Reviving Cinematic Glory: Jeymes Samuel’s ‘The Book of Clarence’ Breaks the Biblical Epic Mold With a Stellar Soundtrack
Written by Katie Bain on January 20, 2024
Like the cinematic genres of Westerns and 3D films before it, the superhero movie as a hot Hollywood trend seems to be fading. If box office receipts and Rotten Tomatoes scores are any indication, audience fatigue has finally set in for superpowered men and women in tights. But bad news for comic book-inspired storytelling brings glad tidings for the revival of the kind of narratives English writer-director Jeymes Samuel loves to update with a modern spin. The Harder They Fall (2021) reimagined the classic cowboy movie, with an all-Black cast riding out to Barrington Levy and Kid Cudi. Now Samuel returns with The Book of Clarence, a revisionist update on the Biblical epics that Tinseltown used to love—but, again, starring Black folks (LaKeith Stanfield, Teyana Taylor, R. J. Cyler) with the hook of modern music.
The thing about multi-hyphenate Jeymes Samuel is that he’s also a singer-songwriter (and the younger brother of the British crooner Seal), recording as The Bullitts since 2010. Various self-released singles and visuals led to his position as the executive music consultant on The Great Gatsby, directly appointed by its director Baz Luhrmann and the soundtrack’s executive producer, Jay-Z. After writing the score for The Harder They Fall, Samuel again assumes duties as score composer on The Book of Clarence.
“My process is, I find my melodies and motifs for each character as I’m writing the script,” says Samuel. “So by the time I finish, I know pretty much all of the music in that film—what it all sounds like and what I wanted to show. I believe that people don’t celebrate the score of films as much as we used to when we were kids. We can sing the [John Williams-composed] themes to E.T., Star Wars, Superman and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and it doesn’t happen as much now. I wanted to have what we call a classic, cinematic, epic, biblical feel with a big orchestra and huge string sections.”
As The Book of Clarence music supervisor, Samuel chooses time-anachronistic needle drops that suck viewers into the historical era of a living (and Black!) Jesus Christ. A brilliant Jerusalem nightclub scene set to The Jones Girls’ 1981 hit “Nights Over Egypt” does wonders for helping audiences relate to the time period with its modernistic reference. The official soundtrack album also features the long-awaited return of D’Angelo, paired with Jay-Z on the nine-minute “I Want You Forever.” (Other original tracks include songs by Jorja Smith, Kodak Black, Kid Cudi, Doja Cat and Alice Smith.)
But Samuel’s unique method for crafting elements of his film’s score around dialogue delivered by the actors makes it one of the most vibrant, innovative soundtracks of the year. The 2024 Academy Awards is bound to agree when the time comes, stay tuned. “I want the audience to be watching and still bouncing, nodding their heads,” he says. “And when it gets to the emotional finish, they swim with the music. I wanted [viewers] to really feel the melodic landscape of what we present as a quote-unquote ‘biblical epic.’ ”
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