The Power Of One

Hans Zimmer delivers a bright and impeccable score on The Power of One, drawing from traditional hymnals and incorporating the Bulawayo church choir against lush orchestral drumming backdrops. The film, directed by John Avildsen (Rocky and The Karate Kid) centers around the director's favorite theme of one young man who defeats great odds to become a hero. The Power of One, which was no box office hit like Avildsen's previous films, is a more ambitious film. It is more ambitious not because it was filmed in Zimbabwe, but because it deals with the events surrounding World War II, neo-Nazis, and apartheid. Lebo M, who worked with Zimmer on The Lion King soundtrack, wrote the lyrics, of which none are in English. Listening to the power of this music reminds us that there was a lot more to the soundtrack of The Lion King than Elton John and Tim Rice's pop songs. Hans Zimmer may very well be a modern writer for American films, but (together with Lebo M) he brushes an evocative African landscape as vividly as its musical inhabitants always have.