One thing I'll say for Michael Nyman's albums: they all have very coherent identities; they all feel like albums — which often isn't the case with soundtracks.
But then Z00 is not your average film. It's detractors would say it's an obsessive-compulsive piece of work that lends itself to a relentlessly consistent, consistently relentless set of compositions. But criticising the film for being overly thematic and lacking in realistic characters is like criticising Mission Impossible for being overly action-oriented and lacking in realistic scenarios. (I say this based only on conceited and snobbish prejudice, having never seen any Mission Impossible films.)
Having said that, I know some Peter Greenaway fans don't rate Z00 among his best work. I haven't seen it for about 20 years, I guess, but I liked it then. And I like the soundtrack, which captures Nyman's string arrangements at their most frenetic.
Here's an extract from my journal, dated 30 January 1986:
…I asked her when the word "cinema" was mentioned, if she wanted to go and see A Zed and Two Noughts — she replied that she was going to see it this evening with Sian, so I went along. After the film she suggested, primarily to Sian, that we went for a drink [in the Baron of Beef as I remember that evening]. I toyed with the idea of not going, and then I thought I would have a quick one and then go home, but I stayed until she said she was going to do some work.
What I'm saying here, in case you missed it, is that I was not handling the lack of requital very gracefully.
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