John Sayles's latest film is set in a fictional country much like Guatemala, but its companion soundtrack is more universally Latin in flavor. The cumbia, Columbian dance music, plays a major role, but so do the brass band, orquestras, of Mayan culture, and the lovely a cappella of Peruvian singer Susana Baca. The range here is phenomenal--from El General's funky hip-hop to Mason Daring's bass marimba and Spanish guitar-driven score--but not a note feels out of place. A good soundtrack should complement a movie, but the best ones, like Men with Guns stand on their own. --Keith Moerer
From the Label
Do places like the unnamed Latin American country seen in Men With Guns (Hombres Armados), the upcoming Sony Pictures Classics release written, directed and edited by John Sayles, really exist in our hemisphere, with whole villages massacred and burned off the face of the earth and young girls tortured and raped? A place where young people might be killed merely for providing medical care? Of course it's believable because it's based on fact. "The idea for Men With Guns came to me from stories told to me by friends," says Sayles. "One, the novelist Francisco Goldman, had an uncle who was a doctor in Guatemala and got involved in an international health program. A few years later he found that most of his students, whom he had sent off in good faith to serve as barefoot doctors in the poorer communities, had been murdered by the very government that claimed to support the program."
For Sayles, it was important that the scenes and music for his March 6 release not be set in a specific place. "I didn't want people to say, that can only happen in El Salvador, that can only happen in Guatemala or Mexico," says Sayles. "This doesn't just happen in Latin America. This kind of thing is happening in Africa, in the former Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. And it certainly happened in the United States. We were just more thorough in eliminating indigenous people than some other societies."
Released on Rykodisc on February 24, the soundtrack MEN WITH GUNS (RCD 10437) mirrors Sayles' vision by delivering a musical journey that travels within Latin America, but is not tied to any one country. Sayles and noted composer Mason Daring (Lone Star, The Secret of Roan Inish) consulted Tom Schnabel (of "Café L.A." fame) and his vast knowledge of world music to achieve a seamless blend of traditional and contemporary Latin American songs and sounds. Freed from constraints of time and space, the soundtrack tells its own compelling story, making its own journey through the dark heart of Latin America.
As well, each song in the film has a storytelling purpose distinct from its quality as a piece of music. El General's rap version of the Juan Gabriel song "Amor de Pobre" helps establish the urban world that central character Dr. Fuentes encounters when he steps out his front door. The galloping beat of the cumbias "Cumbia en Do Menor," "El Sincelajano," and "Mi Cumbia" provides the perfect traveling music for the montages that bring Dr. Fuentes out of the city - first to a slum by the city dump and then into the countryside. "La Verdolag," sung by Columbia's incomparable Toto La Momposina, adds an Afro-Caribbean touch in the cane-cutting sequence, while "Fiesta en Corraleja" and the traditional Mayan orchestral piece "Dios Nunca Muerte" have the timeless brass band quality one associates with remote villages from Bolivia to Sicily. Peruvian Susana Baca's a capella "Copla de la Muerte" and the haunting spiritual chant, "Mohana," again sung by Toto la Momposina, accompany the deceased Dr. Fuentes on his trip to the next world.
The Mason Daring composed cues, sometimes lasting only a few seconds, sometimes acting as fully melodic songs, are just as diverse. "Lounge de los Incas" lends a feeling of artificiality to the theme restaurant where Dr. Fuentes confronts his son-in-law, just as the histrionics of "Pozo de los Caciques" underline the sensibility of the tourist hotel. For "La Caza," a quick, flashy attack during the chase on the mountain road, Frank London gathered some of New York's premier salsa players. Duke Levin contributes a Spanish-influenced guitar on several cuts, and Billy Novick and Jamey Haddad punctuate the action with traditional wind and percussive instruments. The marimba, the backbone of Mayan music, comes into play heavily once Dr. Fuentes and his band enter the jungle. Daring composed on a synthesizer, then brought marimbist Nancy Zeltsman in to make the sound come to life; Daring's solo guitar work on "Teleguerra" pays homage to countless Philippino action pictures.
With the cinematic release by Sony Pictures Classics of "Men With Guns," John Sayles continues his journey as one of the most disciplined and enchanting directors in American film. The soundtrack is more than the ideal accompaniment to this master storyteller's latest achievement; it is also a prized example of the scope and breadth of Latin American music. Emotionally moving, evocative and sexy, groove-heavy and dance-ready, MEN WITH GUNS offers a musical experience that, like Sayles' films, exists in a space beyond trend and hype.
Men With Guns: A New Film From John Sayles (1997 Film),El General,Jeanie Stahl,Rykodisc,Latin,Soundtrack,Soundtracks,Soundtracks & Film Scores,Tropical
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Men With Guns: A New Film From John Sayles (1997 Film)
El General , and Jeanie Stahl Manufacturer: Rykodisc ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
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ASIN: B000005Z5T Release Date: 1998-02-24 |
Tracks:
- Hay Un Lugar
- Amor De Pobre - El General
- Pozo De Los Caciques - Jeanie Stahl
- Gente De Cana
- Lounge De Los Incas
- Llantas Robadas
- El Chino
- Cumbia En Do Menor - Lito Barrientos
- Liberacion
- El Sincelejano - El Chane
- La Caza
- Mi Cumbia - Ramon Ropain
- Modelo
- La Verdolaga - Toto La Momposina
- Teleguerra
- La Familia
- Fiesta En Corraleja - Banda Once De Enero
- Necropsia
- Subiendo
- El Dios Nunca Muerte - Les Miserables Brass Band
- Cerca Del Cielo
- Copla De La Muerte - Susana Baca
- Mohana - Toto La Momposina
Amazon.com
John Sayles's latest film is set in a fictional country much like Guatemala, but its companion soundtrack is more universally Latin in flavor. The cumbia, Columbian dance music, plays a major role, but so do the brass band, orquestras, of Mayan culture, and the lovely a cappella of Peruvian singer Susana Baca. The range here is phenomenal--from El General's funky hip-hop to Mason Daring's bass marimba and Spanish guitar-driven score--but not a note feels out of place. A good soundtrack should complement a movie, but the best ones, like Men with Guns stand on their own. --Keith MoererCustomer Reviews:
excellent sampler.......2002-05-23
1) a great breadth - gives you an excellent sampling of various flavors of latin music, some quite obscure
2) "Cumbia en do menor", by Lito Barrientos, my favorite Cumbia of all time.
3) "Mohana", by Toto la Momposina, one of the most haunting songs I've ever heard.
Click on the Amazon samples, see for yourself!
Good stuff.......1999-05-12
excellent variety, not pop music, full gamot of emotions.......1998-05-07
I use this to help me get into my Spanish role-playing character's mindset.
Chris
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