• Chocolat

• Rachel Portman
• Studio Orchestra
• Sony Classical
• 2000

It seems that ever since her win for Emma, Rachel Portman is destined for almost certain Oscar nomination each year. She scores the type of film that are Academy friendly and having won is now a "name" that those choosing will pick up on. This is not to suggest that she is not a worth candidate necessarily, although in fairness I think there were some vastly superior scores in 2000 that deserved recognition over this pleasant, but not exactly outstanding effort.

Chocolat was directed by Lasse Hallstrom who also directed The Cider House Rules which Portman also scored and for which she received a nomination. Chocolat is a somewhat more distinctive effort that has a lovely, every so slightly mysterious folksy quality that is perfect for the rural, autumnal setting of the film. The album actually opens with Minor Swing which I thought was by Portman, but the liner notes inform that it was by Messrs. Reinhardt and Grappelli. I must admit that I was disappointed to discover this as it was one of the musical highlights of the film. The offbeat, jazzy and rather charming piece is played on screen by Depp's group of river dwelling travellers. None the less, it fits in well alongside Portman's atmospheric score.

Alongside the more gentle main theme, Portman sets aside a few more bouncing moments, the most memorable being Vianne sets up Shop which is very similar in style to Minor Swing. It seems to have a slight dash of flamenco added with Spanish guitars and perhaps more curiously a little pan pipe line that actually works extremely well. Party Preparations makes for a variation on a theme, but has a more French folk song feel to it with the addition of accordion. Portman's trademark chopping strings appear quite often and the little chord progressions she builds in almost remind me of Michael Nyman, although Portman almost always adorns them with a melody - more often than not on clarinet.

All in all a charming, well wrought score that has more variety than her other 2000 effort The Legend of Bagger Vance. The fact that she steers away from overly cloying melodies helps immensely and keeps the music a more striking atmosphere and distinctive sound. It still doesn't offer many surprises and I must admit that I'm still not overly inspired by Portman's music. It is pleasant, tuneful and occasionally very fetching, but just never strikes any strong resonance despite the best efforts to do so.

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