The Terminal (John Williams)

(2004)

Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) winds up trapped in a New York airport due to war breaking out in his nation during his flight, which has rendered his passport and travel documents useless.  He can’t enter New York, and he can’t go home, so he lives in The Terminal, ultimately causing so much annoyance for the management that they attempt to trick him into entering New York so that he’ll be arrested and will no longer be their problem, but he isn’t fooled.  Despite being treated with suspicion by airport employees initially, he eventually befriends many of them, and develops a romance with a flight attendant played by Catherine Zeta Jones.  The film is immensely enjoyable, in the most part because it’s just a light hearted comedy, and doesn’t make an effort to convey the chagrin of being stuck at airports for extended periods of time, which, let’s face it, would be very believable.

The Terminal was the 21st collaboration between Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams, with their most recent being Catch Me If You Can in 2002, which was a particularly welcome change from Williams’ music for Spielberg’s heavy dramas to that for comedy.  Whilst Williams’ work for that film would be difficult to recommend to anybody other than true Williams enthusiasts, the score for The Terminal is a delight from beginning to end.

The main theme, a whimsical clarinet tune, is introduced in the very first cue, and is gradually built up until it is played in all its glory by the full orchestra.  This is immediately followed by the eight minute long “Dinner with Amelia”, a Nino Rota style romance piece.  Next is “A Legend is Born”, a broad brass and horn piece which has the feel of one of those heroic western themes.

Other particular highlight cues include “The Fountain Scene”, a beautiful romance piece, followed by “The Wedding of Officer Torres”, into which Williams includes a few notes from “Here Comes the Bride” towards the end.  “Jazz Autographs” is an excellent solo piano piece with occasional bass, later joined by strings.  Williams includes a brief homage to Bernard Herrmann in the cue “Refusing to Escape”, where Herrmann’s theme from Cape Fear is briefly heard (strange choice, but anyway…).  Williams’ National Anthem for Krakozhia (yes; the film is fictional – that country does NOT really exist – don’t go looking for an atlas) is a brief, but hugely enjoyable fully orchestral piece.

This is undoubtedly my favourite score of 2004.  Admittedly, that year was an excellent one for film music, and so it was a pretty narrow choice.  Regardless however, this is as enjoyable a score from John Williams as I’ve ever come across, and deserves a place in the music collection of anybody who is a fan of his music.

Purchase from Amazon: CD | Download (UK)

Purchase from Amazon: CD | Download (USA)

Track Listing

1. The Tale of Viktor Navorski (4:12)

2. Dinner with Amelia (8:02)

3. A Legend is Born (3:16)

4. Viktor and his Friends (4:43)

5. The Fountain Scene (5:33)

6. The Wedding of Officer Torres (5:01)

7. Jazz Autographs (3:45)

8. Refusing to Escape (3:01)

9. Krakozhia National Anthem and Homesickness (1:49)

10. Looking for Work (3:17)

11. Gupta’s Deliverance (3:18)

12. Finding Coins and Learning to Read (4:02)

13. ‘Destiny’ … ‘Canneloni’ … and the Tale of Viktor Navorski Reprise (5:05)

14. A Happy Navorski Ending (2:47)

Credits

Music Composed, Conducted & Produced by John Williams

Orchestrations by John Neufeld

Clarinet & Accordion Solos by Emily Bernstein and Guy Klusevsky

Awards

None

Insert Notes

None – Purchased as MP3 Download

All artwork and images are Copyright © Decca