Alexandre Desplat is a French composer. He composed the score for the film New Moon.[1]
Biography
Desplat was born to a French father and Greek mother who met at UC Berkeley, California. After their marriage, they moved to France where Alexandre was born. The multilingual Alexandre was classically trained, but fed a constant diet of American Jazz and Hollywood movie scores. These influences have been fused in his music to create a fresh and unique, new voice in film music. At the age of five, he began playing piano and also became proficient on trumpet and flute. He studied with Claude Ballif and Iannis Xenakis in France, and Jack Hayes in the USA. Desplat's musical interests were wide and he was also influenced by South American and African artists and teachers, among whom were Carlinhos Brown and Ray Lema. Desplat swiftly became skilled not only as a performer but also as a composer.
Career
After composing the music for over 50 European films and being nominated for 2 César Awards, Desplat burst onto the Hollywood scene with his score to Girl With the Pearl Earring (2003), which earned him nominations from the Golden Globes, BAFTA and European Film Awards.
His reputation was solidified by his critically acclaimed score to Jonathan Glazier's film Birth, followed in close succession by the scores to The Upside of Anger, Hostage, and Stephen Gaghan's film Syriana, which earned him another Golden Globe nomination. The Queen got him his first Academy Awards nomination in 2007 and he has won the 2007 Golden Globe for his score to The Painted Veil.
In 2008, he wrote the music for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, The Golden Compass, Lust Caution. Desplat still lends his talents to a select number of European films. His score for De Battre Mon Coeur S'est Arrêté (The Beat that My Heart Skipped) earned him a Silver Bear Award for Best Score at the Berlin Film Festival and a César Award in 2006.
Desplat's recent projects include Largo Winch, based on the Belgian comic; a French-Canadian psychological thriller film directed by Gilles Bourdos in English; Anne Fontaine's Coco Avant Chanel based on the life of designer Coco Chanel; Robert Guédiguian's L'Armée du Crime; Cheri, reuniting him with director Stephen Frears, whom he collaborated with on The Queen; Un Prophète, reuniting with director Jacques Audiard; Julie & Julia, directed by Nora Ephron; Fantastic Mr. Fox, directed by Wes Anderson and based on the novel by Roald Dahl; and New Moon, directed by Chris Weitz.
Awards and nominations
Awards
| Year | Award | Film | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Film Composer Award | 13th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Awards | ||
| 2009 | Film Composer of the Year and Best Film Score of the Year | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | World Soundtrack Academy Awards |
| Best New Film Score | The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button | the 21st Annual Sammy Awards | |
| Frederick Loewe Award | 20th Palm Springs International Film Festival | ||
| Best Original Score | The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button | 7th Annual Central Ohio Film Critics Association Awards | |
| 2008 | Best Original Score | The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button | Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards |
| 2008 | Grand Prix de la musique pour l'audiovisuel | SACEM (France) | |
| 2007 | Film Composer of the Year | Movie Music UK Awards | |
| 2007 | Score of the Year and Best Original Score Fantasy/Science Fiction | The Golden Compass | Movie Music UK Awards |
| 2007 | Film Composer of the Year and Best Original Score for Fantasy-Science Fiction | The Golden Compass | Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) |
| 2007 | Best Film Music | Lust, Caution | Soundtracks.pl |
| 2007 | Best Original Film Score | Lust, Caution | the 44e Golden Horse Awards Competition (Taiwan) |
| 2007 | * European Composer | The Queen | European Film Academy (EFA) |
| 2007 | Film Composer of the Year | The Queen and The Painted Veil | Ghent Film Festival |
| 2007 | The Queen and The Painted Veil | BMI London Film Music Awards | |
| 2007 | Best Original Score | The Painted Veil | Golden Globe Award |
| 2006 | Best Music | 'The Queen and The Painted Veil' | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards |
| 2006 | César | The Beat My Heart Skipped | (France) |
| 2006 | Etoiles de la presse | The Beat My Heart Skipped | (France) |
| 2005 | Silver Bear for Best Score | The Beat My Heart Skipped | the Berlin Film Festival |
