Deneuve, la Reine Catherine

Pablo Pico

 
" Pablo Pico wrote a varied, rich score reflective of a wide range of nuances and openly expressive emotions, using an functional array of orchestral and (jazzy) solo musical instruments. "

Written by Joep de Bruijn - Review of the download only release

Deneuve, la Reine Catherine (Deneuve - The Queen Catherine) is a 2022 biographical documentary covering the career of French actress Catherine Deneuve. It tries to capture the veritable life of the actress, with archive footage of films and interviews. Composer Pablo Pico wrote the original score.

Unsurprisingly, in line with the aim of the documentaries, Pico's soundtrack makes an effort to explain the intrinsic importance of Deneuve's work as an actor and her personal life. There's also a curiosity and playfulness to the documentary that the composer does translate so well through a stylish orchestral score, with pieces of music more introvert in emotion, and others lively and playful in tone.

Several cues carry wonderful touches of music that reflect a certain period of her life and the films; Marcello is a playful cue with an enjoyable jazzy ensemble of piano, bass clarinet, electric organs and finger claps, similarly Festival de Cannes 1964 replaces the bass clarinet by double bass and removes the organs in favour of a lovely rhythmic woodwind and small subdued swells from the strings.

At other times, the score reflects a vivid joy, heard in cues such as Not so Bourgeois (a lovely partnership of whistling, a string motif, piano and woodwind). However, the fairly pathos-laden cues are the heart of the score (Love and Destiny, Tender Wounds, A Picture of Destiny), small and desolate, to more melodramatic segments, which resurfaces combined with a feel of curiosity, usually expressed through celesta, woodwind, strings, and portions of the therefore mentioned liveliness and 'period' music.

Pablo Pico wrote a varied, rich score reflective of a wide range of nuances and openly expressive emotions, using an functional array of orchestral and (jazzy) solo musical instruments. Yet, I feel the score makes a futile attempt to make emotions more viable in relation to understanding more about the actress as a person, in which the documentary barely scratches the surface, which mostly isn't a defect that the composer had any control over, as his score to Deneuve, la Reine Catherine is an imaginative and memorable score to its fullest extent.





Tracklist
1. Actress of Legend (2:13)
2. Love and Destiny (3:15)
3. The Rise of a Star (2:49)
4. Not So Bourgeoise (1:45)
5. Marcello (1:31)
6. Waltz into Darkness (1:20)
7. Cité des Fleurs (1:57)
8. Festival de Cannes 1964 (1:32)
9. A Picture of Happiness (2:26)
10. The Whirlwind of Life (1:42)
11. Cherbourg in the Rain (2:21)
12. Havane ou Gitane (1:21)
13. Tristana (2:19)
14. Tears Behind the Smile (1:07)
15. Tender Wounds (1:55)

Total duration: 29:25




(written 26-07-2022)
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Released by

Cézame (download only release 2022)