Composed by: Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek

Released by: Varese Sarabande VSD 3020669462 (February 3, 2009)

Tom Tykwer is a very special artist. Being able to combine his directional abilities with his musical side as a co-composer with the well-known Heil / Klimek duo (with whom he’s been working since day 1), he’s came up with some pretty impressive film work so far. The International is not an exception of the rule. The central character, an Interpol agent played by Clive Owen along with Naomi Watts are after one of the world’s most powerful banks’ dirty work and the hunt down results in a grandly intensive ride. Tykwer manages to deliver an exceptionally shot and tightly acted political thriller, all under a fast plot, the kind of which Tony Scott tries so hard to reach every time with his similarly-oriented movies, but he usually fails into heady, dizzy messes.

Tykwer works closely with Heil and Klimek once again (with the apex of their career so far being the collaborative gem that listens to the name “PERFUME: The story of a murderer” back in 2006) delivering a dark, string-driven thriller score bond-together and led by aptly-performed, fitting electronics. The last are ambient sounds (musical and not) for atmosphere and tension creating purposes, or the repeated and instantly recognizable percussive / bassy motif that holds the entire score together and turns into music the very race against the clock, i.e. the movie’s basic theme. These, come exceptionally combined with the minimalistic orchestral lines , mostly low strings with a very sterile sound and brass crescendos, interrupted by occasional string ostinati, percussive bangs and crashes or even very intense glissandi whenever an appropriate chase scene or an agonizing scene down a dark and hostile alley comes up. So, you’ll love it -especially the last 2 pieces on the album, if you’re generally into modern thriller scores with correctly-balanced electronics that set up an anguishing, minimal ambience. These, combined with brooding string lines and heavy percussive passages are the successful form of that with which Harry Gregson Williams would come up, if he was a better composer. Still, you’ll definitely want to avoid it if you’re one of those people who run screaming, whenever the words “modern”, “electronics” and “minimalistic” come up in a film score discussion.