Rating: 4
Barry scores this film as a downbeat opera about a love so obsessive it is destructive. He does so by developing a single romantic melody that is sometimes augmented by a counter melody to add stress. The emotion of the theme is deep, but deliberately plaintive and muted — it sounds like falling in love in Venice on a grey, overcast day.
The Appointment is a short, monothematic score whose mutedness makes it a less exciting experience than, say, Out Of Africa, however it has one of the most perfect themes Barry has ever written. It is used with such emotional accuracy that it foretells Barry’s imminent film score peak, Midnight Cowboy. It is a masterpiece of the understated score.