The Mosquito Coast

Label: Fantasy Records     
Catalogue No: FCD 21005 2

Release Date: 1986

Total Duration: 45:37

UPN: 0-2521-82105-2-2

Maurice Jarre’s score for THE MOSQUITO COAST is the latest in his series of film collaborations with Australian director Peter Weir, a relationship that has proved to be most productive.

As with WITNESS and THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY, Jarre has produced his score electronically, immersing the listener in an ethereal world of sound that has both a suggestive and descriptive quality to it. Jarre’s synthesizer atmospheres combine melodic fragments with rhythmic percussiveness – there are no developed melodies in this score, but plenty of ideas and brief motifs. This is most effectively realised in “Jeronimo”, where after sections of exotic mysticism and percussive Afro-rhythms have developed through, a recurrent melodic idea eventually transforms itself into a gradually descending chordal progression of B triads, cadencing in a dramatic, bursting electronic display.

The tracks on the album are very long, but after a while the texture of the score becomes somewhat monotonous. There is very little variety in the score, and this in addition to the lack of melodic interest hurts the over-all impact of the music. Jarre’s approach serves him well, but it worked better in WITNESS. Besides the fact that it was more of a unique film, the WITNESS score better sustained interest through shorter cues, and had the highlight of the barn raising sequence. A standout that is noticeably absent from Jarre’s MOSQUITO COAST score.

Is Jarre’s reliance on electronics of late a reflection of his desire to emulate his son Jean Michel’s commercial success, or is it in fact the other way around, with Maurice teaching Jean-Michel all he knows? Just wondering.

Kevin Mulhall – Originally published in Soundtrack Magazine Vol.6 / No.22 / 1987