Broxton Comment-MB-006-61

PARTNER (1968)

Partner is a political drama film written and directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, adapted from Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s, 1846 novella The Double: A Petersburg Poem, transposed to Italy and updated to relate to the pro-Vietcong student protests that took place all over Italy at that time. The film stars Pierre Clémenti, Tina Aumont, and Sergio Tofano, and follows a college student named Giaccobe who has a routine life – until he encounters a twin, a dopplegänger, he is not related to. As the two get to know each other Giaccobe discovers that his twin-friend has many appealing qualities he doesn’t have, which inspire him to change his life… but not necessarily for the better.

There have only ever been a handful of tracks from Ennio Morricone’s score for Partner ever released; the most being four, which were included as bonus tracks at the end of the GDM release of the score for La Cina è Vicina in 2004. The first cue on the album, “Splash” is actually a song, written by Morricone with lyricist Audrey Nohra, performed by Peter Boom; the vocals are dreamy and a touch loopy, while the orchestral backing includes a dancing harpsichord, a modern drum kit, and a choir making pigeon noises whispering ‘splash, dash, flash’ in an unexpectedly creepy way. The whole thing seems to be a love letter to soap and bathing, and was clearly written while under the influence of a hallucinogen (actually, one of the characters in the film was a detergent salesmen, so it wouldn’t surprise me if this wasn’t his jingle)

The score proper begins with “Povero Claudio,” a gentle theme for pianos which is a little wistful and old-fashioned, but ends on a shockingly violent note. The subsequent “Vecchia Hollywood” is a surprisingly lush and romantic piece with an old Hollywood sheen, a touch of Alfred Newman in the languid strings, and brushed snares in the background. The final cue, “Roma Sospesa” is a rhythmic, insistent pulse for choppy strings and hooting woodwinds, that actually reminds me of some of the percussive cello music he would later write for The Untouchables.

Despite being an early film directed by one of Italy’s most famous and acclaimed directors, Partners is almost forgotten today, and much can be said of Morricone’s score. It’s a complete obscurity in a filmography of almost 500 scores, and is pleasant but unremarkable. The song “Splash,” however, is an unintentionally hilarious hoot.

Track Listing: 1. Splash (2:51), 2. Povero Claudio (2:08), 3. Vecchia Hollywood (1:05), 4. Roma Sospesa (3:38). GDM Music 4160, 9 minutes 42 seconds.

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