A bit like Steven Spielberg and John Williams, Damien Chazelle and Justin Hurwitz form an inseparable filmmaker-composer duo. With one detail: at this stage of his young career, Justin Hurwitz has only written music for the films of his accomplice director. A working relationship which is therefore for the moment exclusive!
Chazelle and Hurwitz were both born in 1985. Passionate regarding cinema and music, they met during their studies at Harvard. The apprentice filmmaker and the apprentice composer collaborate on Damien Chazelle’s graduation feature, “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench”, produced in 2009. In this film, whose hero is a jazz trumpeter, we already note the fascination of Chazelle for the films of Jacques Demy and the music of Michel Legrand.
“Whiplash”, the first success
The film was noticed enough for Justin Hurwitz and Damien Chazelle to try their luck together in Los Angeles, where they began to work on screenplays. They break through with “Whiplash”, a film that Damien Chazelle develops from a short film of the same name. Award-winning at Sundance, “Whiplash” depicts the brutal rivalry between a tyrannical drum teacher, played by JK Simmons, and his student, played by Miles Teller.
Justin Hurwitz, who composes the soundtrack, uses an original technique to illustrate the confrontation between student and master: he writes tense pieces, inspired by electronic music, which he then has interpreted by instruments in connection with the environment of the film. As the plot of “Whiplash” takes place in a school of jazz, Hurwitz also composes tracks for big band, like its flamboyant opening.
>> To listen: “Overture”, piece composed by Justin Hurwitz for the film “Whiplash”
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“La La Land”, the consecration
“Whiplash” introduces Damien Chazelle, who can then finance the project of his dreams: to revive in a contemporary context the golden age of musicals and CinemaScope. In “La La Land”, released in 2016, worn by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, Chazelle unfolds her vision of the quest for fame in Hollywood. Here once more, his admiration for the films of Jacques Demy irrigates the story and the staging.
The character of Ryan Gosling is a bar pianist, Emma Stone embodies an actress in the making. Cinema and music meet in a romantic crossover, in the studios or on the heights of Los Angeles. Justin Hurwitz, inspired as much by Michel Legrand as by Broadway standards, signs the entire score, as well as the songs in the film.
It’s a full box for “La La Land”, which won numerous awards, including the Oscars for best film music and best original song.
To see and listen to: the Epilogue of the film “La La Land” by Damien Chazelle with music by Justin Hurwitz
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“First Man”, critical enthusiasm and financial failure
All doors are now open for Damien Chazelle. His next project surprises: “First Man” (2018) tells the story of the conquest of the Moon by the Americans, seen through the eyes of Neil Armstrong. Chazelle is particularly interested in the loneliness of these astronauts launched into the crazy and obsessive project of being the first to set foot on the Moon. As a result, Justin Hurwitz’s score is partly steeped in melancholy. On the intimate pieces, he incorporates electronic instruments typical of the 1960s, such as the theremin and the Moog.
He also composed some spectacular sequences, like the one he wrote for the formidable reconstruction of the moon landing.
To see and listen to: the moon landing scene from the film “First Man” to music by Justin Hurwitz
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Despite its many qualities and critical enthusiasm, “First Man” did not meet its audience and was considered a financial failure.
“Babylon”, the legend of Hollywood
This does not prevent Damien Chazelle from seizing the Hollywood legend once once more by directing “Babylon”, a feature film which focuses on the period of the 1920s during the transition from silent to talking.
Chazelle films the dark and decadent side of the movie industry by following the itineraries of several characters, including those played by Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt. On the music side, Hurwitz composes heady leitmotifs that he likes to decline in several forms, whether they are played by a large ensemble, a piano bastringue, or a circus orchestra. The score, omnipresent and frenetic, is intended to underline, in the words of the composer, the hedonistic and wild universe of the film.
To listen: “Voodoo Mama”, extract from “Babylon”
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Upon its release at the beginning of the year, “Babylon” divided critics and experienced commercial failure. He gleans only three nominations for the Oscars which will be awarded this Sunday, including that of the best music. A fourth nomination for Justin Hurwitz and perhaps a second Oscar following the one obtained for “La La Land”.
Subject radio: Pascal Knoerr
Adaptation web: aq
