“Up”: Preview of “Emmett Room,” the emotional foundation of the score

At the heart of Chinonye Chukwu’s “Till” is a story about a mother’s love for her child. Danielle Didweiler plays Mamie Till Mobley, whose 14-year-old son, Emmett, was executed in 1955. The film follows Mamie as she seeks justice for the murder of her son.

Chukwu has recruited composer Abel Korzeniowski, whose previous credits include “A Single Man” and “Nocturnal Animals” to record the soundtrack for the film, which will be released on October 28 by Orion Releasing LLC, under an exclusive license to Mercury Classics Soundtracks & Scores.

One song, “Emmett’s Room,” is what Chukwu calls “a breathtaking cinematic nod to make you feel the heartbeat of the movie.”

“A bond like no other – stronger than loss, stronger than pain, stronger than an act of violence. This is the theme of a mother’s love, and the emotional basis for the outcome,” Korzeniowski says.

The topic is introduced when Mami is told of her son’s death. It reappears later when Mammy comes to Money, Miss, and retraces Emmett’s steps at Bryant’s Grocery. It ends in the last scene of the movie, when Mami symbolically meets Emmett, and she imagines him as if he was still alive, still cheerful and smiling.

“It was important to Chinoni that we don’t end up in the dark, so this ending is a way of saying, Mami won’t break, you’ll prevail and change the world in the process,” Korzeniowski says.

He adds, “We wanted the result to reflect internal conflict and transformation, rather than emphasizing objective reality. We focus on the present moment, magnified by long, patient close-ups, forcing the viewer to look and continue to look, more deeply into the character’s eyes.”

As Mami struggles to tell the truth of what happened to her son and spread awareness of the events surrounding his death, Korzeniowski says, “Mami wanted people to look and feel the pain, and she wanted them to not be okay with what they were seeing.”

Listen to “The Emmett Room” below.



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