LOST AND LOVE was released in 2015, it tells the story of a father who is searching for his Son and a boy who is searching for his family. After his two-year-old son goes missing, Lei (Andy Lau) begins a fifteen-year quest looking for his missing child. Whilst on the road, he makes a stop at a repair shop where he comes across a young repairman, Ceng (Jing Boran), who tells him that he was kidnapped at the age of four. Robbed of the life he was meant to live, Ceng can only vaguely remember fragments of his home life which include – a chain-link bridge, his mother’s long braids and bamboo trees. Lost And Love or Shi Gu is a beautifully uplifting tale of two lost souls who begin to forge a friendship and, although they seem to be staring in the face of a hopelessness and despair, manage to inspire courage and perseverance in one another and because of their relationship remain hopeful that both of them will one day be re-united with the family they have lost. The musical score for this drama and tale of hope is by acclaimed composer Zbigniew Preisner, like all of the composer’s film scores LOST AND LOVE is filled with highly emotive and poignant melodies, each of them having a life of their own but also working as one to create a score that is filled with fragility and emotion. The opening cue LULLABY is a calming and mesmerizing piece, the composers light and delicate touch shining through to create an elegant and haunting sound. I love the way in which the composer uses strings, sometimes fleetingly but also effectively, they enhance and support without being intrusive, but at the same time take command of the composition purveying a poignancy and an atmosphere that gets right to one’s emotional core. This is evident throughout the entire score for LOST AND LOVE, there is a hauntingly beautiful musical entity present from the start, the composers abundantly melodic and heartrending tone poems filling and overflowing into each other. At first it seems as these are unassuming and simple pieces of music, but they have the ability to fixate and almost hypnotise the listener. There is a slightness and tantalising aura to them and a style and sound that it is impossible not to notice or be affected by. I dare anyone to sit and listen to this or indeed any other score by Preisner and fail to be moved. The way in which he orchestrates the work too is impressive and inventive, woods and enhanced and punctuated by subdued piano in the cue, MEMORIES FROM THE YOUTH and this is a style that is also employed in the cue FRIENDSHIP, piano again taking centre stage with the composer adding light touches from harp, subtle strings and little nuances via guitar.
The cue WOMAN IN THE RAIN is also pleasing and rewarding, it is a soft and yet powerful piece, which opens with a music box effect or sound that is childlike and charming, Preisner underlines this with fleeting strings and also brings into the equation a woodwind solo which seems to appear from nowhere and a delicately performed guitar solo which adds even more poignancy to the proceedings. The combination is stunning, there are a few darker moments within the score but nothing that I would say is atonal or crashing as every cue holds a melody or a theme or at least highly thematic properties. This is one I recommend without reservation, it is entertaining, rewarding and totally absorbing. On listening to this I know you will straight away return to the beginning and listen again and again. Within the score there are obviously traces of other scores by this talented composer, WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN, FAIRY TALE A TRUE STORY, THE SECRET GARDEN etc, but that is no bad thing as his beguiling works are amongst the most attractive that have ever been written for the cinema. Available now from Caldera records.
MOVIE MUSIC INTERNATIONAL. (MMI) . 