Alexandre Desplat | |
|---|---|
 Desplat in 2015 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat |
| Born | (1961-08-23)23 August 1961 (age 63) Paris, France |
| Genres | Film score,contemporary classical,jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, orchestrator, conductor |
| Instruments | Piano,trumpet,flute |
| Spouse | Dominique Lemmonier |
| Website | Alexandredesplat.net |
Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (French:[alɛksɑ̃dʁdɛspla];[1] born 23 August 1961)[2] is a French film composer and conductor. He has receivednumerous accolades, including twoAcademy Awards, threeBAFTA Awards, twoGolden Globe Awards, and twoGrammy Awards. Desplat was made an Officer of theOrdre national du Mérite and a Commander of theOrdre des Arts et des Lettres both in 2016.
Desplat has received twoAcademy Awards for Best Original Score forThe Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) andThe Shape of Water (2017). He was Oscar-nominated forThe Queen (2006),The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008),Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009),The King's Speech (2010),Argo (2012),Philomena (2013),The Imitation Game (2014),Isle of Dogs (2018), andLittle Women (2019).
Desplat has composed scores for a wide range of films, including low-budgetindependent productions and large-scaleblockbusters, such asThe Golden Compass (2007),The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009),Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) &Part 2 (2011),Moonrise Kingdom (2012),Zero Dark Thirty (2012),Unbroken (2014),The French Dispatch (2021), andGuillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022). He has collaborated with directors such asWes Anderson,Chris Weitz,George Clooney,Roman Polanski, andGuillermo del Toro.
Alexandre Desplat was born inParis.[3] His father, Jacques Desplat, was a Frenchman originally fromSarlat-la-Canéda.[4] His mother, Katie Ladopoulou, is aGreek poet originally fromAthens.[5] Desplat's parents had met in the United States while they were both students at theUniversity of California, Berkeley. They married inSan Francisco and returned to France, settling in Paris.[3] Alexandre has two older sisters, Marie-Christine (also known as Kiki) and Rosalinda.[4]
Desplat began playing the piano at the age of five.[3] He later picked up the trumpet, before switching to flute at nine.[3][6] Desplat's musical interests were wide, ranging from French composers such asMaurice Ravel andClaude Debussy, to jazz and world music.[7] He developed an early appreciation for film music, courtesy of the movie soundtracks his parents brought back from the United States. He began collectingBernard Herrmann'sHitchcock soundtracks as a teen and eventually decided to pursue a career as a film composer after hearingJohn Williams'sStar Wars score in 1977.[8] Other early sources of Desplat's inspiration include the music ofMaurice Jarre,Nino Rota andGeorges Delerue.[7]
Desplat studied at theRoyal College of Music and theConservatoire de Paris underClaude Ballif. During this period, he also took a summer course underIannis Xenakis.[9] Desplat also studied underJack Hayes in Los Angeles.[2]
When recording the music for his first film, he met violinist Dominique Lemonnier, who became his favorite soloist and artistic director. They later married.[7][10]
Desplat has worked on many films since the 1990s. His bigHollywood break came in 2003 with the soundtrack for the filmGirl with a Pearl Earring, a drama set in 17th-century Delft exploring a fictional muse ofVermeer.[7][11]
Desplat has composed extensively forFrench cinema, Hollywood, and incidental music for over 100 films, includingLapse of Memory (1992),Family Express (1992),Regarde Les Hommes Tomber (1994),Les Péchés Mortels (1995), César-nominatedUn Héros Très Discret (1996),Une Minute de Silence (1998),Sweet Revenge (1998),Le Château des Singes (1999),Reines d'un Jour (2001), the César-nominatedSur mes lèvres (2002),Rire et Châtiment (2003),Syriana (2005), theCésar-winnerThe Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005),The Queen (2006),Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009),Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010),The Ghost Writer (2010),Daniel Auteuil's remake ofLa Fille du Puisatier (2011),Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011) andThe Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).
Desplat has composed individual songs that have been sung in films by such artists asAkhenaton,Kate Beckinsale,Charlotte Gainsbourg,Valérie Lemercier, Miosotis andCatherine Ringer. He has also written music for the theatre, including pieces performed at theComédie Française. Desplat has conducted performances of his music played by theLondon Symphony Orchestra, theRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra and theMunich Symphony Orchestra. Desplat has also givenMaster Classes atLa Sorbonne inParis and theRoyal College of Music inLondon.
