WIND (1992)

written by Rudolph Wurlitzer and Mac Gudgeon
directed by Carroll Ballard

starring: Matthew Modine, Jennifer Grey, Rebecca Miller, Cliff Robertson, Stellan Skårsgard, and Jack Thompson

Every Sunday morning, when I read the Arts & Leisure section of The New York Times, I scan the advertisements of the upcoming film release for the following information: who the director is, who the writer is, who the composer is, and finally, if there will be a soundtrack available on compact disk.

For me, the film score is as important an element of a movie as is the writing, the directing, and the cinematography. In some instances, the musical composition, rather than serve as a series of cues designed to prompt the audience with a desired emotion, becomes an invisible dramatic character within the film. If you find this statement suspect - go rent Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Bleu and watch/listen for yourself.

You see, it is my belief that the soundtrack of the musical score to a film, when made available to the consumer, becomes an aural equivalent to a historical document. It is something tangible that I can hold in my hands and play whenever the mood strikes, thus enabling me to emotionally relive the original experience of the film.

After I have seen a film with an outstanding score, I will rush out to my local record store to purchase the soundtrack. However, I must admit that I am a purist and that I refuse, with only a few exceptions, to buy a soundtrack that is laden with songs and only one or two tracks by the film’s composer. Somehow, I feel cheated by the record companies’ marketing departments when they elect to trade off the “popular” (and soon-to-be-dated) music used within the film, rather than the “timeless” orchestral music used to weave the film together. No, for me, it must be the complete score or nothing at all.

Wind, directed by Carroll Ballard (The Black Stallion and Never Cry Wolf), was one such film, and a perfect example of how important music is to the embodiment of a movie. The score was composed by Basil Poledouris (Conan the Barbarian, Robocop, and The Hunt for Red October) and is a story about the race for the America’s Cup - the World Series of yachting.

Matthew Modine (Birdy, Pacific Heights, and Full Metal Jacket), in his best performance to date, stars as Will Parker. Parker is a young, idealistic and cocksure sailor, who is invited to join the crew of the Radiance, which has been chosen to defend the upcoming America’s Cup Challenge, to be held in Newport, Rhode Island. Shortly after their training/testing begins, Will is made skipper of the Eagle, the Radiance’s “sparring” partner, and invites his girlfriend, Kate Bass, a retired match racer with a Master’s degree in aeronautical engineering, played by Jennifer Grey (Dirty Dancing and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), to be his tactician and the first woman ever to crew in the America’s Cup. It is a difficult decision for Kate to make, as she has her own ambitions and has been offered an opportunity to work with a brilliant aeronautical designer. Reluctantly, she opts for love and agrees to stay with Will.

However, no sooner does Kate demonstrate her incomparable abilities, and is accepted by her fellow crewmen, Will, at the behest of the Radiance’s tyrannical owner/skipper, billionaire Morgan Weld, played by Cliff Robertson (Charley, Obsession, and Three Days of the Condor), is forced to choose between her and a position as starting helmsman and tactician on the Radiance. Will is deeply conflicted. And yet, ultimately, he opts for his personal ambition over his relationship with Kate.

Kate and Will go their separate ways. And, during the final race of the America’s Cup, while maintaining an impressive lead, with the finish line in sight, Will is unjustly blamed for striking a buoy on the final leg. This error forces the Radiance to circle completely around it once before continuing the race (as per the governing rules), causing the Radiance to lose the Cup to the Australians’ entry, the Boomerang, helmed by Jack Neville, devilishly played by Jack Thompson (Breaker Morant). This loss by the Americans is unprecedented in the history of the America’s Cup.

Accepting responsibility for their defeat, a dejected Will departs Newport and resurfaces six months later on a private airstrip in Desert Flats, Nevada. He has come to see Kate and is immediately hustled by her new boyfriend/partner, Joe Heiser, played by Stellan Skårsgard (The Hunt for Red October), a self-indulgent, self-centered, and self-serving lout, into building a competitive sailboat.

Will returns to Newport to seek funding from Weld, but Morgan, who is still despondent from his loss and is dancing dangerously close to the edge of insanity, sends Will away. However, before Will leaves the Weld’s baronial estate, he encounters Morgan’s rebellious, aimless, and delightfully ditzy daughter, Abigail, played by Rebecca Miller. And, in a wonderfully written/acted scene, explains to her how to win a sailboat race by “finding your own wind”. Will convinces her to invest money from her trust fund into his dream of winning the America’s Cup back from the Australians.

Back in the desert, Will, Kate, Joe, Abigail, and the former crewmembers of the Radiance, set out to build the Geronimo, a progressively innovative designed sailboat. After a series of financial setbacks, they arrive in Fremantle, Australia where they find themselves, once again, challenging Jack Neville and his new boat, the Platypus, in the America’s Cup finals.

However, after a dispute in the sixth race, caused by a mishap on the water that could have been avoided by Parker and his crew, and left the Platypus without a main mast, Will admits that the Australians should be awarded the race, leaving them tied at three races apiece, with the seventh and last race to decide the victor.

As they prepare for the final race, a mutiny arises within the ranks of the Geronimo. But before it can be resolved, Morgan Weld unexpectedly appears with his own crew and announces that he will take over the helm. It seems, unbeknownst to everyone except Abigail, that most of their sponsors are controlled by one of Weld’s secret holding companies and he is now assuming ownership. In a defining moment for Modine’s character, Will defies Morgan, recaptures support of his crew, and delivers to Neville the Geronimo’s spare mast so that, in the spirit of fair play, the Platypus can continue the race.

The final race is intensely dramatic, with Kate assuming the role of the Geronimo’s tactician and, after falling behind in the final legs of the race and thanks to Kate’s innovative sail design, the Whomper -- “the world’s largest bug wing”, as well as, her superior tactical skills --- you guessed it, they are able to retake the lead, maintain it, and win the race and the America’s Cup.

Okay, so it has a predictably happy ending. So Will and Kate are back together again at the end of the film. What’s wrong with that? Lurking below the surface of this saga about the world’s most expensive pastime/sport, this pseudo “ROCKY on the water”, is a love story. A love story between two ambitious and passionately driven people, and ultimately, it’s a love story about “finding your own wind”.

The creative and technical credits on this film are impeccably impressive. Presented by Executive Producer, Francis Ford Coppola, Ballard directs scenes with Modine and Grey sans dialogue that are as telling as any scenes they have with lines. His placement of the cameras onboard the boats allows the viewer to forget they are watching a film and make them feel like they are a fellow crew member. John Toll’s (Legends of the Fall, Braveheart, and The Thin Red Line) cinematography is magnificent. He appears to have shot the entire film with little-to-no artificial light. And if you have ever read/heard any of the horror stories about the filming of Jaws and/or Waterworld, you know that shooting a movie on water is a monumental challenge, let alone on a 12 meter boat.

Which brings me back to Basil Poledouris. His score is a symphonic masterpiece, rich with texture and lush with -- what else -- wind instruments. Poledouris has even recreated the sound of the wind and incorporated it into the score as another musical instrument.

The ad copy on the DVD keep case, which paraphrases a line of Modine’s dialogue, reads: “The only thing better than winning the America’s Cup is losing it...and winning it back.” I say: “The only thing better than watching this film...is listening to the soundtrack.”


[originally published in VMag - November 1997]