Four time Oscar nominee and French film composer Alexandre Desplat isn't one to take it easy and have some rest. Some of his more masterful compositions reside in films such as The Tree Of Life, The Fantastic Mr Fox and The Queen. In 2012, Desplat is on a roll, composing for close to seven feature films (same number of scores he composed in 2011). Contenders such as Argo, Moonrise Kingdom, Rise Of The Guardians, Rust & Bone and Zero Dark Thirty will be stamped by Desplat's incredibly nuanced and visionary musical head.
What would Mr.Desplat be doing if he hadn't made it big in Hollywood you ask? "I'd look at the blue sky, eat cheese, tomatoes and figs, and at the end of the day, walk down for a swim in the sea. And then, I'd sleep," the composer was quoted as saying to the Wall Street Journal. Not far off to the sombre, sometimes melancholic mood Desplat creates with his compositions. Although as we speak his schedule will be much lighter in 2013 as he is due to compose only one film so far (Zulu).
It is then no surprise, given the amount of work and the reputation he has established over the course of just a decade, that Desplat is now a prime Oscar Contender in the Original Score category this year. In fact, the man can make Oscar History by getting nominated 3 times in the same category. An unprecedented feat that has the capable chance of happening if all the cards get played right.
His score to Ben Affleck's Argo brings you back to a time and place when the middle east was just starting to self destruct, his precariously whimsical notes in Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom got critics and audiences all giddy with a tremendous high this summer and his upcoming score for Kathryn Bigelow's much anticipated Zero Dark Thirty promises to be just as good as the latter films if not better. Bigelow's highly anticpated film on the hunt for Osama Bin Laden is her followup to her Hurt Locker triumph in 2009.
The category will be loaded with contenders this year. With the already mentioned Desplat films vying for the big prize, Danny Elfman scored three films this year (Silver Linings Playbook, Frankenweenie, Hitchcock), John Williams -an Oscar favorite- is an almost certain nominee for Lincoln and Mychal Danna's exhilirating score for Life Of Pi looks like a top 3 contender. Be warned, the best score of the year doesn't always get nominated. Trent Reznor's incendiary work in last year's "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" did not get nominated. It was the best and most profusely thrilling score of the year yet got snubbed for lighter fare.
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