While predicting the future is something we can only dream of, I have always found that digging into the past reveals recurring patterns that tend to point in a particular direction. Even so, with this year’s Oscar race for the Best Original Score, I have to admit, predicting a winner has proven particularly difficult because, as we shall see, there seem to be two strong contenders for the prize: Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar and Jóhann Jóhannsson’s The Theory of Everything. But by considering several relevant factors I discuss below, I predict that the score that will take home the Oscar on Sunday night will be The Theory of Everything.

Double Nominations

It sometimes happens that more than one score by the same composer is nominated in the same year, as this year with Alexandre Desplat for both The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Imitation Game. Some may feel that such double nominations dash the hopes of such composers due to a splitting of votes in their favor. Whatever the reason, Oscar history shows a distinct pattern. If we omit the early years of the Oscars and begin with 1946, when the list of nominees for Best Original Score (or its equivalent) was shortened from twenty (yes, twenty!) to only five, then there have been twelve years when double nominations occurred. The composer to receive the double nomination lost in eleven of those twelve years, the only exception being 1977, when John Williams won for Star Wars and was also nominated for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. (Ironically, Williams has been on the losing end of a double nomination in seven other years.) This statistic does not bode well for Desplat, especially since it took a film of monumental impact to overcome the disadvantage of the double nomination, and while the films Desplat scored are both highly acclaimed, neither is the phenomenon that Star Wars was. Thus, one could almost eliminate both of Desplat’s scores on this point alone.

Past Oscar Wins

As I noted above, one of the best ways to make an Oscar prediction is to consider recent winners. Over the past ten years, the film that won the Best Score Oscar was also nominated for Best Picture in all ten years. This year, there are three films nominated for both Best Score and Best Picture: The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, and The Theory of Everything. But also consider that in 2009, the number of nominees for Best Picture was expanded from five to ten, then in 2011, changed to between five and ten. With so many nominees, it becomes more likely for a film to receive nominations for both Best Picture and Best Score. So when a Best Score nominee does not also fetch a Best Picture nomination, it appears to be more of a strike against the score in question. This year, there are eight films nominated for Best Picture, meaning that, although there was still room for two more films, no others were esteemed highly enough to make the grade. This includes the two Best Score nominees that did not make the Best Picture list: Mr. Turner and Interstellar. I believe this will be an especially important factor come Oscar night.

It is also significant that of the last ten winners for Best Score, seven of the films have also been nominated for Best Director. This year, only The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Imitation Game are in this category, but they are already at such a disadvantage, this probably means very little.

Other Awards

While not as significant an indicator as Oscar history, the BAFTAs and especially the Golden Globes are also useful to consider. This year, the BAFTA for Original Music went to Desplat’s Grand Budapest, though it is important to note that he was not a double nominee for that award (nor was anyone else). This year’s Golden Globe went to Jóhannsson’s Theory of Everything, and again, there were no double nominees. Over the past ten years, the Golden Globes have been a more reliable predictor of Oscar success than the BAFTAs, the former agreeing with the Oscar winner seven times and the latter only five. From these trends, The Theory of Everything would seem to have the advantage.

Box Office

Of the past ten Best Score winners, all have been from the year’s 100 highest grossing films (domestically). This year, only Mr. Turner does not fit this bill. But we can go somewhat further and note that seven of the last ten winners have been in the highest 50 grossing films, which in this year’s race would leave only The Imitation Game (44th) and Interstellar (16th). By this measure, Interstellar has the clear advantage. (Recall that last year’s winner, Gravity, another space-themed film, was even stronger in this respect, being the 6th-highest grossing film.)

Comparison of the Nominees

What about the scores themselves? How might they help predict a winner? The more distinctive a score is in some way, the more likely it is to be remembered by the voters, and when it comes to music, memorability is certainly a benefit since it is easy not to consciously notice music in a film (well, except for enthusiasts like us). Last year’s Gravity made its mark on most viewers with its use of what I called a “clipped crescendo”, where the climax of a crescendo would be suddenly cut off in synch with an important event onscreen. This made the music hard to miss.

This year’s Grand Budapest Hotel is a very memorable score with its unusual instrumentations and perky rhythms. The Imitation Game is more traditional in its construction and somewhat less prominent, though finely tuned to the film. But in my view, the double nomination will be nearly impossible to overcome for both of these scores. The score for Mr. Turner is distinctive in its chamber-music instrumentation and its dissonant but tonal harmonies, but is probably the least conspicuous score because of its sparing use, at only a half hour in total, and its placement largely in scene transitions, where strong emotions are infrequent. Though it is a highly effective score for the character study that is the film, it will likely be overshadowed by the greater prominence of the music in the other films.

The one score that stands out from the others in terms of its prominence is Interstellar. Although it is often rather soft music, its prevalent use of the pipe organ, an instrument not usually given such a large role in a modern film score, almost demands that the viewer takes notice of the music. The score also made conspicuous use of a clock-like percussion sound in scenes when time was of the essence, drawing attention to the music in an appropriately narrative-driven way.

