Quartet Records presents a remastered reissue of one of the most celebrated collaborations between Ennio Morricone and Giuseppe Tornatore, the composer’s most important partner during the last twenty years of his career. Together they achieved great success in Italian and international cinema with films such as CINEMA PARADISO, STANNO TUTTI BENE, THE LEGEND OF 1900, MALENA and THE BEST OFFER, among others. A PURE FORMALITY (1994) is an intense Kafkaesque noir drama (starring Gérard Depardieu and Roman Polanski at his best as an actor) about a famous writer who hasn’t published any new books for quite some time and has become a recluse. When he is picked up by the police one stormy night, without any identification, out of breath from running madly and with no clear memory of recent events, the Inspector is suspicious.

Ennio Morricone offers one of his best efforts for a Tornatore film, with a haunting main theme, a very nostalgic song performed by Depardieu (“Ricordare”), dramatic tension cues and introspective violent music. The score is mainly dark and fatalistic, in a style that the Italian maestro was experimenting with at the time (in scores such as IN THE LINE OF FIRE, WOLF, DISCLOSURE and THE STENDHAL SYNDROME).

The original album of A PURE FORMALITY was released at the time by Sony Classical and reissued by GDM in 2013. This is a remastered reissue of the generous 50-minute album program, remastered by Chris Malone. The booklet includes an in-depth essay by film music writer John Takis discussing the film and score.

01. Breathlessly (A perdifiato) 3:04
02. Remembering (Ricordare) 4:14
03. The Palace of Nine Frontiers (Il palazzo delle nove frontiere) 3:29
04. The Bum (Il barbone) 3:41
05. A Troublesome Clue (Ingombrante indizio) 2:14
06. Waiting for the Police Inspector (Aspettando il Commissario) 1:11
07. In Search of Onoff (Alla ricerca di Onoff) 2:46
08. An Odd Diary (Diario bizzarro) 2:40
09. Photos (Fotografie) 1:21
10. Mosaic (Mosaico) 1:09
11. Leonardo da Vinci 3:13
12. Contradictions (Contraddizioni) 2:21
13. The Trap and the Mouse (La trappola e il topo) 1:29
14. Escape from Onoff (Fuga da Onoff) 1:37
15. Bloodstains (Macchie di sangue) 2:40
16. After the Nightmare (Dopo l’incubo) 1:06
17. A Mere Memory Lapse (Un banale vuoto di memoria) 2:02
18. Repressed Memories (Rimozioni) 2:01
19. Revelation (Rivelazione) 1:46
20. A Night in February (Notte in Febbraio) 2:16
21. To Obliterate the Past (Effacer le passé) 4:11