The Alexandre Desplat Library

 

Six time Oscar nominee, Alexandre Desplat, with hundreds of scores and numerous awards to his credit, is one of the most worthy heirs of the French film scoring masters.

Alexandre Desplat's approach to film composition is not only based on his strong musicality, but also on his understanding of cinema, which allows him to truly communicate with directors. He studied piano and trumpet before choosing the flute as main instrument.

Raised in a musical and cultural mix with a Greek mother and French father who studied and were married in California, he grew up listening to the French symphonists Ravel and Debussy and to jazz. He enriched his classical musical education by studying Brazilian and African music, which later lead him to record with Carlinhos Brown and Ray Lema.

An avid fan of cinema, he expressed his desire to compose for the Big Screen early on. During the recording of his first film, he met Dominique Lemonnier violinist who became his favorite soloist, artistic director and wife. She founded the Traffic Quintet for which he wrote original music and transcribed soundtracks.

In 2003 he burst onto the Hollywood scene with his evocative score to GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING (starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth), which earned him nominations at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs and European Film Awards. In 2005, he composed strong and remarkable parts for the film of Jacques Audiard THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED, that won the Silver Bear at the Berlinale as well as his first César. In 2006, he received his first Academy Award nomination for his score to Stephen Frears's THE QUEEN. In the same year, he also won a Golden Globe for his score to John Curran's THE PAINTED VEIL, performed by Lang Lang.

Prices and collaborations with leading directors then started to flow. In 2007, he received his first Oscar nomination for the film by Stephen Frears THE QUEEN and won his first European Film Award. The same year, he won the Golden Globe, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award and the World Soundtrack Award for the score of the film THE PAINTED VEIL by John Curran. He composed in 2008 for LUST, CAUTION, by Ang Lee and THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON by David Fincher, which earned him a second Oscar nomination and a fourth BAFTA and Golden Globe nomination.

Since then, Alexandre Desplat has continued to successfully expand his U.S. career and European collaborations by composing for Stephen Gaghan, SYRIANA, Jonathan Glazer, BIRTH, Anne Fontaine, COCO BEFORE CHANEL, Florent Siri, HOSTAGE and THE INTIMATE ENEMY.

With his score for Roman Polanski's THE GHOST WRITER in 2010 he won a second César and a second European Film Award. The same year, he wrote the music for TWILIGHT-NEW MOON by Chris Weitz, a platinum record, and for film by Tom Hooper THE KING'S SPEECH for which he won the BAFTA, Grammy Award and becomes nominated for the fourth time at the Oscars and for the fifth time at the Golden Globes. In 2010-2011 Alexandre Desplat scores David Yates films HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 1 and HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2, which became the third most successful movie of all time.

An eclectic and prolific composer, Alexandre Desplat wrote in 2011 the scores for films by Terence Malik THE TREE OF LIFE, Roman Polanski's CARNAGE, Wes Anderson's FANTASTIC MR FOX, Daniel Auteuil’s THE WELL’S DIGGER DAUGHTER and George Clooney’s THE IDES OF MARCH.

In 2012, he collaborated with Kathryn Bigelow for ZERO DARK THIRTY, Matteo Garrone for REALITY, Gilles Bourdos for RENOIR, Jerome Salle for ZULU, Wes Anderson for MOONRISE KINGDOM and Jacques Audiard for RUST AND BONE for which he won a third César. He also scored ARGO by Ben Affleck, which was awarded the Oscar for best film, and earned Alexandre Desplat a sixth nomination at BAFTA, as well as a fifth nomination at the Golden Globes and the Oscars.

He signed in 2013 the scores of THE MONUMENTS MEN by George Clooney, Roman Polanski’s VENUS IN FUR, Stephen Frears’ Oscar nominated PHILOMENA and GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL by Wes Anderson.

 

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