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All Is Lost (soundtrack)

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All Is Lost (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Film score by
Alex Ebert
ReleasedOctober 1, 2013
Recorded2013
Studio
  • Adios, Ojai
  • Lurssen Mastering, Los Angeles
GenreFilm score
Length45:17
LabelCommunity Music Group
ProducerAlex Ebert
Alex Ebert chronology
Alexander
(2011) 		All Is Lost
(2013) 		A Most Violent Year
(2014)
Singles from All Is Lost (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
  1. "Amen"
    Released: September 12, 2013

All Is Lost (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2013 film All Is Lost directed by J. C. Chandor. The film's original score is composed by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros' frontman Alex Ebert and was released through Community Music Group on October 1, 2013. Ebert's score was critically acclaimed and received a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.

Development

[edit]

All Is Lost marked Ebert's maiden feature film scoring assignment.[1] Chandor discussed with Ebert's manager Amos Newman to listen the works of few "out of the box" musicians where Ebert was one of the list.[2] After listening to his work, Chandor had a formal interaction with Ebert who agreed his role in the film during November 2012.[1] At certain instances, Ebert wrote the music without watching the film and eventually worked well, while the melodic themes were recorded to picture; some of his pre-written material would change dramatically when played to picture.[3][4] The first scene he scored was the climatic sequence where he described it as "very beautiful, the death of it so overwhelmingly liberating, that nothing short of something that felt sacred would do."[4] It applied to the drone music, which accompanied of Tibetan bowls and giant crystal bowls providing the sonorous hum.[4]

The main theme "Excelsior" was the first piece of music he wrote for the film, which was originally in ¾ time at about five times the pace of the music;[3] he called it as "a perky waltz that suddenly turned into a very different, brooding piece when playing it to the movie".[4] The aim was to create the fourth wall, with the chorus calling Redford's character to surrender. The alto flute deciphered "the wild, solipsistic union with the elements and of the strange and cold beauty of surrender" that played imperceptibly as the wind and the character is even challenged despite paying no heed. When Redford accepts defeat, the flute plays as he writes the last letter and the theme never played again, implying that he has surrendered.[4]

Besides composing the score, Ebert wrote and produced the original song "Amen".[2][5] He did not plan for writing a song, but he had something in mind which had the potential to describe the story where the refrain that kept coming was "Amen", the character's name was phonetically close to the word. For the lyrics, he overtly incorporated his thoughts about Redford, the generation and living in the face of death and used few direct references of the character.[6] Ebert added that the song in its entirety is a conversation between the woeful young and the defiant old.[4]

Release

[edit]

On September 10, 2013, Community Music Group announced the film's soundtrack that consisted of 11 tracks along with an original song "Amen".[7] The latter was released as a single on September 12, 2013,[8] while the album in its entirety was released on October 1.[9]

Reception

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Critical reception

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Writing for The Independent, Geoffrey Macnab said that "music is used sparingly but to great effect."[10] Ben Kenigsberg of RogerEbert.com wrote "The score by Alex Ebert [...] is the film's main concession to commercial interests"[11] Justin Chang of Variety summarized that Ebert's score "crucially serves the material with its enveloping, never overpowering swells of emotion".[12] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote "The score by Alex Ebert is quite varied, both in sound and effectiveness."[13] Dana Stevens of Slate wrote "The musical theme—a simple, haunting melody by Alex Ebert—is used sparingly and effectively, with natural sound providing most of the sonic backdrop."[14] Philippa Hawker of The Sydney Morning Herald wrote that the film "combines a complex sound design with a sparingly employed score from Alex Ebert".[15]

Year-end lists

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Track listing

[edit]
All Is Lost (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Excelsior"2:55
2."All Is Lost"4:30
3."Virginia's Dream"2:39
4."The Infinite Bleed"8:32
5."The Invisible Man"5:54
6."Pulse of the Weight"1:50
7."Dance of the Lilies"5:19
8."The Instincts of Boredom"3:27
9."Somewhere in the Midnight of Summer"3:33
10."Excelsior and the All Day Man"2:00
11."Amen"4:38
Total length:45:17

