Along the lines of Memento and the theme of memories real or imagined, The Machinist stars Christian Bale as the titular character whose sleepless life apparently unravels around him. Unsurprisingly, it never made it to Guernsey, but Bale is one of my favourite actors and he generally picks fine films in which to star. Although the lead character is played by a British actor and many of the other characters have apparently Russian names, the film is a Spanish production and many of the cast and crew are Spanish. This extends to composer Roque Baņos, about whom I know very little, only Sexy Beast sticks out in his filmography of otherwise Spanish productions (my knowledge of world cinema is shamefully poor). In any event, the film does seem the sort that might receive some kind of synth, indie score not worth hearing on disc, but Baņos' score couldn't be more different from that preconception.

If Michael Giacchino was channelling the style of John Barry for The Incredibles then for The Machinist, Baņos is summoning the spirit of Bernard Herrmann. From the queasy opening chord, the entire score almost plays as an homage to some of Herrmann's greatest works; the string based orchestration suggests Psycho although leaning more heavily on the mysterious elements of that score than the horror. That score's urgency is also effectively mined for Underground Escape, although the additional brass widens the orchestral timbre. The cue also uses a theremin (or entirely convincing synthetic imitation) which appears frequently, echoing The Day the Earth Stood Still while celesta passages recall the wonderfully haunting Fahrenheit 451 (one of my favourite Herrmann scores). As a largely talky drama, much of the music is low key, but just as Herrmann did, Baņos maintains a nervous energy that never goes away. However, the pace picks up a little in the final third; the aforementioned Underground Escape, but also You Are a Liar and the especially nerve racking Ivan Kills Nikkolash? which plays like an action version of Vertigo, while incorporating many of the other aforementioned elements.

The Machinist is an undeniably effective score which is genuinely haunting, unnerving and occasionally quite thrilling. It's yet another reminder that effective writing is far more important than layers of drum loops when attempting to generate energy and momentum. In that regard, it's a very classy piece of work, but the spectre of Bernard Herrmann does loom very large and I'd be hard pressed to find anything in the score which isn't somehow inspired by the work of the master. However, to his considerable credit, Baņos does not dumb down Herrmann's style and impressively avoids turning in the kind of cheap parody it could so easily could have become. While the precedents are fairly clear to the Herrmann connoisseur, they are combined imaginatively and if the rating must, to some extent, reflect that this is not an especially original work, it doesn't diminish the considerable pleasure to be derived from a fine homage.

Rating ~

1. Trevor's Lair (2:15)
2. Sleepless (2:19)
3. Looks Like Rain (2:51)
4. Mother's Day (1:14)
5. Miller's Accident (2:36)
6. Nikkolash's Game (4:51)
7. Route 666 (2:10)
8. Family Photos (3:10)
9. Miserable Life (1:34)
10. Posted Notes (1:55)
11. Chasing (2:23)
12. Hit'n Run Accident (2:28)
13. Underground Escape (2:43)
14. Steve's Care (2:27)
15. You Are a Liar (1:52)
16. Where is My Waitress? (1:58)
17. Ivan Kills Nikkolash? (4:27)
18. I Know Who You Are (3:16)
19. Trevor in Jail (1:49)

Total Time ~ 48:25