This past weekend, Gustav Möller’s Sons (Vogter) debuted at the Berlinale ’24 Competition, and is already received critical acclaim. Möller’s prior film, “The Guilty,” was adapted into an English-language film starring Jake Gyllenhaal; composer Jon Ekstrand may be best known for the TV series “Top Dog” and the films “Morbius” and “Life.” The Danish film Sons tests the Swedish composer’s mettle, and he rises to the challenge. The score is set for release on OONA, who also released Rebekkah Karijord’s Songs of Earth, one of our top film scores of 2023.
The film is a harrowing tale of a prison guard who requests to be transferred to a high security wing after she learns that a young man from her past has been sent there. The mystery: who is this man to her, and what does she want? The score is filled with unease, borne by electronics and strings, a rising tension as the tale unfolds. To Möller and Ekstrand’s credit, the early pieces are built on beds of drones, like unanswered questions lurking in moving shadows. In “Mikkel,” the sounds of rods on metal connote imprisonment as well as abuse. “Ward Transfer” is solemn and ceremonial, the negative image of a coronation. “Loss” offers only the barest hint of a choir, suggesting a memorial, foreshadowing through flashback.
The militaristic electronics of “Raid” come as a surprise, the first outright conflict in the score, and likely in the movie. One imagines guards in lockstep, batons outstretched. The four-note motif of “Hands” is plaintive and tender, a break from the harrowing mood; then the first of four versions of “Leave,” two featuring string ensemble and two piano. The strings communicate yearning, the desire for physical and spiritual escape, made even more plaintive when conveyed by piano alone: as if something or someone has been stolen. In contrast, “Forest” sounds like a chase, followed by an act of violence, while “Return” brings the choir to the fore; based on the music alone, we think we may be able to guess the secret. Album highlight “Adagio for Eva” brings the score (and if the sequencing is identical, the film) to an emotional conclusion before the final credits roll.
From all accounts, it seems that the film will be a harrowing experience, the score perhaps less so, but powerful in its own right, following a clear trajectory from start to finish, the sonic companion to an emotionally charged tale. (Richard Allen)
a closer listen 