Despite the prominence of Interstellar’s music, I would argue that the score that made the greatest emotional impact in relation to the film’s narrative was The Theory of Everything. Admittedly, this score does not have the prominence in the film that Interstellar does, but the emotions of its narrative run deeper since it vividly conveys Stephen Hawking’s physical deterioration and the ensuing difficulties it causes between he and his wife Jane. But the film also explores Stephen’s remarkable impulse to continue on in the face of adversity. In these respects, there are many scenes that stand out for their musical contribution. When Stephen tries to climb the stairs for the last time before becoming wheelchair-bound, the music expresses not Stephen’s struggle, but our sympathy for him in witnessing his still young body giving out. Or consider the scene where, while watching the fireplace through a sweater that is stuck over his face, Stephen becomes inspired with his next great idea, which, as I noted in the analysis of this score, is made clear with striking visual imagery. In both of these scenes, the music is soft and understated, yet profoundly effective in communicating the emotional content of the scene. For these reasons, I would place The Theory of Everything at a slightly higher level than Interstellar concerning more subjective aspects.

Conclusion

In deciding between Interstellar and The Theory of Everything to win the Oscar for Best Original Score, I have chosen the latter. To be sure, Interstellar has blockbuster status, being near the top of the year’s highest-grossing films, and its use of the pipe organ encourages viewers to listen consciously the score. But The Theory of Everything has the all-important Best Picture nomination, some momentum from its Golden Globe win, and a highly emotional narrative that allows Jóhannsson’s subtleties to shine at key moments in the film.

Then again, as I have said in previous years, this is the Oscars we’re talking about, and there is nothing preventing any of the other scores from winning. But if we’re going to go with the most probable winner, then The Theory of Everything it is.

In addition to earning two Oscar nominations in 2014, Alexandre Desplat managed to score some of the year’s biggest box-office successes as all five of the films he scored ranked within the top fifty-five. These include The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Monuments Men, Unbroken, Godzilla, and The Imitation Game.

The Imitation Game revolves around the life of Alan Turing, the British mathematician, cryptographer, and computer scientist who played an instrumental role in breaking the code of the Nazi’s “Enigma machine” during the Second World War, and who pioneered the subjects of computer science and artificial intelligence.

While Desplat’s score for The Imitation Game is orchestrated much more traditionally than that for The Grand Budapest Hotel, it shares with the latter the technique of drawing on a small number of themes as a unifying device. It is these themes that I focus on below in a film music analysis of the score.

Alan Successful

This theme, which is consistently associated with Alan (Benedict Cumberbatch), could well be considered the score’s main theme as it is heard with the film’s titles and is its most prominent musical idea. It serves as an appropriate accompaniment for Alan as its musical features subtly express aspects of his personality and circumstances. Hear this theme in the clip below:

The theme begins innocuously with a motif in the piano that is repeated to form an ostinato. The broken-chord harmony of this ostinato clearly establishes the minor key of the theme. Shortly after the theme’s true melody enters at 0:40, however, the ostinato continues to move through the same minor chord, even as the harmony around it is changing. This clash of chords could well be heard to represent Alan’s staunch reluctance to “harmonize” with those around him and the “dissonance” that comes as a result.

Upon the entrance of the theme’s melody, the harmony surrounding the ostinato starts on a minor chord then shifts upward to a major chord. While this motion suggests a struggle from a negative (minor) state to a more positive (major) one, only two chords later, the harmony has, with seeming inevitability, sunk back down to the minor chord where the tune began. These motions closely reflect several of Alan’s interactions with others, in which he unwittingly places himself at a disadvantage then tries to dig himself out of a hole, so to speak. During his job interview to work at Bletchley Park, for example, where cryptographers are attempting to break Enigma, his untoward social manner earns him the dislike of Commander Denniston (Charles Dance), who is in charge of the operation. He spends the remainder of his time at Bletchley trying to avoid giving Denniston an excuse to fire him. Much the same could be said of his relationship with the other male cryptographers and the detective who is investigating him a few years after the war.

But as the name suggests, the theme is also used to highlight Alan’s major successes in the film. These include:

• Alan travelling to his prestigious job interview at Bletchley at the start of the film
• A montage showing Alan inventing the Christopher machine that is used by the cryptographic team to break the code
• Alan’s fellow cryptographers standing up for him and preventing Denniston from firing him
• The breaking of the Enigma code itself
• The description of Alan’s legacy through his breaking of the code and the many lives saved as a result, and the invention of his machine, which became the basis of the modern computer

Alan Defeated

One of the most ironic aspects of The Imitation Game is that, not only does Alan experience great success in ways that most others can only dream of, but he also suffers equally great defeats in other areas of his life, namely in the death of his boyhood love, Christopher, and his ultimate conviction for his homosexuality. The theme’s connections to these ideas are clarified by its placement in the film. It appears, for instance, when Alan is being interrogated at the police station at the very opening of the film, when the boy Alan waits in vain for Christopher to return to school after a two-week holiday (a scene that leads us back to Alan at the police station), and when we see the aftermath of the Nazi attack the cryptographers could have prevented after breaking Enigma. Listen to this theme in a solo piano version in the cue below:

The sense of defeat is made palpable through several musical aspects of the theme. Most obviously, like the other prominent themes in the film, it is set in a minor key. Furthermore, the melody’s first two phrases both linger around and end on the fifth degree of the scale. This lack of emphasis on the first scale degree (tonic) suggests something that is incomplete and in need of resolution (to the tonic), much as Alan’s feelings for Christopher are in the film. Notice, too, that the last two notes of each phrase outline a half-step from the sixth to the fifth note of the minor scale. This particular combination of minor scale degrees (6-5) has a long history of associations with expressions of the tragic, a fitting emotion for the theme’s connection with Alan’s defeats.

