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“There is a lot to like about ‘Red Joan’, which clearly shows that George Fenton has lost none of the dramatic flair or emotional sensitivity that endeared him to so many people during the 1980s and 90s.” (MovieMusic UK)
Red Joan (George Fenton)
MovieScore Media presents its first album with Oscar-nominated veteran composer George Fenton: Red Joan, starring Academy Award-winner Dame Judi Dench. The film just opened on the American and several European markets. Directed by legendary theatrical director Trevor Nunn (Lady Jane, Twelfth Night), Red Joan is based on Jennie Rooney’s novel of the same name, which in turn was inspired by the real life of Melita Norwood. The film tells the story of Joan Stanley (Dench) who finds herself in the middle of an investigation for spying and treason. The flashbacks to her younger days (where she is played by Sophie Cookson) slowly reveal how she got involved in espionage, through the machinations of the charming Max (played by Stephen Campbell Moore), and what made her turn against her own country.
“I regard Red Joan as a personal score – by which I mean personal to the character of Joan” explains composer George Fenton. “My aim was to find a tonal language that sat well with the story of Joan in the 1930s but which never lost the sense of the story being told and remembered by the older Joan. A balance between the immediacy of young Joan’s experience and old Joan’s recollections. My hope is that even when heard away from the film that the music evokes the narrative of this extraordinary story.”
The five-times Academy Award-nominated composer has been writing for the cinema for more than 40 years. For some, he is known for his powerful political biopics, such as Gandhi or Cry Freedom, for others, he is the man behind the spirited music of comedies like Groundhog Day or the sensually charged Dangerous Liaisons. Over his career, his list of regular collaborators included Richard Attenborough, Neil Jordan, Ken Loach, Terry Gilliam, Stephen Frears and Andy Tennant. In the field of television, Fenton had scored most of the classic David Attenborough documentaries, such as Blue Planet and Planet Earth, which had also been turned into successful concert series. His most recent score is Cold Pursuit, starring Liam Neeson.
MMS19016 RED JOAN (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music Composed and Conducted by GEORGE FENTON
Release date (digital): May 10, 2019
Release date (CD): May 31, 2019