Ludovico Einaudi on the big screen
Thursday, December 3, 2020 at 10:00AM 
After its premiere in Venice and the Golden Lion victory, Chloé Zhao's Nomadland has quickly become one of the most talked-about and most critically acclaimed films of 2020. Personally, I can't wait to watch the nomadic drama starring Frances McDormand, though I'm uncertain when the picture will be coming to Portugal. For the cinephiles of the USA, however, Nomadland is being theatrically released tomorrow, December 4th. If you feel safe enough to do so and it's playing nearby, you can venture into the cinema and experience Zhao's new film.
Meanwhile, I'll wait and let my expectations ferment and grow like some metaphorical sourdough starter. While much has been written about the picture's sweeping landscapes, intriguing narrative, and applause-worthy performances, I confess the singular element I'm most excitingly anticipating is its music. Specifically, Ludovico Einaudi's latest film score…
The Turin-born pianist and composer is classically trained, having studied in the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan. His career started in the realm of classical music, though, in the 80s, after conquering some success, Einaudi started to explore other kinds of melodic expression. Not only did he experiment with rock sounds and folk influence, but he also started developing music as part of a work of art rather than the end product all in itself. In other words, Einaudi began composing for the theatre and, later on, cinema and TV.
His career is quite eclectic and I've been a fan of him for some years, ever since I became obsessed with one of his best and most memorable works. "Experience", originally released in the 2013 album In a Time Lapse, is a lush piece of music. Both joyous and strangely sorrowful, it intoxicates the listener with a tempest of emotion that, instead of resolving itself in a triumphant finale, deflates into a whisper of broken dreams, a wistful cry of the piano.
Like many of you surely did, I first encountered "Experience" in the maternal dreams of an impossible future near the end of Xavier Dolan's Mommy. Take a look:
That spellbinding sequence made me into an Einaudi fan for life and, since then, I've made sure to look for his music in and out of the screen. Still, focusing on cinema, there are many other places where the budding cinephile can encounter the melodies of this Italian master. There's the Black Swan trailer, for a mini-dose of musical ecstasy. If you want something more robust, may I recommend This Is England's marriage between instrumental score and 80s hits? Or, better yet, The Intouchables, where Einaudi cuts through the French movie's maudlin sentiment with his inebriating tunes.
To end this short reverie about Italian composers and great nomadic expectations, here's a link to the Spotify playlist of Nomadland's score. While it's hard to judge without seeing the film, how it marries the image, meshes with the narrative and themes, but it sure sounds like a masterful score. It may seem vaguely crass to bring up such matters, but it's important to note that Einaudi will be ineligible for the Oscar since he used tracks previously written for another album. Still, that doesn't curtail any of my enthusiasm for the film and its wondrous music.
If you've already seen Nomadland, were you a fan of Einaudi's compositions?
Reader Comments (7)
Uff, I cried at that sequence in Mommy at the pictures. And every time since.
I first encountered "Experience" in figure skating, because it's become a very commonly-used track for skaters to use (a 'warhorse', in the parlance of the sport).
But didn't Ludovic Bource win the Oscar for The Artist despite undeniable use of tracks from other sources (like Hermann's Vertigo score)?
Working stiff -- Their rules are inconsistent and weird. THE ARTIST uses a track from Herrmann in one major sequence, but it has mostly an original score beside it. ARRIVAL uses one Max Richter track in the prologue and epilogue in an otherwise original score and it was disqualified. I can't understand the Academy's music branch.
schmiedepaul -- The first time I saw it, it was like I was suddenly breathless. What a brilliant sequence and what gorgeous music.
Sean C. -- Didn't know about that. Thanks for the info.
Working stiff -- Bource made use of a Hermann track in a pivotal moment of the film, but most of the score was original. With ARRIVAL, most of the score was original but there was a pre-existing Max Richter composition used in the prologue and epilogue. That was enough for AMPAS to disqualify the sci-fi movie. Honestly, I can never fully understand the Academy's music branch. Their criteria seem awfully inconsistent.
Definitely inconsistent, and infuriating. There are (at least) six tracks used in the The Artist that should have made it ineligible. (And Hermann's original Vertigo score was itself snubbed by the Academy.)
According to Metacritic, Nomadland has moved to a February release.