Christopher

After considering the score with the film, one might believe this theme to simply represent the character of Christopher in the way that leitmotifs generally do, by drawing on musical techniques that suggest aspects of the associated character (a la John Williams or Howard Shore, for example). But in this case, the theme’s melancholic sound does not reflect Christopher’s good will and strong devotion to Alan. More importantly, the theme is only ever heard during the scenes from Alan’s childhood, which are always flashbacks in his own mind. Hence they are seen (and heard) through Alan’s emotions. The theme’s sadness, then, is a reflection of Alan’s thoughts of Christopher rather than of Christopher himself, and for this reason, it would be more accurate to consider the theme along the lines of “Alan thinking of Christopher.”

Desplat does a fine job of clarifying this interpretation as the Christopher theme possesses the very same notes and rhythms as the bass line to the Alan Successful theme. I show both melodies below transposed to a mid-range for ease of comparison:

Listen to the bass notes of Alan Successful in the main title below from 0:00-0:26:

and now compare that to the Christopher theme in the cue below from 0:13-0:33:

The only real differences are that the Christopher theme is always in a higher register, giving it more the character of a true theme, and its melody is always scored for the piano, an instrument that in film is typically used for moments of introspection, as here. But the fact that the theme is derived from the Alan bass line suggests that Christopher is literally the support for and basis of Alan’s emotions, an idea that is very consistent with Alan’s relationship with the character in the film. Desplat’s musical expression of this relationship is ingenious for both its simplicity and effectiveness.

Secrets

Whether they take the form of the coded messages of the Nazi Enigma machine, Alan’s hidden homosexuality, or Alan’s work with the British government to keep the public and Germans from realizing that the Enigma code has finally been broken, secrets are one of the film’s most pervasive narrative themes. Specifically, the film explores some of the sinister aspects that can surround secrets. The coded Enigma messages are perhaps most emblematic of this idea as they often carry directions for military offensives on the Allied forces. But there are also morally grey areas raised in connection with some of the other secrets in the film. For instance, keeping one’s homosexuality secret for several years prevents entanglements with British law (which at the time viewed homosexuality as a crime) but at the same time prevents one from having an open relationship with a member of the same sex. And keeping the breaking of Enigma secret allows more military intelligence to be gained, but at the cost of allowing many known attacks on the British to occur so as not to arouse the Nazis’ suspicion.

Desplat’s Secrets theme aptly expresses this mixture of negative and positive emotions by resolving a minor chord unusually into a major chord and creating an odd mixture of both cold-bloodedness and something approaching hopefulness:

In technical terms, the distance of the minor chord from the major (as measured by the chordal roots) is a minor sixth down (or major third up). Had the second chord also been minor, the chord progression would have upheld a long tradition of being associated with evil, most famously in Darth Vader’s theme from the Star Wars saga. As it is, Desplat’s progression certainly references such associations but, through the use of a major tonic chord, creates a tension between positive and negative emotions.

Conclusion

While much more traditional in its overall sound than his other Oscar-nominated score, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Alexandre Desplat’s score for The Imitation Game manages to capture much of the expressive content of the film in its four most prominent themes. Combined with the composer’s penchant for distinctive ostinatos and colorful orchestrations, the result is a score whose subtly appropriate use of musical devices allows us to more acutely feel the incredible highs and lows that define the remarkable life of Alan Turing.

Coming soon… The Theory of Everything.

2014 was another busy year for Alexandre Desplat, who scored a total of five films released that year, of which both The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Imitation Game have been nominated for the Oscar for Best Original Score. The former film is a quirky comedy and Desplat’s score is an ideal match for the eclectic visual style that has become its director Wes Anderson’s signature. For as Jon Broxton notes in his review of the score,

Desplat describes his score for The Grand Budapest Hotel as “the sound of Mittel-Europa”, a sort of cultural mish-mash of instrumental ideas and compositional styles that is intended to mimic a mythical place that sounds just sort of ‘vaguely European’ to untrained American ears – much like the fictional country of Zubrowka itself is an amalgam of different architectures, landscapes and accents.

Thus, in Grand Budapest, not only is the music infused with the kinds of memorable themes, catchy ostinatos, and distinctive instrumental palettes that are typical of a Desplat score, but it also frequently blends styles that possess radically different associations. These include sounds as disparate as a jazzy brushed snare drum, Russian balalaika-playing, and Gregorian chant. Unifying Desplat’s score, however, are four prominent themes (or leitmotifs) that are heard at various points throughout. In the film music analysis below, I will explore the interaction between music and narrative in four of these themes.

Zero’s Theme

Though this theme is not heard many times in the film, when it does occur, it marks pivotal points in the story. Zero’s theme is rather lengthy, being set in two parts, the first employing a repeated long-short rhythm over several phrases, and the second announcing a melody with a more even rhythm.

The theme first appears shortly before the introduction of Zero Moustafa as an elderly man (F. Murray Abraham) near the start of the film in the narrative told by “the Author” as a young man (Jude Law). Of the four main themes in the film, this is the only one to be centered on a major chord. While major chords used as tonal centers typically evoke positive sentiments of some sort, the situation here is more complex.