Accolades

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Accolades for All Is Lost (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Golden Globe Awards January 12, 2014 Best Original Score Alex Ebert Won [21]
[22]
International Cinephile Society January 14, 2014 Best Original Score Nominated [23]
World Soundtrack Awards August 14, 2014 Best Original Score of the Year Nominated [24]
Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film Alex Ebert — ("Amen") Nominated

References

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  1. ^ a b Barker, Andrew (November 20, 2012). "Edward Sharpe's Alex Ebert to score J.C. Chandor pic". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on December 26, 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Q & A With All Is Lost's Golden Globe Nominated Composer, Alex Ebert". HuffPost. January 9, 2014. Archived from the original on July 2, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Rath, Arun (October 26, 2013). "For 'All Is Lost,' A Songwriter Embraces Silence". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Davis, Edward (December 12, 2013). "Alexander Ebert Talks Scoring All Is Lost, Getting Robert Redford To Surrender & Almost Making A Musical With Heath Ledger". IndieWire. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  5. ^ Chagollan, Steve (November 6, 2013). "Alex Ebert, aka Edward Sharpe, Gets Into Redford's Head". Variety. Archived from the original on November 27, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  6. ^ Hasty, Katie (January 7, 2014). "An epic interview with Alex Ebert on All Is Lost, Golden Globes and Edward Sharpe". Uproxx. Archived from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  7. ^ "Community Music Announces Release of All Is Lost". Community Music. September 10, 2013. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  8. ^ Rahman, Ray (September 12, 2013). "Hear Alexander Ebert's song 'Amen' from the Robert Redford 'All Is Lost' soundtrack". Entertainment Weekly. CNN. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  9. ^ "ALL IS LOST Soundtrack". broadwayworld.com. Wisdom Digital Media. Broadway World. September 11, 2013. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  10. ^ "Cannes Film Festival 2013 review: All Is Lost starring Robert Redford is almost dialogue-free, but exceptionally compelling nevertheless". The Independent. May 23, 2013. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  11. ^ Kenigsberg, Ben (May 22, 2013). "Cannes review: Robert Redford fights the elements in "All Is Lost"". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  12. ^ Chang, Justin (May 23, 2013). "Cannes Film Review: 'All Is Lost'". Variety. Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  13. ^ McCarthy, Todd (May 22, 2013). "All Is Lost: Cannes Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  14. ^ Stevens, Dana (October 18, 2013). "All Is Lost". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  15. ^ Hawker, Philippa (March 5, 2014). "All Is Lost review: No dialogue but Robert Redford's performance speaks volumes". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on May 23, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  16. ^ "The 15 Best Film Scores Of 2013". IndieWire. Archived from the original on October 31, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  17. ^ Thompson, Melissa; McCue, Michelle (January 7, 2014). "15 Best Film Scores of 2013". We Are Movie Geeks. Archived from the original on October 23, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  18. ^ Burlingame, Jon; Chagollan, Steve (December 20, 2013). "Top 10 Soundtracks of 2013". Variety. Archived from the original on January 17, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  19. ^ "The 15 Best Film Scores of 2013". MTV. December 19, 2013. Archived from the original on June 26, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  20. ^ Radford, Ivan (January 7, 2014). "Music in Film: The top 20 soundtracks of 2013". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  21. ^ "Golden Globes Nominations: The Full List". Variety. January 11, 2014. Archived from the original on March 29, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  22. ^ "Golden Globe Awards Winners". Variety. January 12, 2014. Archived from the original on March 20, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  23. ^ "International Cinephile Society Go Their Own Way With Award Nominations". IndieWire. January 14, 2014. Archived from the original on May 29, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
  24. ^ Chagollan, Steve (August 13, 2014). "Arcade Fire, Alex Ebert, Pharrell Williams Among World Soundtrack Awards Nominees". Variety. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
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