A new movie which will be released on March 16th 2022 is, NOTRE-DAME ON FIRE, which offers a blow-by-blow recreation of the gripping and devastating events that took place on April 15, 2019, when the famous cathedral suffered the biggest blaze in its history. The film retraces how heroic men and women put their lives at risk to accomplish an awe-inspiring rescue. The movie which contains a totally absorbing story, which focuses upon the courageous firefighters who tackled the destructive inferno. The idea behind the film was to recreate the events of April 15th, and to do this the filmmakers used archive footage taken that was shot by bystanders and professionals on the night of the fire, to which they have added images that no one was able to film as the tragedy unfolded, shot in huge sets which have been built in scale replica of the magnificent Cathedral. The film, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, is intended for large screens around the world equipped with state-of-the-art image and sound technology such as Imax etc. Which is the only way to do this riveting and emotive movie justice. The musical score is by composer Simon Franglen who is a British born composer of film and classical music, and a former record producer and musician and has worked alongside the likes of the late James Horner and Thomas Newman in film scoring.
His music for Notre Dame on Fire is just as spectacular and emotive as the movie itself, lending its considerable dramatic, melodic, and powerful sound to the images on screen.
The score at times is action led, with gripping and foreboding textures, and colours underlining and punctuating the scenes that are unfolding before the watching audience. However, there is also a highly melodious content to the score, the composer creating a deep and fixating spiritual atmosphere utilising symphonic instrumentation alongside choir and synthetic/electronic support to create a haunting and inspiring sound.
It is a score that one could refer to as being an edge of the seat listen, it is tense and fraught in places with the composer employing percussive elements and brass flourishes along the way to create a sense of desperation and disbelief. But its lighter or richer, and melodic side brings forth superbly glorious thematic material that is affecting, resounding and totally captivating.
The combination of strings, choir and brass is wonderfully effective, and evokes the style of James Horner and also reminded me of the sound that composer Mark McKenzie creates at times. It has a poignant but at the same time awesomely stirring musical persona. This is a score that you must add to your collection, it is stunning and highly recommended. The soundtrack is coming soon on Milan/Sony.
MOVIE MUSIC INTERNATIONAL. (MMI) . 