In 2007, he composed the scores forPhilip Pullman'sGolden Compass;Zach Helm'sBAFTA nominated directorial debutMr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium with American composerAaron Zigman; and theAng Lee movieLust, Caution. Prior to these break-out works, he contributed scores forThe Luzhin Defence,Girl with a Pearl Earring,Syriana,Birth,Hostage,Casanova andThe Nest.
ForThe Painted Veil, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music, and the 2006 World Soundtrack Award. He won the 2007 BMI Film Music Award, 2007 World Soundtrack Award, 2007 European Film Award, and received his firstAcademy Award nomination forBest Original Score forThe Queen. He also won the Silver Berlin Bear at theBerlin Film Festival for Best Film Music inThe Beat that My Heart Skipped. In 2008, Desplat received his second Oscar nomination forDavid Fincher'sCurious Case of Benjamin Button. Desplat received his third Oscar nomination and aBAFTA nomination forFantastic Mr. Fox in 2010, both of which were won byMichael Giacchino forUp.
Desplat has composed music forLargo Winch, based on the Belgian comic;Afterwards a French-Canadian psychological thriller film directed byGilles Bourdos in English; Anne Fontaine'sCoco avant Chanel, based on the life of designerCoco Chanel;Robert Guédiguian'sL'Armée du Crime;Cheri, reuniting him with directorStephen Frears, whom he collaborated with onThe Queen;Un Prophète reuniting with directorJacques Audiard;Julie & Julia[12] directed byNora Ephron;Fantastic Mr. Fox, directed byWes Anderson and based on the novel byRoald Dahl;New Moon, directed byChris Weitz;Roman Polanski'sGhost Writer;Tamara Drewe;The Special Relationship; andThe King's Speech which earned Desplat his fourth Oscar nomination.[13]
In early 2011, Desplat began to write the music toHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, which would earn him a nomination forGrammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media at the54th Annual Grammy Awards.[14] He reunited with directorDavid Yates, who offered Desplat the opportunity to score the second part after his work on thePart 1 soundtrack in 2010 "enchanted everyone in the control room".[15][16] Desplat's soundtrack sequel to the 2008 filmLargo Winch was released in 2011 and was well received.Desplat's 2011 projects includedThe Tree of Life, directed byTerrence Malick (which he actually recorded in early 2010),A Better Life,[17]La Fille du Puisatier, Roman Polanski'sCarnage,George Clooney'sIdes of March, and the logo for the French film companyStudioCanal.
Desplat started 2012 withExtremely Loud and Incredibly Close, the Florent Emilio Siri-directed biopicCloclo, and DreamWorks Animation'sRise of the Guardians. His other scores of 2013 includedRust and Bone,Zero Dark Thirty, andArgo, the latter of which earned him Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations.
In June 2013, Desplat's first Concerto for Flute & Orchestra premiered in France with flautist Jean Ferrandis and the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire conducted by John Axelrod. HisTrois Etudes for piano originally written for pianistLang Lang had its U.S. premiere in October 2013 played by pianist Gloria Cheng. He received a sixth Oscar nomination for his score toPhilomena, which marked his fourth collaboration with directorStephen Frears.
On 23 June 2014, it was announced that Desplat would head the jury at the71st Venice International Film Festival.[18] He wrote five major scores during 2014, withThe Grand Budapest Hotel winning him his first Academy Award.[19] His score forThe Imitation Game was also nominated, and his win therefore marked the first time a composer had won against another of their own scores since John Williams won forStar Wars (beatingClose Encounters of the Third Kind) in 1978, and only the seventh time overall (Alfred Newman,Bernard Herrmann,Max Steiner,Miklos Rozsa andJohnny Green are the only other composers to achieve this).
On 16 March 2015, It was announced that Desplat would be composing the first anthology film of the new Disney Star Wars films, calledRogue One.[20] In September 2016, he stepped down due to reshoots of the film, and was then replaced byMichael Giacchino.[21]
In 2018, he won his second Academy Award forThe Shape of Water and premiered a new work for solo flute played by Emmanuel Pahud.
Desplat is married to violinist Dominique "Solre" Lemmonier.[10] They have two daughters, Antonia and Ninon.[22] Desplat has studios both inLos Angeles andParis and makes his home in the latter city.[10]
| Year | Film | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Marseille | Florent-Emilio Siri Thomas Gilou [fr] Laïla Marrakchi | TV series |
| 2016 | Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia | Various | TV series; "Hero Theme", "Dark Theme" withTim Davies |
| 2024 | The Regime | Stephen Frears Jessica Hobbs | miniseries |
Desplat has received many awards and nominations for his work including twoAcademy Awards, threeBAFTA Awards, threeCésar Awards, and twoGolden Globe Awards.
