Music news

Postcard from Cannes #4: Call for music prize as Desplat and del Toro talk synergy – Modern Ghana

21 mája, 2025

French composer Alexander Desplat and Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro came together at the Cannes Film Festival to share anecdotes of their longstanding artistic collaboration, and underlined the importance of music in the filmmaking process.
La leçon de musique – The Music Lesson – is an annual event at the festival organised by Sacem, the French authors‘ rights company, to promote the talent and contribution of composers in the film industry.
In her opening remarks, Sacem director Cécile Rap-Veber said she was shocked that there is still no official prize category for music at Cannes and urged the film festival’s chief Thierry Frémaux, who was present at Sunday’s event, to create one.
Moderated by music specialist Stéphane Lerouge, Desplat and del Toro shared highlights of working together, such as The Shape of Water (2017), for which they both won Oscars – del Toro for directing and Desplat for the soundtrack.

Both men cited Hollywood cinema and famous musical scores such as those from Jaws, Planet of the Apes and The Godfather as inspiration.
For Desplat, born in France with Greek heritage, he knew from an early age that he wanted to write for images and “tell characters‘ stories with sound”.
„I learned that music could bring an extra dimension to some films, a new act, a new space, and that it could be really beautiful,“ he told the audience.
Audacious musical Emilia Perez brings accolades for French composers

Desplat, who studied the flute and plays the piano, says that his musical inspiration comes from all around the world, be it Brazil or Africa.
“The ability to develop a musical narrative in response to an image that inspires you is derived from everything that has fuelled you since childhood,” he said.

Synergy

For his part, del Toro said that growing up in Mexico in the 1960s he listened to film scores on vinyl – something he continues to do today.
For the director, the camera is the first „note“ of the film. He edits a silent version and then sits down with the composer. „The film tells you what it’s going to be and how the music will fit in,“ he said. „The director’s job is to listen a lot.“

The pair said their natural synergy stems from their eclectic musical tastes, their mutual open-mindedness and a willingness to experiment, and even to disagree.
Who are the 2025 Cannes Film Festival jury members?
Desplat likened himself to an actor who, with each new film, must immerse himself entirely in the role. „It’s the film that carries me away,“ he explained.
Music for film needs to be „simple but not simplistic“ according to Desplat, who said that despite his illustrious career finding the right melody takes practice and repetition – trying and trying again, experimenting.

His determination and talent have seen him work with some of the world’s most sought-after directors. He pointed to 2003’s Girl with a Pearl Earring by Peter Webber and Birth by Jonathan Glazer (2004), starring Nicole Kidman, as being instrumental in unlocking the gates to Hollywood for him.
Desplat composed the soundtrack for two films in competition at Cannes this year – Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme and Tarik Saleh’s Eagles of the Republic.
„A good composer doesn’t underline, he reveals,“ said del Toro, who has also worked with Desplat on his films Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth and Pinocchio.

‚Emotion is the new punk‘

For the Mexican director, music must „propel the film“. There needs to be a flow and room for emotion, he said, comparing the process to jazz musicians „riffing“ on a theme. „Even silence has its place,“ he added, which is „worth 10 tracks“.

Both artists agreed that sound design is an important aspect of a film, rather than a question of pasting sections of music together, or an afterthought.
Film music in Cannes: Jeanne de Barry – 2023
Music shouldn’t be there to „help“ a scene, it needs to be an essential choice, del Toro stressed.
„I believe emotion is the new punk,“ Del Toro insisted. „I’m Mexican, I get emotional… people don’t take risks like we do.“
Del Toro and Desplat are working on a new project together – bringing the story of Frankenstein to life, again, but this time not in the horror genre. They said it would instead be a film full of heart. „It’s as personal as everything else I’ve done. It’s about being a father, being a son,“ del Toro told the audience.
At the end of the event, the pair were presented by Sacem’s directors with lifetime achievement awards.
Filmmaker Agnès Varda’s photographic legacy emerges from family archives
Desplat was given a medal named for French New Wave composer Georges Delerue, as well as an original handwritten letter from director François Truffaut to Delerue thanking him for his work.

Del Toro was awarded a framed page of the original score by Delerue from the American film Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983).
Follow our WhatsApp channel for meaningful stories picked for your day.
12 minutes ago