Nominations
- Best Music for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button at the 35th Annual Saturn Awards
- Best Original Score for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button at the 81st Academy Awards
- Best Music for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button at the 2009 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTA)
- Film Score of the Year and Best Original Score for a Drama Film for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button at the 2008 International Film Music Critics Association Awards (IFMCA)
- Film Composer of the Year at the 2008 International Film Music Critics Association Awards (IFMCA)
- Best Score for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button at the 2008 Golden Globes
- Best Original Score for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button at the 2008 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
- Best Composer for The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button at the 14th Annual Critics Choice Awards
- Best score in a Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror movie for Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium at the 2007 Movie Music UK Awards
- Score Of The Year and Best Drama Score at the 2007 Movie Music UK Awards for Lust, Caution
- Asian Films Awards 2008 for Lust, Caution
- Césars 2008 for L'Ennemi Intime
- 7 Nominations at the 4th Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) Awards
- Critics Choice Awards 2007 for Lust Caution
- Chicago Film Critics Awards 2007 for Lust Caution
- Oscars (Academy Awards) 2007 for The Queen
- British Academy Film Awards 2007 for The Queen
- Best Original Score for The Queen at the 2006 Chicago Film Critics Awards
- Golden Globes 2006 for Syriana
- Nominations at the Golden Globes, BAFTAS and European Film Awards in 2004 for Girl With a Pearl Earring
- Nomination at the Césars (France) in 1997 for Self Made Hero and in 2001 for Read My Lips
Filmography
| Year | Film |
|---|---|
| 1986 | Le souffleur Franck Le Witta |
| 1988 | Ki lo sa? |
| 1989 | William Tell |
| 1991 | In the Name of the Father and the Son |
| Lapse of Memory (Mémoire traquée) | |
| Family Express | |
| 1992 | The Weaker Sexes! (Sexes faibles!) |
| 1993 | The Advocate (The Hour of the Pig) |
| Le Tronc | |
| 1994 | Innocent Lies (Les péchés mortels) |
| Marie-Louise ou la permission | |
| See How They Fall | |
| 1995 | Lucky Punch (Le montreur de boxe) |
| Les Milles | |
| Those Were the Days (Le plus bel âge) | |
| 1996 | Love, etc |
| Death in Therapy (Passage à l'acte) | |
| A Self-Made Hero (Un héros très discret) | |
| Le Cri de la soie | |
| 1997 | Une chance sur deux |
| La femme du cosmonaute | |
| Sous les pieds des femmes | |
| The Revengers' Comedies | |
| 1998 | Toni |
| Atilano, presidente | |
| Restons groupés | |
| Une minute de silence | |
| 1999 | Rien à faire |
| A Monkey's Tale (Le Château des singes) | |
| C'est pas ma faute! | |
| Vive nous! | |
| 2000 | Barnie's Minor Annoyances |
| The Luzhin Defence | |
| Home Sweet Home | |
| Amazon (Amazone) | |
| 2001 | The Nest (Nid de guêpes) |
| Read My Lips (Sur mes lèvres) | |
| A Hell of a Day (Reines d'un jour)' | |
| Transfixed (Mauvais genres) | |
| Doors of Glory (Les portes de la gloire) | |
| Bad Karma | |
| 2002 | September 11 |
| Tristan | |
| Le pacte du silence | |
| Laughter and Punishment (Rire et châtiment) | |
| 2003 | Girl with a Pearl Earring |
| A Sight for Sore Eyes (Inquiétudes) | |
| Stormy Weather | |
| Eager Bodies (Les corps impatients) | |
| 2004 | Hostage |
| The Beat That My Heart Skipped | |
| Birth | |
| The Upside of Anger | |
| L'enquête corse | |
| Tu vas rire mais je te quitte | |
| 2005 | Firewall |
| Syriana | |
| Casanova | |
| Une aventure | |
| The Alibi | |
| 2006 | The Painted Veil |
| The Queen | |
| Quand j'étais chanteur | |
| The Valet (La Doublure) | |
| 2007 | The Golden Compass |
| Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium | |
| L'ennemi intime | |
| Lust, caution (Se, jie) | |
| Ségo et Sarko sont dans un bateau | |
| Michou d'Auber | |
| 2008 | Cheri |
| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
| Largo Winch | |
| Afterwards | |
| 2009 | The Twilight Saga: New Moon |
| Fantastic Mr. Fox | |
| The army of crime (L'armée du crime) | |
| Un Prophète | |
| Coco avant Chanel | |
| Julie & Julia |
References
- ↑ Alex Billington (2009-04-24). Alexandre Desplat is Scoring Twilight Saga: New Moon?!. First Showing. Retrieved on 2009-05-22.
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