure in Yorgos Lanthimos's virtuoso comic epic". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on October 28, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  11. ^ Lodge, Guy (September 1, 2023). "'Poor Things' Review: Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos Fly Their Freak Flags in a Delicious Coming-of-Age Story Like No Other". Variety. Archived from the original on September 8, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  12. ^ Doherty, Rory (September 1, 2023). "'Poor Things' Venice Film Festival 2023 Review: A Gorgeous Mediation on Identity and Belonging". Dread Central. Archived from the original on September 21, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  13. ^ Briscuso, Lex (September 1, 2023). "'Poor Things' Is a Magical Odyssey of Science and Humanity—And Emma Stone's Best Performance Yet". Film School Rejects. Archived from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  14. ^ "Official Soundtrack Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  15. ^ "'LOS DELINCUENTES' BY RODRIGO MORENO AND MUSIC FROM 'POOR THINGS' GRAB TOP PRIZES AT 50TH EDITION FILM FEST GENT". Film Fest Ghent. October 20, 2023. Archived from the original on October 31, 2023. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  16. ^ Lang, Brent; Moreau, Jordan (January 8, 2024). "Golden Globes: 'Oppenheimer' Leads With Five Wins, 'Succession' Tops TV With Four (Complete Winners List)". Variety. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  17. ^ "'2024". Academy Awards. January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  18. ^ Brown, Anna (May 23, 2024). "Winners of The Ivors with Amazon Music announced". The Ivors Academy. Retrieved May 28, 2024.
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