Hot off the heels of winning Best Original Score for a Motion Picture at last weekend’s Golden Globes, The Artist has been nominated once again.This time the black and white critic’s favourite has been nominated for the Original Music category at the Baftas.
Written by Ludovic Bource, the music that accompanies The Artist plays such a crucial role in the film because it is largely silent.
The film is set in 1927 when the advent of the talkies is putting silent movie stars out of business and the film, directed by Michel Hazanavicius, tells the tale through the art of silent cinema and expression.
Announced this morning (January 17th), The Artist leads the Bafta nominations with 12, including best film, director and best actor nominations for Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo.
Other contenders for the Original Music category are The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Hugo by Howard Shore, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by Alberto Iglesias and War Horse, which has been composed by Steven Spielberg’s long-time partner John Williams.
Praise for the music used in The Artist comes despite complaints from actress Kim Novak. She recently took out a full-page ad in trade paper Variety complaining about The Artist’s use of Bernard Herrmann’s love theme from the movie Vertigo, a film in which she starred.
She wrote that she has been violated by the movie, adding that it “is morally wrong for the artistry of our industry to use and abuse famous pieces of work to gain attention and applause for other than what they were intended”.
However Hazanavicius defended his use of the music in the film and stressed that it has been used in a number of different film over the years.
This is the first major feature film in which Ludovic Bource has composed the score. He has previously scored music for short films in France and a documentary.