Few modern film composers have enjoyed a rise to both commercial and critical success as rapidly and smoothly as Elliott Goldenthal, a dedicated and passionate musical voice who has forged a path in Hollywood for almost ten years without sacrificing his own unique and individualistic style. Whether lending his talents to big budget Hollywood epics or intimate art films, Goldenthal stamps the films with a singular thematic approach which allows him to constantly grow and explore new aspects of every musical genre available in the realm of modern film.
After a brief absence from the cinema, Goldenthal reteams with director Neil Jordan for “Blue Vision” this winter. The film, which Goldenthal described to ScoreLogue as "the closest thing to a horror film" on which he and Jordan have collaborated, stars Annette Benning and Robert Downey, Jr. While dark thematic subjects are hardly new to Goldenthal, this psychothriller is destined to take him into even darker and richer waters. Jordan initially brought Goldenthal on board to replace composer George Fenton for the director’s first big budget American project, “Interview with the Vampire”, because the film "needed a more dramatic and vibrant pace." Their subsequent collaborations included Michael Collins, featuring what Goldenthal termed his "first genuine love theme," and “The Butcher Boy”, which integrated the distinct vocals of popular Irish vocalist Sinéad O’Connor.
Another notable directorial partnership in Goldenthal’s career with Joel Schumacher began with the blockbuster “Batman Forever”, which allowed the composer to enter an already established franchise which Schumacher wanted to emblazon with a "more lightweight comic book approach" than the earlier Tim Burton/Danny Elfman installments. They immediately followed this success with the John Grisham thriller, “A Time to Kill”, followed by the financially disappointing “Batman and Robin”, which contained a striking theme for Poison Ivy and deft reworkings of the already familiar Batman fanfare. Fans of Goldenthal’s music have longed for a legitimate score album for this much-maligned installment, and in fact the composer was guaranteed a score album by Warners which never materialized at the last moment, leaving both him and collectors high and dry.
Although Gus Van Sant’s “Drugstore Cowboy” was Goldenthal’s first feature film score and remains one of his personal favorites, score devotees first took note of him with his spectacular work for David Fincher’s “Alien 3”. Although the film itself suffered from drastic reediting and reshoots after the director’s departure to England, including a completely reworked ending and the elimination of at least one complete subplot, the music itself remains uncompromised and among the best in the series thanks to its complex weaving of tonal and atonal orchestrations. These innovative stylings have become a Goldenthal signature, and he even reused the effective Beast Within theme in his haunting score for “Cobb”). In fact, both “Cobb” and “Alien 3” are perfect examples of the Goldenthal style, which blends a neoclassical tonal approach with experimental and startling soundscapes in the best tradition of Jerry Goldsmith and John Corigliano. During a round of late night music editing, the unsuspecting native New Yorker was suddenly caught in the middle of the L.A. riots following the Rodney King verdict. Constantly drawing on his real life experiences for inspiration, Goldenthal was immediately provided with the emotional impetus for his next score, the gritty “Demolition Man”. This frenetic, grim "futuristic opera" remains a personal favorite to this day and has become a sought after collector’s item following its fleeting commercial release by Varese Sarabande.
Outside of his film work, Goldenthal has also carved a niche in the music industry with his partner, Julie Taymor, who made history this year as the woman to win a Best Director Tony Award for The Lion King and is now making her full length motion picture directorial debut with Titus, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s most gruesome play, Titus Andronicus, which will naturally feature a Goldenthal score. The composer’s canon includes a searing modern ballet based on Shakespeare’s Othello, currently enjoying a run in Los Angeles, and perhaps his finest achievement, Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio.
Among Goldenthal's other significant cinematic achievements, the recent “Sphere” is a standout among his filmography and allowed Goldenthal to work with director Barry Levinson (Wag the Dog, Rain Man) whom the composer greatly admires. This music allowed him to blend a beautiful water music approach with his tried and true jagged suspense techniques, though union difficulties due to the score’s recording in both L.A. and New York allowed only half of the score to be released on CD. Other highlights for Goldenthal include his disturbing work for Mary Lambert’s “Pet Sematary”, a grisly adaptation of the Stephen King bestseller, and the little-seen Golden Gate with Matt Dillon and Joan Chen, which allowed Goldenthal to first dabble in the East meets West motifs which became a recurring theme in his musical career.