The first eight notes of the melody clearly outline a C major chord before twice reaching up to a high A sitting just above the chord. This A then moves through the chromatic note A-flat back down to the G atop the major chord. In C major, the A-flat is the flattened sixth scale degree, which is borrowed from C minor and in film music (and concert music) has long been a symbol of romantic longing when imported into a major key.

Familiar themes such as those for Princess Leia from Star Wars or Marion from Raiders of the Lost Ark employ this same device. In Grand Budapest, Zero tells the Author that his reason for retaining possession of the hotel and returning to it regularly is to preserve the fond memories of his time there with his long-deceased wife, Agatha. The combination of a sunny major key and its clouding over with the flat-6 degree provide a perfectly bittersweet accompaniment for any desires that remain unfulfilled for the vast majority of a film (such as a romantic relationship), or even for the film’s entirety, as here, where Zero resolutely clings to a past that can never be retrieved.

This idea of minor darkening the effect of a major key becomes even more overt in the theme’s third, fourth, fifth, and sixth phrases, where the music passes through two keys that, in a major-key context, would normally be major as well. As though to reiterate the conflict between major and minor, however, the first two phrases of the theme then return, reinstating the more positive sound of the central C major chord. Listen to the first 30 seconds of the cue below to hear these first six phrases:

Zero’s Theme also appears at a few other critical moments in the film: when Zero tells his tragic family history to Gustave, and when Zero and Agatha are married. Curiously, the theme is also heard with the lead-up to and introduction of the secret (and very silly) “Society of the Crossed Keys,” a network of hotel concierges across Europe who help each other out in times of need. At this point, we may ask how Zero is the focus of attention in this scene. The answer is that, clearly, he is not. As I mentioned, this is the only prominent theme to be set in a major key. And significantly, the theme’s distinctive flat-6 degree is removed for most of this version, so it acquires a much more positive expression that is wholly appropriate for the secret society saving the day. Thus, one might understand this statement of the theme as being emotionally motivated, that is, for its emotional quality rather than for its established association. Hear this version of the theme below:

Gustave’s Theme

This theme is introduced with the first appearance of Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes), the hotel’s meticulous concierge who sees to it that everyone and everything in the hotel is in its proper place. Unlike Zero’s theme, that for Gustave is set entirely in a minor key, which establishes an air of seriousness that aptly describes the character’s attitude towards his duties at the hotel. At the same time, the theme usually begins with just one instrument: the solo cimbalom, which plays Gustave’s accompaniment figure and expressing some of the loneliness we know Gustave to feel—that is, at least until he befriends Zero. Only after some time does a true melody appear overtop the accompaniment of the theme. But whether we hear the accompaniment, the melody, or both, the association is always with Gustave. The cue below starts with the accompaniment and brings in the melody overtop at 0:34 after a brief pause.

This theme is concentrated near the start of the film, when Gustave is largely in control of his situation. As the film progresses, however, he quickly loses that control, being (wrongly) arrested by the Zubrowkan police for the murder of Madame D, a super-wealthy 84-year-old patron of the hotel who was enamored with Gustave. Indeed, he spends the remainder of the film attempting to regain his freedom and clear himself of the charge. Accordingly, Gustave’s theme essentially disappears from the film as the focus of the narrative shifts to those acting against Gustave.

Zubrowkan Militia Theme

Once Gustave and Zero are on the train to Lutz to attend the wake of the now-deceased Madame D, we hear this new theme:

While the association of this theme is not at first clear, its use of the low brass and a minor chord as a center suggests the music of an antagonistic force. And indeed, as the train comes to a halt, outside the train’s window appears the Zubrowkan militia headed by Inspector Henckels (Edward Norton), upon which we hear the brassy theme once again. At this point, it becomes clear that the antagonistic force, at least in this scene, is the militia, an idea reinforced by the contrast between the cheerful colors of Gustave’s and Zero’s uniforms and the dull grey of those of the militia. (In a near-repeat of this scene at the end of the film, Gustave even comments wryly of the now-black militia color that “I find these black uniforms very drab.” This latter scene is even shot in black-and-white, as opposed to the color in the rest of the film.)

This theme is not only heard with the militia. When Gustave and Zero come upon the reading of Madame D’s will, the theme sounds again. What meaning is it to have here? Like the militia, Madame D’s relatives, who have all come in the hopes of obtaining a piece of the woman’s fortune, are dressed in greys and blacks in contrast to Gustave and Zero. Even more overtly, Gustave is treated as a usurper when it is announced that Madame D left a very valuable painting with Gustave. And it is this event that precipitates Gustave’s entanglement with the law. Thus, the theme here is expanded to include an antagonistic group that, while distinct from the militia, acts on Gustave in a similar way. While we tend to think of themes and leitmotifs in film as remaining fairly fixed in their associations, this technique of broadening the association of a theme to similar people, things, or ideas is actually fairly common. To draw on a familiar example, although the main theme of Star Wars is to a large extent Luke’s theme in the original three films, it is often broadened to become a generalized “good-guy” theme that can apply to anyone in the Rebel Alliance. Both there and in Grand Budapest, we could refer to such a broadened version as a thematic statement of expanded association.

The militia theme is expanded in other ways in the film. We hear it with the title card, “Part III: Check-Point 19 Criminal Internment Camp,” which is followed by an establishing shot of the prison Gustave is sent to. In short, his freedoms are revoked in much the same way as in his other encounters with the militia.

