It’s a question that comes up almost every year at Cannes: why isn’t music, a fundamental element in a film, rewarded at the biggest film festival in the world, as it is at the Oscars? “Thierry, what would cinema be without music? “Asked Cécile Rap-Veber. “If you go to the cinema, you cut the soundtrack, the emotions are never the same,” she said. Monday, as a prelude to a masterclass by Canadian composer Howard Shore, the director general of Sacem (Society of authors, composers and music publishers) challenged the general delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Frémaux, on stage.
“When will there be a music prize at Cannes, Thierry? “, she asked again, causing applause in the room, while thanking the Festival for hosting these music masterclasses for six years. “It’s a good try,” joked Thierry Frémaux.
“The intellectual property code in France explains that there are three authors in a film: the scriptwriter, the director and the composer. The law itself has recognized the importance of composers in a film,” Cécile Rap-Veber previously told AFP. She adds: “We are very sad that, in a country like ours, in a world-renowned festival, we have not yet managed to have music recognized in its rightful place”, recalling that in the post-war period , the soundtrack was rewarded, before “it completely fell through”.
76-year-old Howard Shore’s ‘music lesson’ paid homage to three-time Oscar-winning composer of The Lord of the Rings trilogy (two Oscars), The Hobbit, and numerous films by David Cronenberg.
Director Martin Scorsese, for whom Howard Shore composed the music for After Hours, Hugo Cabret and especially The Aviator, made a surprise appearance during the masterclass and spoke with the composer about their collaboration. “I like to improvise…I like to read the novel, the play or the screenplay, then I dream the story. That’s where the music comes from,” Shore said in an interview with AFP. He says he supports any effort to recognize the work of film composers who play a crucial role “in maintaining the relationship between the audience and the story that is told on screen”.
