Mark Knopfler Soundtracks: The Princess Bride
Mark Knopfler had three film scores on his resume by the time director Rob Reiner approached him to write the soundtrack for his adaptation of William Goldmans contemporary fairy tale The Princess Bride. The year was 1987, and the phenomenal worldwide success of Dire Straits Brothers in Arms had put Knopfler on the map as a megastar in the music world. It was now time for him to score a major motion picture.
According to Reiner in the soundtracks liner notes, Knopfler was the only person able to capture the humor, romance and adventure of the film and then set it to music. My experience working with Mark has been an absolute pleasure. Not only is he so obviously gifted as a musician and composer, but he is one of the nicer human beings one is likely to run into in this lifetime. His warmth, sensitivity, humor and intelligence come through in his work and in his life.
Knopfler allegedly said his only condition for doing the film was that the baseball cap that Reiner wore in This Is Spinal Tap (as documentary director Marti De Bergi) must appear somewhere in this new film. Indeed, the hat from the USS Coral Sea can be seen in the sequences that bookend the movie which take place in the boys room. According to the liner notes once more, Knopfler states: I was only kidding about the hat.
Knopfler arranged and produced the tracks, but only he and his Dire Straits keyboardist Guy Fletcher played the instruments (which consistently primarily of guitar and synthesizer). The soundtrack was recorded in Los Angeles beginning in April of 1997, and the film was released by MGM in the U.S. in September. The film was certainly successful in its initial theatrical run, although it wasnt until video and DVD that the film earned its place as a family favorite and cult classic.
Regarding the soundtrack, All Music Guides writer Johnny Loftus glowingly states, Mark Knopfler's original music for The Princess Bride utilizes dreamy washes of synthesizers overlayed with warm acoustic instruments and hints of percussion. It's a great formula, often drifting through a gauze befitting a film that plays like a fairy tale. At the same time, songs like "Cliffs of Insanity" and "The Fireswamp and the Rodents of Unusual Size" cleverly acknowledge the movie's quirky humor even as they advance the plot with urgent notes or shimmering synth trills. "The Friends' Song"'s gently plucked acoustic guitar and whistle suggests the bardic tradition, while the main theme "Once Upon a Time...Storybook Love" is as romantic and pastoral as the film itself.
L.A. Smith, at Amazon.com, writes, Laced with almost metaphysically challenging guitar work and laden with rich, full-orchestral arrangements, The Princess Bride soundtrack qualifies as one of Mark Knopfler's cinematic triumphs. Romantically lyrical melodies like "I Will Never Love Again" contrast brightly with fun frolics like "The Friends' Song" and edgy mood pieces like "The Cliffs of Insanity." While most soundtracks are really just compilations of hits or variations on a single theme, Knopfler's play more like symphonies, each movement as fulfilling as the last. Though The Princess Bride doesn't quite carry off the emotional impact of Local Hero or Cal, it does offer up some terrific music
The still-popular Warner soundtrack (B000002LCB) is readily available from major retailers. It features all twelve tracks in 39 minutes, including Willy DeVilles Academy Award nominated theme song, Storybook Love (which Knopfler played on and produced). Five of the tracks (Once Upon a Time, Morning Ride, Friends Song, Guide My Sword and Happy Ending) can be found on Knopflers best of soundtrack CD entitled Screenplaying. The Warner Bros. CD (B000002MNR) is also for sale online and in stores.
Mark Knopfler is a singer, songwriter and guitar player touring in 2006 with Emmylou Harris to promote their new album "All the Roadrunning." For Mark Knopfler news, biography, photographs, and tour information visit the site: http://www.knopfler.info
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