The theme’s association is also expanded when Gustave and Zero are on their way to meeting Serge X (Mathieu Amalric) in an attempt to clear Gustave’s name. While Gustave is not in any immediate trouble onscreen, the film has made clear that the hit-man, J. G. Jopling (Willem Dafoe), has been sent to silence Serge once and for all. Hence, we know trouble is brewing and that Gustave and Zero are headed into some danger. As though confirming this interpretation, the theme appears again once Gustave and Zero begin a (comically) perilous chase down the mountain after Jopling.

The last scene to incorporate the theme returns it to its original association of the militia when we see that the Grand Budapest has been turned into a barracks for the war. This five-minute cue is the most orchestrally colorful and compositionally complex in the score. Notably, the statements of the theme contain several chords that are altered and sound like distorted forms of the originals, suggesting the heightened tension of the situation, especially as it relates to Gustave. Hear some of this version below from 0:08 onward:

Finally, I would point out that the militia theme is the most prominent theme heard in the large central portion of the film, suggesting that it is Gustave’s antagonists who have the upper hand for most of the film.

Jopling’s Theme

This theme makes its entrance when Jopling sets out to find and kill Serge X, the lone witness to Madame D’s murder. It is yet another theme to center on a minor chord, but this time, the minor chord is set in an unusual scale that sounds like a minor scale but has both a raised fourth degree and a lowered second degree:

The impact of this scale is one of horror (in this case, melodramatic horror), especially as it is scored “fearfully” in the organ (0:00-0:07 below):

This theme is closely associated with Jopling throughout the film as it appears, for instance, when Inspector Henckels pulls a severed head out of a basket, leaving no doubt that it was the handiwork of Jopling, even though we did not see him commit this murder.

Conclusion

As is typical of Desplat’s scores, that for The Grand Budapest Hotel stitches the cues together with a small handful of prominent themes: those for Zero, Gustave, the militia, and Jopling. While the score is quite traditional in its use of harmony, melody, and rhythm, it nevertheless remains highly distinctive through its combination of broad melodies, memorable ostinatos, and unusual orchestrations, as well as a somewhat freer approach to themes through statements that are emotionally motivated or of expanded association. Indeed, these are the musical fingerprints that we have come to know and expect of Desplat’s reliably solid film scores.

Coming soon… The Imitation Game.

All five of this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Original Score have something obvious going for them. The score for Gravity is for one of the year’s biggest blockbusters, that for Her has sentimental appeal, Philomena is a solid thematic score, Saving Mr. Banks captures the emotional tragedy of the main character, and The Book Thief is yet another well crafted score by John Williams. But on March 2nd, only one score will take home the prize. My pick, for reasons outlined below, is Steven Price’s score for Gravity.

Past Oscar Wins

In each of the last ten years, the film that won the Oscar for Best Original Score was also nominated for Best Picture. This suggests that the scores for Gravity, Her, and Philomena have an advantage this year, their films having an accompanying nomination for Best Picture. But this pattern runs somewhat deeper, as seven of the last ten winning scores years were from films also nominated for Best Director. Of this year’s nominees, only Gravity fits that bill.

Other Awards

The BAFTA for Original Music in a Film has tended to be hit-and-miss as a predictor for the Best Original Score Oscar. Only four of the past ten winners in this category have gone on to win the Best Score Oscar. But it is worth mentioning that this year’s BAFTA went to Gravity, which at least gives the score some momentum over the other nominees.

Although the Golden Globes are decided by a different demographic than the Oscars, they have been a better predictor of the Best Score Oscar than the BAFTAs, with six of the last ten going on to win the Oscar. This year, however, the score that won the Golden Globe—Alex Ebert’s All is Lost—wasn’t even nominated for an Oscar. But I would point out that two of the nominees for the Golden Globes are also Oscar nominees: The Book Thief and, notably, Gravity.

Subjective Aspects

Price’s score for Gravity contains several aspects that draw attention to themselves in a way that meshes well with the film, thus lending the score a particularly memorable quality and giving it an edge over the other nominees. First, there is the highly emotional quality the score adds to certain events by being coordinated with them, events such as potentially life-threatening collisions and life-saving changes of setting, as I discussed in my analysis of the score. Second, Gravity contains the least amount of dialogue of all the nominees, so the music is more prominent than in the others. Third, there is Price’s use of what I’ve called the clipped crescendo, a technique where the music cuts off to silence just as a massive crescendo is about to reach its peak. Since it is heard at both the beginning and end of the film, as well as at critical points in the narrative, it vastly increases the score’s memorability and leaves viewers with a strong impression of the film’s score.

Comparison with Other Nominees

The great Max Steiner, who began scoring for films with the development of film sound in the late 1920s and who is often dubbed the father of film music, once said that

Some pictures require a lot of music and some of them are so realistic that music would only hurt and interfere.

While this overstates the case in modern films, the underlying point still remains true today: films that tend to need a good deal of prominent music are those based on some sort of fiction or fantasy, while more realistic films tend to need a smaller amount of less prominent music. Of the five nominees, three are based on real events or take place in a real historical setting: The Book Thief, Saving Mr. Banks, and Philomena. Hence, their sense of being part of the “real world” generally means that less music is required to give them a believability that is crucial to audience engagement. What music there is tends to remain in the perceptual background for most of the film, rendering the score less memorable (though no less effective).

