It wasn’t a surprise to see that Scott Cooper had recruited Christian Bale to star in his most recent project, Netflix’s upcoming “The Pale Blue Eye.” However, it was a nice surprise to learn that Howard Shore would be providing the music.
The film, which is a follow-up to “Antlers,” is set in West Point in 1830 and is based on Louis Bayard’s novel of the same name. When a cadet is found dead, the morgue discovers that the man’s heart had been skillfully removed. Fearing what this information will do to the military academy’s reputation, its leaders recruit detective Augustus Landor (Bale) to investigate the murder. When he struggles to get information from the other cadets at the academy, he enlists a young man to help him – Edgar Allan Poe.
Edgar Allan Poe was a writer of Romantic and Gothic literature who often explored the themes of death, revenge, and insanity. Poe’s writing is a device to transport into a different time and place. He uses language in such a way as to make you feel the dread and gloom while you’re in a gray, dark, cold place. These same elements are visually at the forefront of Cooper’s trailer for “The Pale Blue Eye” but are accelerated through Shore’s musical arrangement.
Shore, who is a three-time Oscar-winning composer, is probably best known for his work within the Horror and Fantasy genres, including “Silence of the Lambs” and “Lord of the Rings.” With Shore’s uncanny ability to bring worlds to life through his music, he is an intrinsic part of bringing Cooper’s film to life.
While we have to wait until the New Year to see the film’s release, we don’t have to wait to hear Shore’s score. Netflix will be releasing the soundtrack to “The Pale Blue Eye” this Friday. However, ahead of the soundtrack’s official release, we are honored to be able to debut two of Shore’s compositions, “The Pale Blue Eye” and “The Academy.”
“The Pale Blue Eye” will be released on January 6, 2023, and stars Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Lucy Boynton, Gillian Anderson, Toby Jones, Harry Lawtey, Timothy Spall, and Robert Duvall. You can listen to “The Pale Blue Eye” and “The Academy” below:
