Filmtracks: The Power of One (Hans Zimmer) (2025)

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Buy it... if you have always been impressed by the LeboM.-influenced portions of The Lion King, in which case ThePower of One is an authentic sibling score of surprisingly defiantand optimistic character.

Avoid it... if you expect to hear more than just a hint of theinstrumental style of Hans Zimmer in the accompaniment of the South Africanvocalists, because this score is dominated by the solemn but hopefulperformances by the latter group.

BUY IT

Zimmer

The Power of One: (Hans Zimmer) You'll bechallenged to find a film as depressing as The Power of One, acharacter story about one young white man's life-long struggles toovercome personal tragedy and fight for equality during the height ofapartheid in South Africa. His friends, family, and inspirations arenearly all executed in gruesome, violent ways, graphically depicting thevery worst in racist behavior that plagued the country. Director John G.Avildsen managed to insert some hope into the adaptation of the 1989novel by emphasizing the toughness of hand to hand combat, an element ofsuccess in his Rocky and The Karate Kid films. Theproduction was obviously not received well by the South Africangovernment; despite the slow political shift towards open, multi-racialdemocratic elections there, The Power of One debuted in 1992, acouple of years before Nelson Mandela's victory. One of the interestingbyproducts of the displeasure that The Power of One brought uponmembers of its crew was the impact that the film had on composer HansZimmer. One scene in the film includes a song with intentionallysubversive lyrics to be performed by prisoners to celebrate the visit ofa ranking official in the prison system. Music plays a much larger rolein The Power of One, from Zimmer's original score to thetraditional choral performances arranged by Lebo M. Thesewell-coordinated recordings had such an impact on the film as to causeZimmer himself to be black-listed in South Africa for having engaged insubversive filmmaking. In fact, when Zimmer teamed with Lebo M. oncemore for The Lion King not long after, the studio insisted thatit wasn't safe for the composer to travel to South Africa again for theobviously similar recording requirements. Zimmer claims to have had nopersonal connection to Africa despite composing no less than half adozen scores for serious films involving racial conflict in thatcontinent. He instead has always been touched by the style of Africanmusic, though he admits that his attempts at representing it through hisscores is more frequently based on Western notions that simply utilizenative colors. His interest in writing for the region extended from asegment in A World Apart that eventually led to his involvementin The Power of One, which he considered a satisfying extensionof the same sound. Of course, Zimmer's compelling recording of ThePower of One directly led to his hiring on The Lion King, ascore that continued to explore generally the same choral tones andthematic structures.

Total Time: 48:58

* composed by David Khabo
** composed and/or arranged by Johnny Clegg