INTRADA Announces:
BODY DOUBLE
Composed by PINO DONAGGIO
INTRADA Special Collection Volume 86
The 1984 Columbia thriller Body Double was director Brian De Palma’s attempt to fuse his characteristic Hitchcock homages with a jaded look at hardcore pornography. The story finds actor Jake Scully (Craig Wasson) losing a part in a vampire film due to his claustrophobia and finding that his live-in girlfriend is cheating on him, putting Scully out on the street and out of a job at the same time. Fortunately, a genial fellow actor named Sam Bouchard (Gregg Henry) takes pity on Scully and puts him up house-sitting in a spectacular octagonal house in the Hollywood Hills. Bouchard shows Scully a telescope in the house that’s pointed at an apartment complex where wealthy, exhibitionistic Gloria Revelle (Deborah Shelton) dances mostly naked in front of her window each night. With lots of time on his hands, Scully becomes fixated on the woman, especially after he sees her seemingly pushed around by an abusive husband and then stalked by a mysterious, scarred “Indian” thug. Shortly afterward Gloria is murdered, yet Scully sights a porno actress named Holly Body (Melanie Griffith) who resembles Gloria—or at least resembles Gloria’s unclothed body—and he begins to suspect that he was set up to be a witness to Gloria’s murder.
Italian composer Pino Donaggio made a name for himself in films of suspense and horror such as Piranha, Tourist Trap, Beyond Evil and The Howling, where his music’s evocative mix of eeriness and striking lyric romanticism made highly distinctive contributions. Body Double provides a field day for Donaggio, opening with a smashing horror movie pastiche for scenes of Scully shooting a vampire movie, while laying the groundwork for some of the operatic flourishes and important thematic approaches for the rest of the film. Donaggio keeps up his characteristic blend of lyricism and tension throughout the film. His opening title is a mellow, hopeful melody for strings and piano, and the aftermath of Scully’s breakup is tenderly scored for high-range strings (in a manner befitting Herrmann). Scully’s claustrophobia is treated with spectral textures from strings, piano and celeste as well as sighing vocals, while a two-note motif is pounded out by horns and heavier brass in scenes where Scully is incapacitated by his phobia. Donaggio was able to go in a purely contemporary ‘80s direction with several cues that showcase the electronica and synthetic percussion of the era, with a lilting vocal siren song weaving throughout. Donaggio wrote a number of long and elaborate musical cues that are not only at the forefront of the sound mix, but also feature the kind of melodic development rarely seen in movies today.
All of Donaggio’s Body Double music is here, including the source cues he wrote specially for the film. Although Donaggio went on to score De Palma’s 1992 thriller Raising Cain, he has since been primarily active in Italian film, with over 170 scores to his credit. But his work for De Palma (which includes Carrie, Dressed to Kill, and Blow Out) will always rank as one of the most productive and memorable director/composer relationships. This release mixed from the original multi-track elements is limited to 3000 copies.
INTRADA Special Collection - Volume 86
Retail Price: 19.99
AVAILABLE NOW
For track listing and sound samples, please visit
http://store.intrada.com/s.nl/it.A/id.5994/.f
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