NEW YORK–Composer Alexandre Desplat triumphed at the Oscars Sunday night, picking up the Academy Award for ‘Best Score’ for his spine-tingling soundtrack to ‘The Shape of Water’ – marking his second Oscar in this category to date.
The Shape of Water also took home the awards for ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Production Design’, while director Guillermo del Toro won in the category of ‘Best Director’. The soundtrack was released on Decca Records on December 15, 2017 ahead of the movie hitting theaters.
Desplat also won the award for ‘Best Original Score’ at the 75th annual Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles and ‘Best Original Music’ at the BAFTA’s in London.
“Guillermo, thank you for letting the music be the voice of your characters and convey the beautiful melancholy of love. This is for you,” said Desplat, speaking of his win at the Oscars ceremony.
Desplat composed, produced and conducted the music for The Shape of Water, which was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and recorded at Abbey Road Studios. Global opera star Renée Fleming sings on the track ‘You’ll Never Know’, which was arranged and produced especially for the film by Desplat. The soundtrack also includes ‘La Javanaise’ by jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux, alongside classic hits by Andy Williams and Glenn Miller.
Directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, Desplat’s soundtrack provides a beautiful accompaniment to the film which stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg and Octavia Spencer. It was previously awarded the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival, where it premiered.
The Shape of Water is an other-worldly fable, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1962. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of isolation. Elisa’s life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment.
Composer Alexandre Desplat is most notable for his success with such movies as The Kings Speech for which he won a Grammy, The Grand Budapest Hotel, the Wes Anderson film that earned him an Academy Award for ‘Best Original Score’ and a British Academy Film Award for ‘Best Music’, and The Painted Veil for which he won a Golden Globe for ‘Best Original Score’.
