Alexandre Desplat and Guillermo del Toro: A lesson from a musical duo

Alexandre Desplat explains why he went into film music:

The cinema was my Eldorado. My teenage idols were the New Hollywood guys — Spielberg, Scorsese, De Niro. As I became a movie buff, I discovered the history of cinema, including film music. I became obsessed, I bought records and listened to everything I could get my hands on. I went back to the cinema to listen to the films. I bought import vinyls. By listening to all this music, I realized that in cinema, anything was possible. One day you could be writing for a string quartet, and the next day for a jazz band. But above all, that music could bring an extra dimension to some films, a new act, a new space, and that it could be really beautiful.

Guillermo del Toro on his relationship with film music:

The first record I ever bought was the soundtrack to Jaws. The second one was The Godfather. Ever since, I listen to film soundtracks 90% of the time. There was no such thing as streaming when I was a kid, and the only way to watch a movie again was to close your eyes in a darkened room and listen to the vinyl, so that’s what I did. Most of the records I own are soundtracks. Most of the musicians I admire, like Quincy Jones, have a jazz background. For me, the modern version of a soundtrack is “riffing” with images, just like jazz does with notes. I think the first step in composing a soundtrack comes from the camera. It is the first note of music in a film. It is down to the film to set the tone.

The composer and his influences:

At the start, all my influences were probably very easy to spot, but in almost all the music I compose, I inject Brazilian, African, and Greek rhythms, as well as chanting inspired by singers from Burundi. Unlikely things that have fueled my imagination. The key word is the imaginary world: a creator is someone who is able to shape their entire imagination. The ability to develop a musical narrative in response to an image that inspires you is derived from everything that has fueled you since childhood.

The filmmaker on his first musical impact in cinema:

Of course, it was Jaws! Steven Spielberg inherited his musical DNA from his mother. However, for me, the secret of that film, and the key to its success, is that he films like a composer, and John Williams composes like a director. When I watched this film as a kid, what I understood was that the directing and the soundtrack were one and the same. For me, Alexandre is not a composer, he’s a director. For the music to work, the camera’s musicality needs to be shared between the director and the composer.

Alexandre Desplat on the way he accompanies characters:

The music in a film often begins as the film starts and accompanies it until the end, flowing chronologically. The music I write is more focused on the characters than on the images or the action. Actually, I haven’t composed much for action films. I plant little seeds and watch them grow until they reach a key sequence where the melody finally blossoms.

The composer on working with filmmakers:

I’m carried along by the film. It’s the beauty of the film I’m invited to be part of that allows me to slide into it, the way an actor would. The composer is just a guest in this theatre. I use the tools I’ve stockpiled: musical tools, of course, but emotional tools too — fed by what I’ve read, museums I’ve visited… then I share all that with the film and the filmmaker. I make suggestions, and the director guides me toward his vision for the film. I’m there to help him find a musical path that fits the film, but also takes it in a new direction. In a way, I am the film’s third writer.