Alexandre Desplat is a film music composer and this is his soundtrack for The girl with the pearl in 2003, which propelled him to the forefront of the international scene. He has worked with the greatest directors such as George Clooney, Jacques Audiard and Roman Polanski. This colossal work has been praised, applauded, rewarded on many occasions with, for example, two Oscars for The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson in 2015 and The shape of water by Guillermo del Toro in 2018, or even three César, two BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globes, two Grammy Awards etc.
On July 3, to close the eighth edition of the La Baule Film Music Film Festival (June 29 to July 3), Alexandre Desplat will be on stage at the Palais des Congrès as guest of honor.
franceinfo: This festival is an opportunity to put your career in the spotlight. What does this journey represent for you?
Alexandre Desplat: It’s very strange, but the composer’s life is really about always running towards this ‘dead-line’, this wall that comes your way. You must have returned your score because a studio is waiting for you with musicians, a film, and we cannot exceed this date. And so I don’t look back at all because otherwise I would be late. Obviously, I hear this parade of Prizes, films and brilliant directors with whom I have the chance to work, but I don’t think about it too much.
You grew up in a “musical whirlwind” is what you call it with jazz, bossa nova, classical music. I’m thinking of Ravel and Debussy and then of Greek music, the legacy of your poet mother. The artistry, and therefore the music, have always accompanied you very early on.
Still. It’s true. It’s a very caring, very open family environment. My parents had lived a lot in the United States, had even met there, had studied there. They spoke English when I was a kid, so it’s a multicultural maelstrom that really opened my mind to all cultures.
At five years old, you decide to play to piano. It’s small, five years old, and yet you are going to continue with the transverse flute, the trumpet. We have the feeling that, from the start, you had this desire to play with the scores.
Music is a magical thing because you share it first with the first listeners, your family.
Music is also a way to express one’s loneliness and share it with others.
Alexandre Desplatat franceinfo
So rather lonely child?
Instead. I had two older sisters. I was the only little boy so I had my little universe that I continue to cherish besides, since ultimately, what do I do other than listen to the directors tell me their story?
You will very quickly become a cinephile, passionate about film music, inspired by Maurice Jarre, by Bernard Herrmann, by Nino Rota, but it will be love at first sight. This is Star Wars ! It’s not the sword that attracts you, but rather the music of John Williams.
Yes, because all of a sudden, in the scores of John Williams, I hear jazz meeting the symphony orchestra, Ravel meeting Debussy, Stravinsky and all that 20th century music that I adore. And for the first time, they accompany a film. It’s funny because I have friends who didn’t listen to classical music at all, but they could listen to the music of John Williams, which is to say the brilliant pedagogical force.
You are a loyal man to the people who work with you. This is the case with Jacques Audiard. There will be a real meeting with him.
Yes. When I meet Jacques, I discover a universe that I like because it is very French and at the same time, it is nourished by American noir films. And I also use in this collaboration my influence of the American minimalists. Finally, I try to put all my influences in order.
Is it hard to find your paw, to keep it?
That’s the hardest part, finding your voice.
Do you still take the time to enjoy things?
Not really. In fact, I like to work. There is an attractive force which is terrible and which I cannot repel, at least for the moment. Apart from working, I don’t know how to do much else.
I like to be alone in my studio. I like meeting the musicians when I record in a big studio and sharing that moment with them. Once it’s finished, it’s like a big void and I have to fill it by going back to work.
Alexandre Desplatat franceinfo
The soundtrack of the film: The girl with the pearl by Peter Webber was a turning point for you. You are nominated for the Golden Globes and the BAFTA Awards for best film music and for the European Film Prize for best composer. How do you experience this international recognition?
This dream of California lost by my parents and of Hollywood was always present. I am very happy. The Golden Globe is a mythical thing like the Oscars, but it’s a difficult moment since afterwards, you have to choose between American films, English films and French films and I don’t want to abandon the latter, my French director friends. So, I continue to make French films while I travel all the time to the United States or elsewhere.
The Oscar for The Grand Budapest Hotel, it is still something else. You are one of seven French people to have received this distinction.
Oh yes, it’s fantastic! It’s true that composers have the advantage of speaking a universal language, so it’s easier than for an actor. But it’s fantastic, especially since Jarre and Delerue were total idols for me.
You join them with this Prize!
Absolutely.
So if we want to meet you, it’s possible. What is the program on stage this July 3?
It’s the Traffic Quintet, led by violinist Solrey, with whom I’ve had the chance to share life and music for many years. She kindly invites me to play a few pieces during her concert in La Baule where I will pick up my flute, which is in a small hidden box and which I will take out for the occasion.