Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Music by John Ottman

 

 

 

 

 

John Ottman is one of the most creative talents in the contemporary alternative American cinema. In his formative activities Ottman was director and producer and from there came the need to learn music, so that he could write music his own films. Curiously he would stand out as one of the most inventive composers of his generation.

Original as one would expect from the composer skill to soundtrack for Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) repeats the usual lightness of his work. Film and music assume light comic farce in an espionage and crime plot in the world of film producers (not by chance, Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was a James Bond nickname). Two mythological worlds attractive to audiences and perfect for an intentional blockbuster directed by Shane Black (screenwriter for Lethal Weapon) and produced by Joel Silver (Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, The Matrix). But something went wrong for the blockbuster and the adventure starred by Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer resulted as a just nice sum of references to cinema folklore, spy movies, hitchcockianas plots, twists and adventure. John Ottman´s music for its turn, had freedom of referencing the mythology that led to the production.

 

"I thought going a little retro and funky would offer the cleaverness the film needed in the score. So I embedded these ideas into a darker noir-ish orchestral sound to offset the humor " – J. Ottman

 

James Bond and Lalo Schifrin jazz influences are evident. Above all Ottman assumes humor and farce and his music flows elegantly throughout the film. The Dead Girl in Shower track is a fun suite of "instrumental plot points". Without excesses the music flows lightly and colorful in the suspense of First Kill and Painful Pieces or in the reminiscent valse Innocent Times. More consistent themes for thriller as Surveillance Lesson and Harry's Rage show a dramatic dimension. The main theme (Main Titles) captivates with its immediate empathy and exemplary sets the light mood of the movie. A work that reveals new nuances and deeper meanings at each new hearing.

Considering the result of the musical production of John Ottman, stays the question (or hope) of how would be a film directed and scored by him.