How many of you own more than one Desplat score now, and which is your favorite?

I like his lush romantic scores mostly, but the quirky parts found in many of his scores get big brownie points too.

I like just about everything I've heard except for the electronic parts of TONI (which hardly even sound like the composer) and some of the stuff on LA FEMME DU COSMONAUT.

Some positive reflections on some of the scores:

- BIRTH - almost like MISSION TO MARS in the way a film that seems well beneath what it might have been inspired a masterpiece score. A cantata for a modern-day fairy tale.

- HOSTAGE - a beautiful wedding of over-the-top visuals and music. The music in this film perfectly matches the blood-red colour of the sky in the rare daylight scenes.

- THE QUEEN - perhaps the best example I can think of where Desplat's music drives the action, comments on it, creeps into the cracks left over and defines the tone of the film. And unlike BIRTH, there's no doubting the intentions of the film-makers here - even though it is a strangely boxy film. Underscore cue of the year? 'People's Princess'. Take control!

- If you didn't favour THE QUEEN as a setting for Desplat's seemless efforts, there's always GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING. I know I'm not the only one who has trouble not hearing SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET here - Desplat's similar melody for Griet and quasi-Williams orchestrations don't make it easy to put that theme out of mind. But the score is great in context and alone if and when you get past that resemblance.

- LES MILLES - which I haven't seen, but I adore the score. This is occasionally referred to as Desplat's SCHINDLER's LIST, but it's one of his least Williamsesque scores.

- SYRIANA - This is like the halfway point between the use of music in TRAFFIC (the film's clear inspiration) and BABEL (a film which it's tempting to say was slightly influenced, though release schedules suggest otherwise), but many times more listenable than either. There's the ethnic influence, but there's also the dense suspense cues that double lines for both acoustic and electronic instruments. Should have joined the pack for an Oscar nom last year in Santaolalla's absence - the film reeked of quality, and the music was good, and the composer was foreign. Mysteries abound.

- His music for the 2 Jacques Audiard films I have seen - De Battre Mon Couer S'est Arrete and Sur Mes Levres - is surely beyond reproach, especially on the former.

Others worth knowing about:

-UPSIDE OF ANGER - A bit fruity to take any of the film terribly seriously, but the director encouraged it, so who am I to say he shouldn't have brought a European score to America? This is definitely a case where his music, however lovely, probably undermined the film, which probably shouldn't have had much music to begin with.

-LUZHIN DEFENCE - Desplat's fine scoring of the chess scenes (a credible mental battleground thanks to his ostinati) is almost undone by the criminal use of Shostakovich for a montage of chess/lovemaking halfway through the film. The director/editor team who dreamed up that music/montage combination needed to get past their affection for the piece and see that it just didn't fit. Worse - they were already paying the guy who could have made their silly film just that little bit more credible.

-FIREWALL - unlike HOSTAGE, which is kind of trashy-good, this is trashy bad. I wouldn't even say it's worth seeing for Desplat's music, but the music is surely worth hearing. About the only pure action score this year that I found myself playing again and again without giving myself migraines. And say what you will - 'Escape from the Bank' is one of those long cues that really is a masterpiece... and the cue owes more to Elfman's MISSION IMPOSSIBLE than Williams or Goldsmith (this score's most attributed forebears).

I could also rave about INQUIETUDES, NID-GUEPES, PAINTED VEIL, UN HEROS TRES DISCRET, UNE CHANCE SUR DEUX, etc - but I'd rather see the films first. I think I like PAINTED VEIL more than THE QUEEN though.

The Painted Vei recording is John Timperley's last, the score dedicated to him by Desplat.

Was Timperley Desplat's regular engineer, if Desplat had one? I wonder how this will affect Desplat's sound...

Thanks for checking, to anyone who can.

quote:

---

Originally posted by PeterK:
And Nutso, stop apologizing for not ordering from the MM store... if you do it again, I [b]will shoot you![/B]

---

I'm sorry . . . wait . . . *ducks for cover*

Temperley was more involved with Prague than Desplat. I'm glad his last mix was for a critically-praised score than another junky Silva comp! Not that the Silva comps ever sounded bad... I had issues with the performances.

