Renowned for his whimsical touch, composer and 11-time Academy Award nominee Alexandre Desplat has created hundreds of scores for several well-regarded films. Some of his most notable scores include those for the “Harry Potter” series, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and the “Twilight” series. Romantic and profound, Desplat’s music remains faithful to the specific pace of each scene. What truly distinguishes Desplat from other composers, however, is his ability to make music that retains his identity across a wide range of film genres. His scores evoke vivid images that linger in the minds of listeners who are unfamiliar with the films to which they belong; within the context of films, his scores enhance the emotions already present in the performances. Desplat is a singular composer in that his soundtracks often inspire people to watch the movies rather than the other way around.
Born in Paris, Desplat incorporates many European genres in his music, including baroque. His influences expand beyond classical music, however, as he studied Brazilian and African music and fell in love with jazz. Desplat plays the piano, trumpet and flute. He became fascinated with cinema from a young age and, while developing his career, composed for both movies and stage plays. From his theater experience, Desplat learned how to align his music with the actors’ emotional expressions.
Dramatic crescendos and decrescendos (or deliberate increases and decreases in the volume of the music) form the foundation of Desplat’s repertoire. They serve to increase suspense or tension in a scene; in other words, they make the music more dynamic by simply controlling the force of volume. The music thereby ebbs and flows like water, remaining coherent amidst the drama that the instruments create. Even apart from the visuals of a film, the emotions that Desplat induces with crescendos and decrescendos are unparalleled. The hush of a delicate instrument to raise the volume of a brassier or more triumphant one conveys themes and sentiments that dialogue often cannot.
Desplat also tends to include lots of repetition in his scores. Repetition is a critical component of contemporary piano pieces, specifically in regards to the bass clef (or lower-pitched sound range). Repetition in the bass clef often acts as a proxy for a metronome, setting a pace for the song to build upon. As a result, the treble clef (or higher-pitched sound range) gains more experimental freedom. This is not to say that variations in the bass clef do not occur; however, they are usually less frequent than variations in the treble clef. Desplat’s solid grasp of the bass clef allows his melodies in the treble clef to be more freeform. For example, in “Plumfield” from “Little Women” (2019), the notes on the bass clef have little variability compared to the treble clef.
In addition to their technical brilliance, Desplat’s scores possess a sentimental quality that compels listeners to want to understand more about the movies. One of Desplat’s earlier works, “A Better Life” from the 2019 film of the same name, tells the story of a father trying to strengthen his bond with his son. This story comes to life through the guitar solo at the beginning of the song, which uses plucking to create a feeling of warmth, and the triangle solo in the middle, which reveals a more delicate side of the father-son relationship.
In “The Danish Girl” (2015), Eddie Redmayne stars as Einar Wegener, an artist who undergoes the first gender reassignment surgery to become Lili Elbe. Desplat captures the weight of this experience through the instrumentals of his song “The Mirror.” The rapid crescendos and decrescendos at the beginning of the piece are like water that pushes against a barrier until it reaches a breaking point and spills out.
In “Wong Chia Chi’s Theme” from “Lust, Caution” (2007), Desplat sonically emulates the tale of two lovers who are not supposed to be together. The tension between the characters is palpable: a soft flute conveys the sweetness of their love while a distant, resolute erhu echoes the woefulness of their duty. Desplat’s instrumental solos inject personality into the music, creating passionate sounds that reel the listener deeper into the story.
Furthermore, Desplat is an efficient composer. In fact, he composed the score for “The Imitation Game” (2014) in just three weeks. Aware that some of his film scores will not be as popular as others, Desplat pours his best efforts into all of his compositions anyway. He is also in tune with the mechanics of each movie, carefully studying the costumes and setting to tell a story that builds upon and transcends such visual elements. Desplat states that every film has a “pulse”; by being perceptive to it, he can create music that sounds more authentic to all aspects of each film.
Alexandre Desplat is ultimately one of the film industry’s most well-rounded and thoughtful composers. His scores work in harmony with movies’ established themes, visuals and characters to magnify their liveliness. By taking the time to understand each film apart from his own musical contribution, Desplat subsequently composes music that can both seamlessly intertwine with each film and stand on its own.
