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HOSTAGE – Alexandre Desplat
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
March 11th 2005 was unofficially “Alexandre Desplat Day” in US cinemas, when his first two major Hollywood studio films – Hostage and The Upside of Anger – opened in theatres across the country. The 44-year-old Parisian has crept up on the world of film music; having worked solidly in Europe since the early 1990s, people first sat up and took notice following his Golden Globe nomination for Girl With a Pearl Earring in 2003, a success which he capitalized on with the controversial but critically acclaimed Birth in 2004. With the exception of Gabriel Yared, there hasn’t been a French composer in the Hollywood mainstream since Maurice Jarre retired, and before that since the death of Georges Delerue. Desplat more than has the talent to fill their considerable shoes. And, with Hostage, he also shows a great deal of range. Read more…
BIRTH – Alexandre Desplat
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
French composer Alexandre Desplat saw his stock rise considerably in 2003 following the international acclaim and multiple award nominations he received for Girl with a Pearl Earring. On the back of that success, Desplat was signed to score three fairly major movies in 2004: Hostage, The Upside of Anger, and Birth. A controversial and challenging drama, Birth is director Jonathan Glazer’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed Sexy Beast, and stars Nicole Kidman as Anna, a young woman whose husband Sean dies unexpectedly while out jogging in Central Park. Ten years later, having finally come to terms with her loss and become engaged to the kind and successful Joseph (Danny Huston), Anna’s life is thrown into turmoil once more when a 10-year old boy (Cameron Bright) appears, claiming to be the reincarnation of her dead husband. Read more…
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING – Alexandre Desplat
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Johannes Vermeer was a Dutch baroque painter who lived in the city of Delft from 1632-1675, and left behind him a legacy of art that can equal that of other Dutch masters such as Van Gogh and Rembrandt. One of his most famous works is entitled “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, painted around 1665, and currently on display in the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague. Although much of Vermeer’s life is undocumented, Tracey Chevalier’s celebrated novel romanticized the creation of this famous piece of art – and is now the inspiration for the directorial debut of Peter Webber. Colin Firth stars as Vermeer, a talented yet tortured painter, trapped in a loveless marriage to the whiny, perpetually pregnant Catharina (Essie Davis), domineered by his mother in-law (Judy Parfitt), and harassed by his lecherous patron and chief source of funding, Van Ruijven (Tom Wilkinson). However, into Vermeer’s household comes a young peasant girl named Griet (Scarlett Johansson), who after a while becomes more interested in Vermeer’s work, and in Vermeer himself. Gradually, the two become attracted to each other, and Griet begins to “sit” for Vermeer (resulting in the famous painting) – much to the disgust of his wife, and Griet’s potential suitor Pieter (Cillian Murphy). Read more…
THE LUZHIN DEFENCE – Alexandre Desplat
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
What’s the sound of a French composer falling off a tall building? Desplat. I’m opening this review with a joke because I’ll wager that most of you have never heard of Alexandre Desplat, the French-born composer of The Luzhin Defence. Before I saw this film and heard this album, I knew his name, and could I list a few of his previous films (Innocent Lies, A Self Made Hero, Love Etc.), but nothing beyond that. Even now, biographical details about Desplat’s life are sketchy – I don’t even know how old he is – but I do know this: he is a composer of considerable talent. Read more…
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