On the other hand, films based on more imaginative ideas generally require a substantial amount of music to suspend our disbelief and draw us into the film’s more fictional world. Both Gravity and Her fulfill this criterion and indeed highlight music as an essential part of the film. In the case of Gravity, the film seems to ask “can you imagine yourself in this nightmarish situation?”, employing music to further immerse audiences in the film’s engrossing 3D presentation. In the case of Her, the fictional aspect of a man having a romantic relationship with an artificially intelligent being questions our reliance on technology and suggests that we need to re-connect with one another in more physical, indeed more human, ways. As I argued in my analysis of the score, music plays an integral role in conveying this message to audiences since it is such an important part of the relationship between Theodore (Joaquin Pheonix) and his computer’s operating system, Samantha (Scarlett Johansson). In addition, Her is the only nominee to also have a nomination for Best Original Song, as did last year’s Best Score winner, Life of Pi. Thus, it could help boost Her to win Best Score. From these perspectives, Gravity and Her have the edge over the other nominees.

Box Office

We must not forget that the production of films is a business like any other with profits as the bottom line. From this point of view, Gravity once again has the advantage since it finished 2013 with blockbuster status at #6 in box office revenues—the highest of all the nominees. Of the other four nominees, only two others are in the top 100, and a great distance from Gravity: Saving Mr. Banks at #44, and Philomena at #84. Her and The Book Thief fall just outside this range at #102 and #109 respectively. Gravity is also the only score associated with a 3D film, which is precisely the kind of film Hollywood is not only pushing these days, but also attempting to incorporate into more serious films, as Martin Scorsese did with Hugo in 2011.

Conclusion

Given the evidence above, Gravity would seem to be the clear favourite to win the Oscar for Best Original Score. One factor that may work against it, however, is its very non-traditional sound, much of it consisting of ambient sound-effect-type music rather than themes and incidental music. Such a score may not appeal to a majority of the Academy. My feeling, though, is that the several other factors involved will likely propel it to a win. The only other score that seems to have any chance at all is that for Her. But even that I view as a distant second to Price’s Gravity. So in short, I would be very surprised if Gravity does not take home the Oscar Sunday night. That said, this is the Oscars, and one must always be prepared for the unpredictable…

2013 was a relatively quiet year for Alexandre Desplat, at least by the composer’s industrious standard, scoring three films as opposed to the seven of the previous two years. Nevertheless, he has managed to earn his seventh Oscar nomination for his score to Philomena, and his second in consecutive years after last year’s Argo.

The story of Philomena follows Philomena Lee (Judi Dench), an Irish Catholic woman who in her teens had become pregnant and was sent to a convent, her single-parent father feeling she had brought shame upon the family. She was forced to live and work at the convent for several years until she had paid off her cost to stay there. While Philomena agreed to have the convent put her son up for adoption, he was sent away without her notice or ever having said goodbye. Fifty years have now gone by and Philomena has been searching for her son ever since, the convent repeatedly claiming they no longer had any information on the adoption as the records were burned in a fire.

The story’s other half concerns Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), a journalist who has recently been laid off and is desperate for work. After being approached by Philomena’s daughter to write a story on her mother, Martin reluctantly accepts the offer and he and Philomena set off to find her long lost son, Anthony.

Although Desplat takes a fairly traditional approach by drawing largely on a couple of themes as material, only Philomena is given a theme in the sense of a leitmotif. The other theme, which plays an even more prominent role in the film, is associated with recollections of Philomena’s son Anthony/Michael (the latter being his adopted name). A third less pervasive theme is linked specifically with Philomena’s past and the painful memories it continues to bring her. The film music analysis below therefore focuses on the statements and transformations of these three themes.

Philomena’s Theme

We first hear this theme as Philomena lights a candle in a church with a tear in her eye and a look of faint hope and longing:

Hear this below from 0:13:

The theme’s lilting waltz character and darkened minor-key colouring render it both charming and haunting, an apt emotional mix for Philomena in her situation. And in mm. 20-22, the use of the bII (Neapolitan) chord, adds an appropriate sense of tragedy (as we also saw with John Williams’ main theme to The Book Thief). It may at first seem strange to represent Philomena with a waltz theme, but the reason soon becomes clear as this scene dissolves to Philomena’s memory of the carnival where she became impregnated with her son by a young man she met there. As the scene unfolds, we hear Philomena’s theme, but now in a purely carnival-esque treatment, complete with a carousel organ:

Thus, the carnival version of Philomena’s theme may be understood to represent the initial event that brought about her predicament. The theme also appears in a few other guises, each one expressing an emotional nuance for the scene. Listen, for example, to the following version, which we hear as Philomena recalls herself as a teen, reuniting with her son for the single hour she was allowed each day (from 1:02 to the end):

The carousel organ has disappeared and the theme is rescored with violins, vibraphone, glockenspiel, and electric guitar, all played softly and delicately, suggesting both the tenderness of the memory and its focus on her child (especially through the wistful sound of the glockenspiel). And the theme’s subsequent sounding on the solo piano emphasizes the emptiness and loneliness she continues to feel in recalling such memories. In both cases, however, the triple time of the waltz remains as an unmistakable link to the carnival where Philomena’s plight began.

