[電影原聲帶] City of Ember 微光城市

專輯歌手：Andrew Lockington 專輯類別：音樂 / 原聲音樂發行時間：2008年11月04日授權方式：共享版授權版本：Score 發行地區：美國專輯語言：英語資源類型：MP3 專輯介紹：故事設定在浩劫後的未來，一座設定只能運作 200年的地下城市建成，用於維系人類最後的族群。這個黑暗城市中唯一的照明就是街道上的燈泡。隨著城市運作近 200年，停電次數越來越頻繁，"微光市"裡的居民開始恐慌起來。少年莉娜和杜恩是一對好朋友，兩人常在如迷宮般的城市地下管道中嬉戲。莉娜偶然發現一份殘破的文件，她和杜恩將它拼湊起來，發現那竟是走出"微光市"的指引！難道在無盡的黑暗之外，另有天地？莉娜和杜恩將竭盡所有勇氣和智慧去解開其中的祕密，從而拯救整個城市……一切必須趕在"微光市"的燈光熄滅之前！養育了幾代人的"微光城市"可能是人類最後的一個棲息之地了，住在裡面的居民在這個散發著光芒的令人驚奇的世界裡休養生息，處處是一片欣欣向榮的繁華景象。這座城市位於地下很深的地方，是作為人類最後的避難所建立起來的，一切能源都來自於一臺巨大的發電機，它只能為這座城市供應 200年的電力……現在的"微光城市"已經開始步入末路了，壽命慢慢走到盡頭的發電機也隨時都有"罷工"的可能，那些最初十分耀眼的燈光開始搖擺不定，漸漸地微弱了下來。盡管所有的人都關心著這個被他們深受著的城市的未來命運，可是還在讀書的年輕人卻有著更加迫切需要面對的人生抉擇。"微光城市"所有即將畢業的學生都延續著一個特別的"結業儀式"，他們通常管這一天叫"任務分配日"，市長會親自站在那裡，通過抓鬮的方式，決定學生們未來的工作，看看他們都將會以什麼樣的方式為這座城市、這個社會奉獻自己餘下的生命：莉娜一直在虔誠地祈禱著，希望可以得到郵遞員的工作，可是她最終卻驚恐地發現自己被分派到了"管道工程組"，負責這座地下城市巨大的管道作業；莉娜的同學杜恩·哈羅也有著心儀許久的去處，他想進入城市的"心臟"，為發電機做維護工作，可是他卻痛苦地發現自己抽到的是寫著郵遞員的工作簽。雖然"管道工程組"不能直接接觸發電機，可是工作的范圍卻離得很近，所以杜恩提出與莉娜交換……對於能夠得到自己夢寐以求的工作，莉娜是既恐懼，又充滿感激和渴望，通過這件事，兩個人的心也第一次靠近起來。當上了郵遞員的莉娜，很快就發現自己幾乎跑遍了"微光城市"的大街小巷，為重要的人傳遞著更加重要的信件，包括市長本人……回到家中，她還要照顧已經上了年紀而且非常健忘的祖母，以及年紀尚小的妹妹波比。無意中，莉娜在家裡的儲藏室發現了一個老舊的金屬盒子，祖母非常肯定地告訴她，這個盒子裡隱藏著一個有關這座城市的終極祕密，可是健忘的她卻怎麼也想不起來這個祕密的具體內容了。莉娜撬開了鐵盒上已經�跡斑斑的鎖，發現裡面盡是一些古老的文件，由於沒辦法把這些分散的紙張按順序歸攏到一起，莉娜怎麼也弄不明白裡面到底傳達了一個什麼樣的信息，這個時候，她想到了杜恩。由於能源即將用盡，"微光城市"的燈火管制越來越頻繁，莉娜和杜恩意識到盒子裡的文件很可能會拯救他們這個已經漸顯疲態的城市和居民……現在，他們需要做的就是與時間進行賽跑，伴隨著線索一點點被揭開，莉娜和杜恩聰明地用計謀與那些腐敗的政客周旋，他們最終的目的，就是重建"微光城市"中的照明體系，恢復這個城市賴以生存的能源。關於本片原聲介紹： A lavish sci-fi fantasy based on the novel by Jeanne Duprau, City of Ember is the second film from director Gil Kenan, following his animated 2006 debut, Monster House. The film stars Saoirse Ronan and Harry Treadway as Lina and Doon, two teenagers who live in the underground city of Ember, built several centuries previously when the surface of the Earth was left uninhabitable by an unspecified disaster. Lina and Doon begin to discover some dark secrets about Ember: the city is crumbling, both physically and morally, and the corrupt mayor Cole (Bill Murray) doesn't seem to care. Taking the advice of several similarly disillusioned inhabitants of Ember, Lina and Doon take it upon themselves to escape from Ember, and a way back to the surface. The film, which also stars Mackenzie Crook, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Martin Landau and Tim Robbins, boasts dazzling production design and special effects, and features an original score by up-and-coming Canadian composer Andrew Lockington. Originally, City of Ember was to be scored by Kenan's composer on Monster House, Douglas Pipes, but for whatever reason Pipes' score was rejected and Lockington came in to replace him. If Lockington truly was a late addition to the post-production crew, it would go some way to explaining why City of Ember is not quite the score it could have been: while still enjoyable, it has the slight feeling of being just a little bit rushed, a little bit last-minute, and never truly comes across as being as well-structured as some of Lockington's other works, such as Skinwalkers or Journey to the Center of the Earth. Having said that, there is still a great deal to admire in City of Ember. Lockington's mastery of using a full orchestra is still apparent, as is his knack for writing memorable main themes. The theme from City of Ember, first heard in the"Main Title", is a typically strident and noble affair, full of dramatic horn chords and string string writing. The presence of Nicholas Dodd in the orchestrations and wielding the baton is also quite evident; some of the little touches and flourishes are obviously his work, as they carry over from the scores he orchestrated for David Arnold, Mychael Danna and Clint Mansell in recent years. The bulk of the score, however, tends to be a tiny bit repetitive. The actual writing is fine, and some of the touches