Press Release from Music Box:
In collaboration with Warner Chappell Music France, Masq and Alexandre Films, Music Box Records proudly presents on the same CD two original motion picture soundtracks for Alexandre Arcady's films: Le Grand Pardon (1982) composed by Serge Franklin and Le Grand Pardon II (1992) composed by Romano Musumarra.
Le Grand Pardon, embracing the gangster movie genre, tells the story of the Bettoun family, a Jewish French pied-noir mafia clan ruling over the Parisian underworld and controlling procuring, casino management and the organisation of clandestine boxing matches. Extorsion racket, pimping, clandestine gambling, big guns and back rooms, criminal and sentimental rivalries, settling of scores and family reunion... all of which served an overall panorama mixing atmospheres and colors, emotions and thrills. Both humanist and violent, langourous and fierce, intimate and intense, the score composed by Serge Franklin stands out by its dearing qualities and melodic variety: action themes, rythmic and synthetic effects, jazzy brass, tense strings, shivering guitars. The film stars Roger Hanin, Richard Berry, Anny Duperey, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Robert Hossein.
In Le Grand Pardon II (also starring Christopher Walken, Jennifer Beals and Jill Clayburgh), Raymond Bettoun (Hanin), released after 10 years in prison, comes to his family in Miami and soon finds out his son Maurice (Berry) in laundering drug money. As Alexandre Arcady wanted a Hollywood-style symphonic score, the production team hired composer Romano Musumarra (Faceless, Jean Galmot) who provided a dense orchestral score dominated by strings and brass instruments. The whole score builds up a tense and contrasted atmosphere, with its violent orchestral and percussive outbursts and its pretty tonal nuances, showcasing a poignant strings melody.
The two scores have been fully remastered from the original master tapes. For Le Grand Pardon, this present album recreates the original 1982 soundtrack album with the two songs (Khemdati and Adama) composed by Ilan Zaoui, which were not included in the expanded 2011 Music Box Records release. All the unreleased music features in the bonus section. For Le Grand Pardon II, this new edition was remastered from the original 1992 soundtrack album, only surviving element to this day. It features the same program except two source cues (not composed by Romano Musumarra).
The package includes a 12-page booklet featuring exclusive liner notes by writer Sylvain Pfeffer discussing the films and the scores, based on new comments by Serge Franklin and Romano Musumarra on their collaboration with Alexandre Arcady. The release is limited to 350 units.