And nutso:

POP POP POP!

HOSTAGE was Steve Mclachlan and Stephane Reinhardt.

quote:

---

Originally posted by franz_conrad:
Glad to see as always that discussion thrives here... ?

Maybe if this thread had been about James Horner's self-plagiarism, we'd be well on the way to 600 posts by now.

---

Although Hostage is the most entertaining and 'ear-catching' score, the 2 I find most interesting, and which I often feel weird urges to listen to (e.g. when stuck in traffic in the middle of nowhere) are Syriana and Birth.

Birth oozes class. The first and last tracks are amazing. The whole opening scene of the film with the opening track heard in it's full glory are a rare bit of cinematic magic. Beautiful stuff. The CD has it's weak points, but they're short and few.

Syriana barely registered the first time I heard it, but I've given it time, and more importantly I've seen the film, and now I love it. The main theme is one of the perfect fits that crop up once in a while, and the final track 'Father and Sons', coupled with the final scenes of the film, was one of the shots that struck me most in all the films I saw last year. Even now, re-listening to the last track, the scene seems so clear, and so ominous (you have to see it to fully grasp how the subtle, delicate theme fits so well). I loved the film, which helps, but now the score sounds great even as a a standalone.

I just hope he continues to get great films to score, and that Golden Globes (and hopefully Oscars too) won't change his work ethic or style of writing.

Are there any special pills required for consumption just before hitting "play" on the Syriana OST???

Birth is good, and Painted Veil grows on me more and more. I always liked Luzhin Defence, but need to listen again now that five and six course Desplat meals are available. Luzhin used to be the only appetizer (or dessert?) for several years...

Still have yet to download/listen to Upside of Anger. I was going to view the movie soon, but Franzie... you've all gone ahead and made me not want to now. Should I not see the film, and eventually download the score?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Camillu:
...and the final track 'Father and Sons', coupled with the final scenes of the film, was one of the shots that struck me most in all the films I saw last year.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by franz_conrad:
Glad to see as always that discussion thrives here...?

---

Apparently it's the subject matter. I took a quick look at various OST forums and see very little discussion on Desplat (I think there have been three total mentions at FSM in 2007, all by you Franzie!!).

quote:

---

Originally posted by franz_conrad:

Actually, it's the opening track that appears over the final scenes of the film. I thought it was 'Father and Sons' too, but a second viewing of the film corrected the impression.[/B]

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by PeterK:
Still have yet to download/listen to Upside of Anger. I was going to view the movie soon, but Franzie... you've all gone ahead and made me not want to now. Should I not see the film, and eventually download the score?

---

It's a bit unbelievable as a film, nonetheless I enjoyed it. I suppose something about it seemed more like the pilot of a TV series (with four incredible looking daughters that couldn't have all come from the same parents) than a film story. My girlfriend wasn't crazy about it, and I ended up finishing watching it alone.

Hostage
Birth
Firewall (just the main title)
The Painted Veil
Girl WIth a Pearl Earring

And I would probably agree that Hostage is the most accessible, but I am really quite fond of Girl With a Pearl Earring. Although slightly repetitive on repeat listens, I really like his themes and orchestrations in that score and I would place it as my favorite so far.

Personally, I thought Painted Veil might lead because of the GG award, but because people seem to be more interested in Johansson, most must be voting for the film they've seen (...which actually isn't quite accurate either, as Syriana is the most-seen movie of all of the options).

LUST, CAUTION actually contains two of Desplat's finest themes to date, for me. While the underscore wanders a bit... falling a bit below PAINTED VEIL and GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING, the core themes are perhaps his two best. I sense a strong link to the music of Shigeru Umebayashi and Peer Raben for Wong Kar Wai's films IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE and 2046, which fits with reviews of the film that have described it as 'Ang Lee does WKW'.

The 'Dinner Waltz' is in a fine tradition of Desplat waltzes for BIRTH ('Birth Waltz'), GIRL WITH A PEARL ('Griet's Theme'), VEIL ('River Waltz') and others. Like many of those, this one's a little off-kilter - harmonically disturbing in a subtle way. Strangely enough, the Traffic Quintet version of the theme doesn't feature a string quintet, but a solo piano! That aside, it's nice.