in instrumentation, or orchestral color, or performance technique, are quite superb. The problem, really, is that it seems to over-rely on performances of the main theme in every cue. It's almost as though Lockington, in a valiant effort to give the score a sense of itself and an internal structure, decided to base almost every musical moment around his main theme, with the hope that having such an obvious core element would give it a cohesive flow. Unfortunately, and while the theme in itself is very good, the end result comes across as a one-idea score. As I mentioned before, this is quite likely a time thing: Lockington likely had so little time to invest in the creation of a sonic world for City of Ember, he just took his impressive orchestral know-how and through-composed. Having said that, there are still several moments of musical excellence that are worth picking out. The main secondary theme, for"Lina Mayfleet"is a little more sprightly and energetic, making use of a more lyrical string element underpinned by a staccato piano motif and flighty woodwinds. Its second performance, at the beginning of"Job Exchange"is a nice continuation of the melodic content, while the tremulous pianos underpin several other cues, notably"Message for Clary", where they come across like rapid-fire Morse code, filtered through John Adams. There is also a great deal of impressive dissonance and throbbing action material, some of which includes a prominent ticking synth undercurrent, and the bulk of which makes up the score's finale. Cues such as"Tunnels"and"Room 351"see the main theme is restated in a powerful action setting complete with choir, while"Map and Mole"has the string writing going into frantic overdrive. Later, cues such as"Fugitives"and"Loris's Bike"are wonderfully vigorous and exciting, and as the score builds to its conclusion, through the stirring"Clockworks", the thunderous"Control Room"and the dark, dramatic"Water Wheel", you begin to feel a real sense of scope and emotion in Lockington's writing. The penultimate cue,"Escape to Sunrise", is a beautiful, poignant restatement of the main theme with an angelic choir accompanying it; the finale,"One Last Message", is one of those overpoweringly heroic pieces with powerful major-key chord progressions which run tingles down the listener's spine. It may seem that my review is at odds with itself; on the one hand, I'm criticizing it for over-reliance on a single theme, whereas on the other hand I'm praising it for being stirring and powerful and impressive, and giving it four stars. The truth of the matter is that I'm actually a little torn: there's no doubt that City of Ember, taken at face value, has a lot going for it, and will undoubtedly bring more fans into Andrew Lockington's camp, especially having composed Journey to the Center of the Earth in 2008 as well. The thing is, I just can't help this nagging little feeling that, had Lockington been on board the project from day one, and had he been given more time to work on his musical world, and not just simply be content to provide dozens of (admittedly very impressive) variations on the same theme, it might have been better still. Running Time: 71 minutes 41 seconds 專輯曲目： 01. Main Titles (3:30) 02. Lina Mayfleet (1:30) 03. Assignment Day (2:19) 04. Job Exchange (2:29) 05. Blue Sky (1:10) 06. First Day (2:07) 07. Message for Clary (0:52) 08. Tunnels (6:59) 09. The Mayor (2:01) 10. The Box of Ember (2:52) 11. Blackout (1:57) 12. Map and Mole (4:58) 13. Room 351 (3:11) 14. Proof (4:32) 15. Fugitives (3:08) 16. Loris' Bike (4:04) 17. Interlocking Keys (0:42) 18. Clockworks (5:42) 19. Control Room (4:36) 20. Water Wheel (2:53) 21. The Mayor Retreats (1:08) 22. Stalagmite Trance (0:48) 23. Escape to Sunrise (4:58) 24. One Last Message (3:05)