was a 1982 adaptation of a 1975
French novel about a corrupt priest at the Vatican whose dealings in
love and organized crime force the religious hierarchy to intervene.
While such an outrageous view of the Vatican, shot almost entirely in
Rome, seemed like an idea perfect for box office-spurring controversy,
suffered so many ills in its production that it was
generally mocked and has since been long forgotten. The most prominent
detriment to the film was the insertion of actor Christopher Reeve into
the role of the priest, his attempt to shake the Superman label never
successful throughout the 1980's and early 1990's. Reducing itself to
the level of an average crime story completely incapable of competing
with similar themes as those in the franchise of
could not muster enough genuine dramatic gravity to
make audiences care about a priest who already had some significantly
alienating personality flaws to begin with. The project also revealed
itself to be one of difficulty for composer John Williams, who was
otherwise in the midst of the most successful period in his career. His
commitments to the Boston Pops and the challenging duo of
afforded
him only six weeks in the summer of 1982 to write and record his score
for
. Perhaps sensing the disaster that awaited the
film's final cut (which impressed Twentieth Century Fox so little that
the studio moved it from its prime December release slot to an October
dumping to clear it out of the system), Williams scratched together a
score that seems improvised by his standards. A very short effort
considering the extensive length of his surrounding assignments, the
score was dropped in significant portions in conclusive
post-production editing, reducing its placement in the film to less than
thirty minutes and marginalizing its already suspect identity. This
final usage of music should have come as no surprise, for Williams'
score is little more than three hasty themes pasted together in an
incongruent whole that has its strong attributes individually but
understandably suffers as a whole.
The instrumentation of
Monsignor is familiar to
the early 1980's period of hits for Williams, utilizing the services of
the London Symphony Orchestra with accent performances by harpsichord
and trumpet. Also representative is the style; every moment of
Monsignor, despite structural congruency problems, is distinctly
saturated with the composer's general sound, making it an antidote for
the composer's awkward misadventure for 1981's
Heartbeeps at the
time. The highlighting cues of accelerated rhythmic tonality from
Williams in this work are filled to the brim with the composer's
trademark complexities, a cue like "The Meeting in Sicily" clearly
foreshadowing the hyperactive personality of his much later scores for
the Harry Potter franchise. Structurally,
Monsignor is literally
the sum of three completely unrelated themes, switching between them
when necessary for obvious variations and never placing the ideas in any
confrontational stance with each other. The main theme is one of
romantic tragedy, rooted with Mediterranean sensibilities that fit the
locale. Evolving from a solo trumpet lamentation in "Theme from
Monsignor" (the end credits) and "Monsignor" (the opening title) to an
uncertain harpsichord capitulation in "Forgotten Vows" (a nude scene, of
course), this theme eventually flourishes with the full ensemble in "At
the Forum." The progressions of this idea share many similarities with
the somber and melodramatic phrasing of the primary themes in
Presumed Innocent and
A.I. Artificial Intelligence, the
tone of the performances tending to stay closer to the former. Some
renditions, especially in "Love Theme," appropriate, not surprisingly,
an ending to the theme that resembles Nino Rota's
The Godfather.
Despite its lack of use in the picture, the immense "At the Forum" is
the score's highlight, not only extending the theme's inherent
melodramatic progressions to excruciating, full ensemble expressions,
but also featuring two simply gorgeous solo piano ramblings that carry
over directly from
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. If only the
remainder of the score exuded the same sense of passion, then
Monsignor could have been among Williams' most poignant works.
Unfortunately, the other cues exhibit source-like characteristics and
lesser borrowing of material from another Williams work to simply fill
space.
The obvious source-like, attention-seeking cue in
Monsignor is a Latin mass heard in "Gloria" and reprised in the
strictly orchestral colors and more palatable tone of "Santoni's
Compassion." While impressive and an important piece without other sound
layers in the film, "Gloria" is perhaps a bit overrated in its
liturgical, pipe organ majesty. It's interesting to note that this
exhibition of bloated pomp and raw vocal inflection never caught on in
Williams' concert circuits. The final theme in
Monsignor is one
that Williams borrowed from an unfinished concert work meant for the
Boston Pops. The "Esplanada Overture," known from his official 1983
concert debut of the piece, is applied as a flighty representation of
carefree adventure in this film. Its lofty attitude sounds completely
out of place in this score, from "Reunion in Sicily" to "The Meeting in
Sicily," and it is perhaps no surprise that this piece was only
minimally heard in the final version of the film. The boisterous
personality of this borrowed piece definitely has more in common with
New England fishing expeditions or even the universe of Harry Potter
than the religious drama of
Monsignor. Singular cues include a
restrained solo horn passage in "Audience with the Holy Father," as
generic a Williams cue as possible, and "Appolini's Decision," which
concludes with the score's only suspenseful material of metallic,
dissonant tone. Overall,
Monsignor has plenty of good ingredients
but no sense of cohesion, frustratingly sounding like a rush job by the
maestro. The work was the last post-
Star Wars Williams score to
be released on CD, with the heavily rearranged LP contents of 1982
pressed to that medium by Intrada Records in 2007. The label returned to
the score in 2019, remastering that album presentation but finally
providing the film version of the recording, which offers less exuberant
arrangements and a few additional mundane moments late in the narrative
that don't stand apart in any way but may still be of interest for
Williams collectors. The sound quality of the 2019 product, especially
in the improved ambience of the album mixes, is particularly noteworthy,
making it an easy recommendation. The quality of "At the Forum" alone
outshines everything else in this score and merits a place in the
collection of any Williams enthusiast. Not deserving of its unfortunate
Razzie award nomination (unlike
Heartbeeps), the score is one to
appreciate for these rousing individual highlights rather than its
effective whole.
@Amazon.com: CD or
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- Music as Written for the Film: ***
- Music as Heard on the 2007 Album: ***
- Music as Heard on the 2019 Album: ****
- Overall: ***
| Bias Check: |
For John Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.79
(in 78 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.65
(in 355,108 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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