I'm very taken with the beautiful simplicity of Wong Chia's Theme. It has many variations, but that simple descending idea is really lovely. It's definitely a step-up from the attractive but less immediately beguiling 'Kitty's Theme' in PAINTED VEIL. In fact perhaps it's one of the few themes I've heard from Desplat so far where the emotion of the theme is intrinsic to the melody, as he often draws out the emotion of a fairly straightforward idea with his fabulous orchestrations. Of course, the Canto-pop version of the song stretches its appeal, but I've yet to hear a good theme survive that kind of bombastic pop arrangement, so that doesn't worry me.

'Remember Me' is another beautiful gem with Desplat's trademark tense violin section backdrop to a gorgeous solo part.

Can't wait to see the film - and hear Desplat's other two forthcoming scores, L'ENNEMI INTIME and GOLDEN COMPASS.

quote:

---

Originally posted by nuts_score:
On the other side, I've already seen Black Book this year so this story isn't particularly fresh.

---

I didn't see BLACK BOOK, but I guess just from a content perspective, I'm more interested in seeing a Chinese setting of this story than the very familiar European stories of a woman in wartime. And as a film-maker, I would much sooner see the work of Ang Lee than Paul Verhoeven.

And I was thoroughly disappointed in Brokeback. I have absolutely nothing against gays and I have a strong opinion in the importance of their word in today's world, but Brokeback was a very typical, by-the-numbers love story. Wong Kar-Wai's Happy Together is probably my judgmental point when it comes to movies dealing with homosexuality; and that movie is just so great that it's hard to even come close. And Brokeback Mountain felt like it wasn't even trying.

And that score!

The score is less satisfying as an independent listening experience than either of the earlier scores for Siri's films. Primarily, it's a suspense score. The ensemble is eclectic - bols and gongs, solo trumpet (played 'jazzy'), solo violin, solo cello, solo bass, french horn, drums (use of cymbals connects with the jazzy trumpet to suggest more of a band sound), piano, flute, and a small string ensemble.

It reminds me mostly of Desplat's score for INQUIETUDES, probably because of the prominent appearance of tibetan bells in the main theme of that work. But the feeling here is altogether more subdued. The constant sensation is of the ensemble breathing in and out in each piece, some of the them running for up to seven minutes. I'm also reminded at times of the darker-hued cues from THE PAINTED VEIL, so for those who didn't like the darker material from that score, don't buy this without knowing what you're getting yourself into. A better comparison would be the suspense music of Georges Delerue (Black Robe, Platoon, Salvador) and Morricone (we all know those long Morricone suspense pieces - that's not too far from what we have here).

There's a lovely melody that opens the score - the title track. It returns in 'Steles' ... a noble, sad theme. (This cue has been floating around the online retailers as a promotional sample.) The main motif of the film actually appears in that opening track, though by the end of the album you associate that motif more with its jazzy incarnation in '1959'. (And the very lengthy free-form improvisation based on that cue that closes the album.) The main motif appears in some form of other throughout most of the score, among the highlights being 'Grenoble'. There are some other motifs (the ascending trumpet idea in the third track), but melody is not what defines this score.

Favourite cues? Ironically, not the major thematic cues. The strength is the more extended suspense cues. Overall, it gets too oppressive at the album's current length, but even at this length, 'Mission de Nuit', 'Operation de Police', 'Fantomes' and 'Execution' stand out in their careful tenuous journeys. 'Fantomes' in particular is a highlight for me - Desplat's piano dapples the suspense music in a way you simply don't expect, producing a strangely uplifting result.

A lot of effort has gone into the textural design of this score. The more subdued emotional tone of the piece holds it back from being quite as engaging as his other recent scores as an independent listening experience. It's definitely not as winning as Lust, Caution, the latter having the benefit of the accompanying film being a lush emotional epic with lots of seduction and intrigue. There just isn't much room for Desplat's effervescent orchestrations and winning melodies.