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French filmmaker Jean Jacques Annaud's tale of Bengal tiger siblings who are separated as cubs, then reunited as adults under the bleakest and potentially deadly of circumstances revolves around a risky conceit: Nature/family film fable as pointed political allegory. And while composer Stephen Warbeck's Oscar-winning breakthrough score for Shakespeare in Love often seems to have typecast him in period films, the range and subtle mastery of conflicting idioms he displays here are a welcome reminder of the true breadth of his talents. Anchored by the idyllic pastoralism of his main title music, Warbeck weaves a rich sonic tapestry that echoes the travails of tigers Kumal and Sanha. To that end, his musical palate masterfully incorporates everything from opera ("Vergine Degli Angeli") and ominous 20th century modernism ("The Hunt") to haunting Asian motifs ("Aidan and Raoul," "Return to the River") and even a little Morricone-esque pop-folk effervescence (the banjo-dulcimer-whistle powered "To Freedom") before ending not with the expected dramatic thunder, but a warm, human-scaled dollop of ethnic-folk fusion. --Jerry McCulley