Dutch-Swiss composer Ella van der Woude wrote the music for Charlie Kaufman's short movie How to Shoot a Ghost, a stroy about two lovers who find each other again after their deaths. In the briefing she was tld not to hold back, but to consider the music as an important character for the tale as well. The result: a record that can stand on its own with the instruments doing the talking, taking listeners by the hand to show them a movie of their own invention if they are willing to let go and let the music wash over them. It does not sound that difficult to write - and perform - music like that, but it is quite hard to pull off.
This soundtrack will set comfortably next to the compostions of Zbigniew Preisner for Krzysztof Kieślowski's Trois Couleurs trilogy. Strong emotions - melancholy, loss, love and despair - abound, using tension and release, with a few snippets of dialogue thrown in, acting as signposts to the next scene.
