TIRÉ À PART – Jean-Philippe Goude

Original Review by Alan Rogers

Tiré à Part is a French/English language film directed by Bernard Rapp and starring Terence Stamp (playing editor, Edward Lamb). Stamp’s character receives a manuscript from an old friend (played by French actor, Daniel Mesguich) which seems to contain details of an event from their past, details that convince Stamp that his friend may have been responsible for the subsequent suicide of his lover. The film follows Stamp’s character as he plots his revenge. The score is scored by Jean-Philippe Goude, a composer whose output has mainly been for television. He scores the movie with a small ensemble of instruments (mainly strings, piano, woodwinds), basing the score around a rhythmic piano theme.

The opening track, “Cher Edward/Générique Début”, showcases the main theme on piano and, to be honest, summarises the score as a whole. The theme’s quite jaunty as a result of the tempo and rhythm Goude uses. Around this theme there’s interesting embellishments from woodwinds and strings that flit around the core piano lines. What then follows are variations on a theme: both in terms of restatements of what is heard in the first track, but with subtle variations of orchestration and tempo (e.g., “Edward Brûle Les Livres” and “Picnic au Parc”), and cues that take little sections of the theme and then plays with them. For example, “Edward Visite Le Bureau de Nicolas” repeats a small initial portion of the theme, raising it through the scale to add some edginess to the now-familiar music.

Only occasionally does the score move away from the piano theme. “Nicolas Fouille Son Bureau” features ominous piano chords that are embellished with relentless heavy strings, building the cue to a crescendo only for it then to fall away with descending stark piano chords. “Valse du Goncourt” adds a brief moment of light relief with a waltz played by a string quartet.