#desplat

Atelier collaboratif "L'Arbre à Vœux" de broderie sur papier "Washi" organisé par l'artiste Sébastien Desplat et l'Atelier Montex dans le cadre de l'exposition "Beyond our Horizons : de Tokyo à Paris" au 19M, Paris, mai 2026.

Last night I went out to the movies with friends and we saw the new Wes Anderson picture, Asteroid City. This is the first time in a long time that I've seen a film in a theater and I do have a lot to say about the movie and the unique way that it shows the kind of crisis and anxiety that artists have in the creative process. But from the first moment I fell in love with the score by the acclaimed film composer Alexandre Desplat. Just as Anderson uses picturesque scenes and stock characters of Atomic-Age Americana to evoke a nostalgia for this idealized past we can only experience as artificial recreations, So Desplat turn to post-war American music to capture not only an atmosphere of the era but also of the American Sublime. There are only a few moments that his score comes through mixed with retro country western tracks. The opening of this “suite” holds us with a high-pitched note held over a melody in the lower register of the piano. This distinct “Americana” sound feels that way because it is reminiscent of Copland’s orchestral writing. But then the oscillating xylophone and bells brings in a pulse that makes me think of American minimalism with the likes of Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Little wind arpeggios come in to heavily emphasize Philip Glass' style of “minimalism”, which can be heard throughout his scores. And this nod to Glass ends with a long held organ pedal point in the bass, reminding us of his iconic score for Koyaanisqatsi (1982). Then, unexpectedly, the held note which opened the score is revealed to be the opening to the serene and otherworldly prelude to Wagner’s Lohengrin (or at least a short pastiche). Why reference Wagner here? I'm going to guess that this is related to the Wagnerian sound of heroism, triumph, and the sublime all being paired with the reminiscent love for the cowboys of the Old West. And these long held notes, and evoking the repetitive and potentially endless sounds of looping American minimalism come together to create a musical depiction of the American Sublime of endless Horizons and expansive nature and the quiet beauty that places like the Southwest has. I might be reading a lot into it and I don't want to argue that this is what Alexander Desplat had in mind when he decided to write in an American musical style for matching aesthetics, but I think this adds a nice little cherry of a detail on top of an already complicated and multi-layered film.

     Aunque Desplat pudiera crecer como ciudad, yo la concibo más bien pequeña, como el municipio de Baiona, en Galicia. Por su escala reducida, me parece que es más fácil trabajar en un diseño geométrico, organizado y puro, lejos del mundanal ruido. 

Enjoy! - Editor-in-chief

Atelier collaboratif “L'Arbre à Vœux” de broderie sur papier “Washi” organisé par l'artiste Sébastien Desplat et l'Atelier Montex dans le cadre de l'exposition “Beyond our Horizons : de Tokyo à Paris” au 19M, Paris, mai 2026.

Atelier collaboratif “L'Arbre à Vœux” de broderie sur papier “Washi” organisé par l'artiste Sébastien Desplat et l'Atelier Montex dans le cadre de l'exposition “Beyond our Horizons : de Tokyo à Paris” au 19M, Paris, mai 2026.

Atelier collaboratif "L'Arbre à Vœux" de broderie sur papier "Washi" organisé par l'artiste Sébastien Desplat et l'Atelier Montex dans le cadre de l'exposition "Beyond our Horizons : de Tokyo à Paris" au 19M, Paris, mai 2026.

Atelier collaboratif "L'Arbre à Vœux" de broderie sur papier "Washi" organisé par l'artiste Sébastien Desplat et l'Atelier Montex dans le cadre de l'exposition "Beyond our Horizons : de Tokyo à Paris" au 19M, Paris, mai 2026.