Another transformation of the theme occurs as Philomena remembers her son being taken away without her being notified. She frantically calls out to him from inside the convent, but to no avail. She can only watch in horror as he leaves without her having said goodbye to him. Philomena’s theme here is distorted, now in fragmented tatters, reflecting the state of her life at this moment, and the upbeat triple time lost to a more plodding, heavy-hearted two-beat time. Listen here from 2:24:

Anthony/Michael’s Theme

This theme is even more pervasive than that of Philomena and appears most often in the following form:

In this scene, Martin discovers that Anthony was re-named Michael Hess and finds that he has been deceased for eight years. Philomena is understandably devastated by the news. The moderately slow tempo and scoring in the middle and lower registers of the harp give the theme a cold and ghostly sound that suggests Michael’s absence from the world while the accompanying strings and clarinets add a sense of Philomena’s loving affection for her son. This striking combination, along with the tragedy of the scene, makes this one of the most touching cues in the film.

Anthony/Michael’s theme appears in a few different variations. When Philomena and Martin begin their journey by driving to Philomena’s old convent, we hear the melody for the first time. It is scored in middle to high registers, in a moderately fast tempo and eventually shifting from a minor to a major key, all of which suggests a guarded optimism on Philomena and Martin’s part at the start of their search. Listen below:

Philomena and Martin’s arrival by plane in the U.S. is accompanied by another form of the theme, now completely in a major key and scored in the strings with clarinets and bass clarinet, lending the scene a warmth that suggests Philomena is at last beginning to feel some satisfaction that she is getting closer to finding her son. Also notice the use of the glockenspiel (from 0:49) to again suggest Philomena’s memories of Anthony as a child (listen from 0:34):

This same version of the theme also accompanies Philomena as she watches a home video of Michael in his adult years in what is arguably the film’s most poignant scene.

“Philomena’s Painful Memories”

Whenever we hear this theme, the focus of the scene is squarely on the painful aspects of Philomena’s past, as it occurs either in a flashback or alongside a clear verbal or visual reference. It is first sounded as Philomena recalls her initial months at the convent, facing stern judgement from the head of the convent, Sister Hildegard, who is then seen refusing Philomena pain killers for the breeched birth she is experiencing. Although the theme has a distinct sound from the other two listed above, it retains close ties to them. In the above flashback, for example, we hear the theme in this form:

Notice that the opening ostinato (repeated figure) is similar to that of Anthony/Michael’s theme, but shorter and here played in a fast tempo and in a low register, suggesting both the anxiety and obsessive persistence with which Philomena recalls her memories of the convent. At the same time, notice that at 0:50, a fragment of Philomena’s theme enters in a slower rhythm in the strings (then echoed by the piano) and returns at 1:05. With its buoyant waltz character now replaced with greater tension through longer notes and a more tension-filled two-step time, this subtle reference to Philomena’s theme appears as she is giving birth to her son, suggesting the great concern Philomena has for his life in this scene.

In a later scene, Philomena and Martin begin their inquiries at the convent. As Martin waits for a nun in one of the rooms, he glances thoughtfully at old photos of the nuns. At this point, we hear a hesitant and thinly scored form of the theme, suggesting that Martin is trying to piece together the mystery that has caused Philomena’s painful memories. Immediately after this, Philomena again recalls the most harrowing moment of her past—seeing her son as he is driven away by his adoptive parents. The music here sounds second and third parts of the same theme, both still in a minor key. The second is a plaintive, repeated two-note figure in the piano accompanied by strings, implying the tenderness of the memory, and the third a combination of a soulful cello melody accompanied by the child-like glockenspiel, suggesting the emotional weight of having Philomena’s son torn away from her. Hear all three themes in the clip below, the first from the opening, the second at 0:50, and the third at 1:08:

The first and second parts of the theme return at the film’s end as Philomena and Martin look on Michael’s gravestone and Philomena decides she does want Martin to tell her story after all. While their journey managed to trace Michael’s history, his death leaves Philomena’s emotional wound unable to be healed, hence Desplat’s use of the painful memories theme here. Notice, however, that the second part now gravitates to a more positive major chord alternating with darker chords from the minor mode, suggesting that Philomena has at least found some solace in knowing what became of her son. Hear this version of the theme below from 1:22:

Conclusion

As with most film scores, Alexandre Desplat’s score to Philomena incorporates themes that serve as the main source of its music. But what is unusual about the score is its remarkable economy of material as variations of Philomena’s and Anthony/Michael’s themes account for the vast majority of the music. And it is here that Desplat shows his talent for molding and remolding his themes in subtle ways in order to capture the emotional nuances of a scene. Even when Philomena’s theme, for instance, retains its distinctive waltz rhythm, it is reorchestrated in ways that evoke just the right emotions for the situation onscreen. More than that, Anthony/Michael’s theme undergoes several variations, not only in orchestration, but in its pitches as well, allowing it to be tailored to the narrative while remaining in a subtly recognizable form. No matter how these themes are varied, however, Desplat always manages to write cues that have a strong melodic component, making Philomena an appealingly lyrical score.

Coming soon… Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett’s Her.

This is the last in a series of six posts on the 2013 Oscar nominees for Best Original Score. I have already parsed each of the five nominated scores in some detail in my previous posts. So what is my prediction for the winner? Mychael Danna’s score for Life of Pi. Although this probably comes as no surprise, it is worth considering many of the things that this score has going for it.

