Description
“The Irony of Fate 2” Original Motion Picture Score
Limited Edition of 500 copies
Label: KMRCD 016
Film Date: 2008
Album Date: 2009
Tracks: 21
Time: 44″58
The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath! is a popular 1975 Soviet TV movie directed by Eldar Ryazanov. The story is about a group of friends who share a tradition of going to public bathhouses on New Year’s eve. When two of the friends get drunk and when one of them wakes up on the Leningrad airport by mistake, he goes to the wrong house (this is a jab at the drabness of socialist realistic architecture). When Zhenya even manages to open the door of the wrong apartment building, a crazy comedy of errors starts where the unlikeliest of people can end up together.
The Irony of Fate 2 is a sort of sequel/remake of the original Bekmambetov (of Night Watch and Day Watch fame). In this story, the characters from the original film have children who will go through the same comedic situations with a big twist. While the humorous misunderstandings were quite accidental in the original movie, here they are deliberately replicated by the main character, who thinks that recreating the old situation may have a beneficial effect on his lonely friend. The Irony of Fate 2 can be enjoyed regardless if you’ve seen the original – but make sure not to miss the music!
The film marks the third collaboration between Yuri Poteyenko and Timur Bekmambetov, who had previously worked together on Night Watch and Day Watch. The score has to balance between comedy and drama while retaining the story’s romantic essence in a yuletide setting. Christmas classics (such as “Jingle Bells”) are incorporated into the music which also offers a great festive spirit the way you never heard before. There are touching lyrical moments for the blossoming of a new romance while frantic chase cues are interspersed for covering the madcap chases and misunderstandings. Recommended for those who still get a kick out of John Williams’ Home Alone!
