Soundtrack Review: Elektra

By Mark Sung Feb 1, 2005, 1:19 GMT

Instead of producing a stereotypical superhero score with lots of triumphant outbursts and fanfares, Christophe Beck has opted for a more personal score which reflects the character of Elektra and the situations she has to face during the movie. The score often has a soundscape nature to it which helps to set the tone of the scenes in the movie.

There are many moments in the movie where the score actually works a lot better than a more traditional music score. The sound design used really helps to induce the emotions needed to reflect the tension of the onscreen events without distracting the audience by its presence.

To convey the mystical and supernatural elements of the movie, Beck experimented with new scoring methods.  As Beck stated, "One thing I wanted to try for a while was to create textures and music beds and edit and manipulate them to create both strange and familiar musical elements." 

He first prerecorded with an orchestra and then manipulated the recording to produce abstract sound designs. He then used the new sound designs to complement the traditional score he recorded afterwards with a full 83-player orchestra. 

In our interview with Christophe Beck, he compared the idea to how a Hip Hop track might sample a bit from a film score, or some piece of classical music, to produce a brand new piece of music. Beck's result is a score which has a very unique signature sound.

The main theme is played occasionally throughout the soundtrack, although it might be a little hard to notice that a theme exists when you first listen to it since it always seems to be performed in a rather understated way. The surprisingly quiet performance of the main them, first heard in the opening track 'Main Title', reflects the secretive nature of Elektra's character. It's only until the last few moments of the last track 'Elektra's Second Life' do we hear a stronger version of the main theme, and even then it only lasts for a short while.

The more vibrant second track 'DeMarco's End' begins with an interesting sounding rhythm. The track builds up and fades away often, reflecting Elektra's ability to seemingly appear from one place to another in a blink of an eye. Towards the end of the track we hear a burst of energy and attitude to coincide with the moment when the Elektra character is introduced to the screen.

From the fast paced tracks such as 'The Forest', to the violent sounding track 'Kirigi,' the various action scenes are also scored with a forceful energy which can appear and fade away suddenly, allowing the score to be able to surprise and shock the listener.

As its primary purpose as a soundtrack for a movie, the score for Elektra does its job well by enhancing the tension and suspense of the scenes. Credit has to be given to Christophe Beck for trying to create something new and innovative, and his results are very interesting. The sampled elements work very well with the orchestral elements to create a score with its own unique style. However without the accompanying visuals of the movie, it may not necessarily be something everyone will want to listen to again and again.

Click here to read M&C's interview with Christophe Beck.