Michael Brook » Works » TV & Film » Affliction

AFFLICTION (1999, Citadel) Opening Titles   Late Night Phone  Crossing Guard  Hunting  Flashback  Late Night Conspiracy  Autodentismo  Resignation  Chase  Night Flashback  Wade Goes Wild  Worries  Homestead   Marge  Barn  Close Refrain

Michael’s next music-for-cinema assignment arrived in the form of Affliction, a new film directed by Paul Schrader (American Gigolo, Cat People). The film’s difficult emotional landscape forced the composer onto new musical terrain; Michael wrote mournful legato melodies for strings and French horn in an effort to depict the toxic relationship between father (an especially evil turn from actor James Coburn) and son (an equally bent Nick Nolte).

Once more, much of the film’s music was composed in Michael’s home studio during his residency in Palo Alto. The Turtle Island String Quartet, based near Michael in the Bay Area, animated his string charts with appropriate degrees of gravitas and foreboding. Jason Lewis, who had previously supplied percussion on some of Michael’s collaborative projects, also lived nearby and became a key player in the score.