Eleanor's Secret (Kerity, la Maison des Contes) tells the magical story of a boy who inherits a large book collection and who experiences the adventure of his life when the fairy-tales on the pages come to life. The film's score, written for full orchestra as well as solo guitar, piano and cimbalom, is written by Christophe Héral (who is probably best known for his music for the video game Beyond Good and Evil)...

The soundtrack to Eleanor's Secret is a bit of a mixed bag. There are a number of beautiful themes, but there are also a few odd inclusions - which no doubt add something to the movie, but are not particularly easy to listen to.

The album opens with 'On the Road to Kerity' which contains a number of different styles (including a segment that would feel at home in one of Danny Elfman's scores for a Tim Burton movie). This then melds into a beautiful piano theme, before finally transforming into one of those montage sounding pieces.

Highlights, for me include 'Nathaniel: Knight of Kerity'; 'Eleanor's Piano'; and 'Eleanor's Jewels'

There are a lot of tracks that I didn't really warm to, 'Nightmare & Illusions' was the oddest. It is creepy but probably works better in the movie rather than as a standalone track.

While an interesting collection of music styles and themes, there's probably only around 10 minutes of music that I'd listen to again, and because of that it's not an album I can really recommend.

4

Darren Rea