Past Oscar Wins

Data from the last ten years of the Oscars reveals some interesting patterns in the winners for Best Original Score. First and foremost, 90% of scores that won were for films that were also nominated for Best Picture. This year, Life of Pi, Lincoln, and Argo have nominations for both Best Score and Best Picture. The last score to win whose film was not nominated for Best Picture was Eliot Goldenthal’s score to Frida all the way back in 2002. This is not to say that scores for films without a Best Picture nomination won’t win, but certainly the odds are against them.

Of the past ten years of Best Score winners, 60% of them were for films that also had nominations for both Best Picture and Best Director. This year, only Life of Pi and Lincoln have these other nominations. It’s not as if Argo is out of the running, but the vast majority of recent winning scores are linked to these other nominations.

Other Awards

Besides the Oscars, we might also consider the histories of two other prestigious prizes, the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs. In the past ten years, 70% of Best Score winners also took home the Golden Globe earlier in the year. And in fact, Golden Globe score winners have also won the Oscar for the last five years in a row. This year, Life of Pi won the Golden Globe.

Some might say that because Thomas Newman’s score for Skyfall won the BAFTA this year, that it will have an advantage on Oscar night. But in the past ten years, only 40% of BAFTA winners went on to win the Oscar as well. From this perspective, things look better for Life of Pi than for Skyfall.

Subjective Aspects of the Score

Life of Pi is the only film to earn its composer two Oscar nominations, one for the score and one for the song, “Pi’s Lullaby”. Even if the song loses to Adele’s and Paul Epworth’s heavily favoured “Skyfall”, the nomination speaks well of Life of Pi’s score since the song is actually a part of Mychael Danna’s original score. In addition, “Pi’s Lullaby” occurs over the main titles, which introduces the sense innocence and wonder of Pi’s childhood with a delightful montage of various zoo animals that the music suits perfectly. The sequence is therefore a “money scene” for Danna’s music, in other words a scene in which the music is both highly emotional and unforgettable.

Life of Pi is also the kind of film that calls for prominent, foregrounded scoring in many scenes. So it is unlikely to come away from the film not having noticed the music at all. But more than that, the emphasis on consonant chords and lush, sustained harmonies in the score suits the highly spiritual and emotional nature of the film. Consider, for example, the music we hear as Pi helplessly watches the ship with all his family members sink into the ocean’s depths. Its solemnity and beauty creates a heart-wrenching effect that is hard to forget, especially with the use of a choir, which enters at 0:25 in this clip:

Comparison with the Other Nominees

The score for Life of Pi also looks very strong when compared to the other nominees. Neither Skyfall nor Anna Karenina are nominated for either Best Picture or Best Director, a fact that, as we saw, significantly decreases their chances of winning Best Score. Moreover, both films have an extra strike against them. Anna Karenina was the only film of the Best Score nominees not to break into the 100 top-grossing films of 2012, a fact that certainly harms its chances in a business that is intensely profit-driven. Skyfall earns the extra strike because, incredible as it may seem, a James Bond score has never taken home the Oscar.

While John Williams’ score for Lincoln is a sensitive treatment of the subject matter, it is not what you would call prominent film music. Since most of the film is given to elegantly polished dialogue that must be heard above any other sounds, space for the music is far more limited than in most other Williams scores. In addition, most of our attention during the film is focused on understanding the complexity of the dialogue, the political motivations of each of the characters, and even trying to keep the names of many characters straight. Again, this leaves little room in our memory for music, no matter how well crafted it may be.

In Argo, Alexandre Desplat gives us a fully competent score that fits the emotional ups and downs of the narrative. But, like Lincoln, there is so little music in the film that it becomes difficult to remember afterwards. Most of the score is devoted to atmospheric music rather than themes and leitmotifs that stick out in one’s mind. The most memorable music in the score occurs when the American hideaways have safely made it out of Iran by plane. But even so, this scene is at the end of the film. The music we have heard up to this point is hard to recall, especially as much of it is placed under the all-important dialogue.

Factors Against Life of Pi Winning

Now of course I’m not saying that Life of Pi is sure to win, only that it is the most likely of the five. So we ought to consider some of the factors working against a win for Life of Pi.

Although a Bond score has never won, Skyfall has the advantage of being the 50th-anniversary film of the Bond franchise. Newman is also a veteran of the business that many believe is long overdue for an Oscar win. Many Academy members may feel the same way. Finally, as I mentioned, its title song is favoured to win and that could carry over into a win for the score, even though the song is not Newman’s.

Despite the subdued quality of Lincoln’s score, the film seems tailor-made to please the Academy. According to an L.A. Times study, 94% of the Academy is Caucasian, 77% are male, and the median age is 62. A film that glorifies the actions of a prominent white male of about the same age might well appeal to most members. It might well be the case that most members vote for this score not only because it is a well done score by one of the all-time greats of film composers, but also because they appreciate Lincoln as a whole and wish to recognize its merits with awards in several categories.

And while Desplat’s score for Argo may not be all that memorable or lengthy, the film has claimed the Best Picture award from the Golden Globes, the Producers Guild Awards, and the Directors Guild Awards. This momentum that Argo has built up could translate into a win for Desplat.

But in the end, all of this evidence in favour of Life of Pi could be entirely moot. After all, this is the Oscars, and as we know, anything can happen.