An exceptional music lesson in Cannes :
Alexandre Desplat and Guillermo del Toro
“My ambition for each film is to find its own orchestral colour, depending on the subject, how it is handled, the actors, the lighting ... while remaining faithful to my melodic and harmonic obsessions,” says Alexandre Desplat, objectively one of the most inventive composers for the screen in the new world. His work is both refined and lush, a place where all possibilities, all contrasts and all scales collide.
After working with the likes of Wes Anderson, Stephen Frears and Roman Polanski, Alexandre Desplat met Guillermo del Toro in 2017. It was a case of instant friendship and professional chemistry, cemented by the resounding success of The Shape of Water, a humanist fable that earned the composer his second Oscar. This will be followed by an original reinterpretation of Pinocchio, treated as a musical tale, and Frankenstein, scheduled for autumn 2025. "Guillermo," Desplat concludes, "is a force of nature, a Mexican magician with a keen sensitivity, nourished by art, literature and cinema. He has a deep culture and love of music in films and, of course, in his own films."
The Sacem Music Lesson at Cannes this year will take you behind the scenes of the creative process and give you an inside look at how Desplat and del Toro, two artists with different styles of expression, work together. They will tell us how music must find equivalents for materials such as water (The Shape of Water) or wood (Pinocchio), and how it must reveal the humanity of monsters, a recurring theme in del Toro's films. More than just a meeting between a filmmaker and a composer, this will be a dialogue between two poets.
Following editions dedicated to duos such as Howard Shore and Martin Scorsese, Philippe Rombi and François Ozon, Sacem's Leçon de Musique has established itself as an important event at the Cannes Film Festival, celebrating the inseparable link between music and cinema, while paying tribute to creators who shape our emotions. These unforgettable soundtracks, true pillars of our film culture, have marked the great scenes of cinema, creating indelible memories.
This special edition will take place on Sunday, May 18th at 2 PM in the Buñuel theatre. Hosted by Stéphane Lerouge, this exceptional event is a must-see for lovers of cinema and music.