The film

Penélope Cruz and Salma Hayek star as two Mexican bankrobbers, in this Luc Besson written western. The movie was directed by Joachim Roenning and Espen Sandberg.

The music

It was a clever move to hire Serra for a western oriented movie. Given his guitar playing background, combined with the skill and experience creating strong orchestral music for a whole variety of movie styles, this story was served greatly with a more perfect blend of guitar and orchestra than ever seen before. And it works out, Serra's guitar work sounds as Mexican as it gets, added with nicely flavored mariachi trumpets, castanets, and all the other necessary cliches, the music is inseparably blended with the orchestral flavors a modern movie audience needs to be swept, turned and pulled in the movie's ride.

Enjoyable also are the sympathetic and indeed truly beautiful nods to maestro Ennio Morricone's archetypal western scores, with soft melancholic string sections, epic high pitched wordless vocals and of course the occasional trumpet. It is all the more funny when Serra manages to reminisce back to something as different as "Le Grand Blue" (e.g. in "You Killed My Father") without loosing the perfect coherence his score maintains.

This may not be the most melodic of his scores, there is always something new going on, to keep you interested. An interesting showcase for how widely oriented Serra's talent really is.

The CD comes with an enjoyable extra: When played on a computer or mpeg playing DVD player, a 19 minute documentary about recording the music can be enjoyed. Serra speaks only in French, but it's a treat to watch the orchestra recording sessions, and Serra jamming with himself in his studio.

Released in 2006 (although copyrights say 2005)
Recall . . . RMFF06 8345118342

        1. The Scientific Method     3:00
        2. Maria Y Su Caballo        2:40
        3. The Beautiful Daughter    0:40
        4. Sara Y Maria              1:58
        5. You Killed My Father      3:08
        6. Solmo                     1:13
        7. Los Peones En La Iglesia  1:42
        8. Traperas                  1:13
        9. El Pueblo En La Caverna   1:20
       10. Adious                    2:06
       11. Billbuck                  0:56
       12. El Caballo Atras          0:21
       13. Le Escuela De Billbuck    1:49
       14. El Torrente               1:25
       15. Companeras                1:19
       16. Carino                    0:37
       17. Las Bandidas              1:20
       18. Marijo En El Saloon       2:18
       19. Los Mercenarios           3:25
       20. Huella Dactilar           0:41
       21. Princesa Sara             0:48
       22. Novios En El Banco        4:12
       23. Robodos                   2:51
       24. Ladronas Y Horcas         1:54
       25. Viva Mejico               0:39
       26. Cirios                    1:48
       27. Prelio                    1:20
       28. Bandidas Finalio          2:29
       29. Leyenda Y Muerte          1:21
       30. Gobernador Y Oro          0:27
       31. Le Echamos De Menos       1:37
       32. Can't Stop Thinking       0:42
       33. Las Bandidas (Reprise)    1:29