Pirates “You son of a double-eyed dining on rat, all presented with panache and About the scoring of the film, Polanski said, “As occasionally very dark humor. it turns out, Pirates was quite a difficult picture to whore from the reeking gutters score. Philippe and I began our discussions of Rotterdam!” The film premiered at the 1986 Cannes Film about this film long before it came into existence. Festival, after which it opened in the United Even then we realized there were many direc - It took Disney’s 2003 film Pirates of the States to critical disdain and box-office apathy. tions we could go and for a long time we didn’t Caribbean before scurvy pirates and their ad - Grossing only two million dollars, the film was know which way to turn. Over the years we ventures would become a viable and bankable simply not what audiences of the day wanted came to the conclusion that Pirates is really an genre for the 2000s. Before that, there had been and it disappeared quickly. Even so, it did man - homage to the old swashbuckler films. I did not quite a few attempts to bring the pirate genre age to pick up one Oscar nomination for Best intend to make a spoof and therefore I did not back all throughout the 1980s and 1990s – Costume Design (Anthony Powell). It vanished ask Philippe to spoof the music, though we both some were true pirate films, some had pirates for a while, but thanks to home video and cable wanted to make references to the period and amongst its players, and some had pirates of showings over the years, people have come to the atmosphere of the old Hollywood action other natures. Most were not successful; some, appreciate its many pleasures, including flicks. I wanted a music that would underline where the pirates weren’t the point, had more Matthau’s terrific performance, the sometimes- certain actions and gags, and yet I didn’t want success, but most of the true pirate pictures mordant black humor, the gorgeous visuals a “Mickey Mouse” type of score. I wanted to came and went without lighting the box-office (photography by Witold Sobocinski), and Polan - avoid a caricature.” Sarde delivered exactly on fire. ski’s excellent and robust direction. And, above what Polanski wanted and an absolutely bril - all, the wonderful, colorful, lush, exciting, and liant score. Roman Polanski had long wanted to make a pi - altogether beautiful score of Philippe Sarde. rate film; a grand, lush, fun pirate film like those Pirates was originally released on LP and then he’d seen as a child. He and collaborator Ger - Polanski had begun what would be a wonderful on CD by Varese Sarabande. Their CD release ard Brach (with whom Polanski had collabo - collaboration with Sarde on The Tenant , which was quite a bit longer than the LP. That release rated on Repulsion, Cul-de-Sac, The Fearless was followed by Sarde’s incandescent score for was oddly sequenced, as a quick perusal of the Vampire Killers, What?, The Tenant, Tess , and Tess (for which Sarde was nominated for an cue titles will tell you. Most likely, they probably others that would come later), wrote the script Academy Award) and then Pirates . Born in wanted to front-load the CD with adventure after Polanski had finished with Chinatown . The 1945, Philippe Sarde began scoring films in cues, but that doesn’t reflect the film at all, and film was set up at Paramount and was meant 1970 with Claude Sautet’s Les Choses de la the music doesn’t tell the story as it does in the to star Jack Nicholson as Captain Red and Vie (he would go on to score many films for film, with its natural ebbs and flows, and valleys Polanski himself as his first-mate, The Frog. But Sautet). From then on, he became one of and peaks. We were going to leave it that way Nicholson’s excessive salary demands put the France’s busiest and best composers. Right until we actually arranged the cue titles so that project on ice. It would not be until a decade from the get-go the Sarde sound was instantly they followed the film’s story, and once we later that the film would finally be made, this recognizable – his wonderful gift for memorable heard that we knew that we wanted to present time with Walter Matthau as Captain Red. The and melodic themes, his ability to do just about it as Sarde wrote it. And interestingly, we later budget, which had been $15 million while the any genre, but in his own unique style. His film found out that’s exactly how the original LP pre - project was at Paramount, escalated to $40 mil - scores throughout the 1970s were some of that sented the score – the CD mixed it all up, but if lion. A full-sized working galleon (albeit with a decades’ best. Soon thereafter, Hollywood dis - you look at the LP cue order you’ll see it’s all in motor and steel hull), christened the Neptune, covered him, and he did many terrific scores for film order, sans the music that was added for was built for the film in Tunisia, near the film stu - US films, such as Ghost Story, The Manhattan the CD. dios of the producer, Tarak Ben Ammar. Project, Lovesick, Lord of the Flies, Music Box , along with an impressive list of French films and We’ve completely remastered the sound, and The story begins with the grizzled pirate, Cap - films from other countries. He continues to be additionally we’ve included two bonus cues: the tain Red, and his first-mate The Frog, stranded prolific and that Sarde sound continues un - main and end titles as presented in the film, on a raft in the middle of the sea in the middle abated in all its glorious beauty, whether ro - taken from the beautiful-sounding foreign DVD of nowhere. Starving, Captain Red cracks and mantic, rueful, humorous, atonal, bluesy, or release. chases Frog around the raft trying to eat him. whatever mood is called for. He is a film score Just in time, a Spanish galleon appears and treasure as priceless as the Aztec golden Matey, they don’t seem to write scores like this they are rescued – but not really. They are im - throne in Pirate s. anymore, so it’s a real treat to have Philippe mediately put into slavery in service to the Sarde’s great swashbuckling music back on CD, Spaniards in charge. From there, it’s business As Roman Polanski said in his note about the sounding better than ever with enough buckle as usual for a pirate film – a splendid mutiny, a composer that accompanied the original CD re - and swash for a dozen films. treasure to attain (a golden Aztec throne), a lease, “Philippe Sarde is not only a composer – beautiful damsel who’s the niece of the Spanish he is a filmmaker. He adores movies and knows — Bruce Kimmel governor and with whom The Frog is immedi - all aspects of filmmaking from beginning to ately smitten, swordfights, reversals, explo - end.” sions, captures and escapes, cutthroats, and