Si J’etais Toi Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the film score Si J’etais Toi by Nathaniel Mechaly.

At a glance:

Geek Score: 94.1
Total Minutes Of Excellence: 23.05
Album Excellence: 70%

How are the scores calculated and what does it mean?

Si J’etais Toi or The Secret is actually an American movie from 2007, well French Canadian if you want to nitpick, but it has American actors in it like David Duchovny, Lili Tayler and Olivia Thirlby. The story goes like this. The Marris family is a happy one, well, there’s obviously issues between the mother and the daughter. One day the mother and daughter is driving along a road arguing as usual when they are hit by a truck. The mother dies but somehow her spirit or soul is transferred to the daughter. Imagine the father’s reaction to that news. I’ve never seen the movie, but I chose to review the score by Nathaniel Mechaly because I’ve reviewed his Taken scores (last year) and this was before he became really well known thanks to the Taken franchise. This is pegged down as a romantic drama, but there are thriller elements as well and the subject is of course sad and very serious.

The title track ‘Si J’etais Toi’ starts with an opening that’s hard to figure out. It’s a bit sad, but it’s uplifting as well. The real Theme starts 40 seconds in which is a nice woodwind theme with strings as the underscore at first, but man when the strings take center stage at 1:16, it really gets to an emotional epicenter right there. This is a beautiful theme. So we have established that it’s a bit confusing. It goes from uplifting, to emotional, to sad, but it’s all great music so I won’t complain. It will be interesting to hear where Mechaly is going next. ‘Find The Book’ is a soft piano and strings cue. I find the piano a bit jazzy going on top of the slow strings. Well I like where this is going, but I’m sure there will be a change when bad things start to happen and the confusion is complete. Still, with ‘Mam’ it’s goosebumps time. Violin music at it’s finest.

Mechaly sure knows how to turn on the emotions. He tells the story well, it’s soft right now, but I expect it to be a bit more dramatic as the score continues. Still in calm mode with the beautiful ‘Sam Bed Room’. We ordered drama and here it is in ‘Biblioteque’, a much more dramatic cue than what we have experienced so far. It does have beautiful calm moments like the ostinato in the second part of the cue, but there’s no mistaking the stabbing string section in the middle. Drama is going on. ‘Hospital’ starts with a lower range single violin and adds a high pitched one. We are now in serious atonal music mode where bad things happen to people in movies. The melody does come in and again it’s very subtle and beautiful. I love minimalistic music like this, particularly when the theme is great.

Back at home without the mom must be a horrible place to be after her death. Mechaly tells of the sadness that goes through this family. ‘Back Home’ is definitely sad, the cue says “I miss you’, but even though it’s sad, the motif itself is wonderful. The cue becomes scary near the end. Maybe that’s when something strange is happening to the daughter. ‘The School’ is just about the most serious this score has been so far. Very dark, even when the electronica hits. This is also the first cue where there’s a electronica rhythm so blatant like this. I can’t say I’m a fan of that. The theme right after is solid though. Sam & Hanna, daughter and mother gets a theme in ‘Sam & Hanna’, short and sweet, but nothing we haven’t heard before and there’s been better themes as well. Daughter and Father also get their theme with ‘Sam & Dad (Part I & II)’. This one has a much better developed hook that grabs me. I love when the strings are getting big at 1:10. This might just be my favorite part of the score right there. Like ‘Back Home’ there’s a scary ending. Someone might have a secret or two.

We’re nearing the end now and it is getting truly scary with ‘Sam Nightmare’. I get goosebumps, but in a non-happy way. The subtle strings in the background while that wheezing noise, like someone or something is breathing into my ear. Yikes! I’m almost to scared to listen to a horror score by Mechaly after this, but bring it on! ‘To The Cemetery’ has a kind of hopeful feeling to it, like closure might finally be a possibility. The final score cue ‘TV End’ leaves me hanging a bit like the opening cue. A tad confusing I would say. Can’t read the emotions here and it doesn’t really make me feel something either.

Si J’etais Toi proves one thing. Nathaniel Mechaly is the business. He has proven he can do great action and themes in the Taken franchise and now he has proven himself in the drama market and it’s quite brilliant. This is a score people should be talking about, not just Taken. As emotional scores go, this fits the bill and it has a number of great themes to show for it. It might not be the most memorable of scores, but when I listen to it, I’m hooked. Check it out!

HIGHLIGHTS:
1. Si J’etais Toi
2. Find The Book
4. Mam *
5. Sam Bed Room
6. Biblioteque
9. Back Home
13. Destiny
15. Jiminy Peak
16. Sam & Dad (Part I & II) *
17. In The Eyes
18. Sam Nightmare *
19. To the Cemetery