It is a question that comes up almost every year at Cannes: why is music, a fundamental element in a film, not rewarded at the largest film festival in the world, as it is at the Oscars? "Thierry, what would cinema be without music?" asked Cécile Rap-Veber. "If you go to the cinema, you cut the soundtrack, the emotions are never the same," she said. Monday, as a prelude to a masterclass by Canadian composer Howard Shore, the director general of Sacem (Society of Authors, Composers and Music Publishers) challenged the General Delegate of the Cannes Film Festival, Thierry Frémaux, on stage.
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When will there be a music prize in Cannes, Thierry? " she asked again, provoking applause in the room, while thanking the Festival for hosting these music masterclasses for six years. "It's very tempting," joked Thierry Frémaux.
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The intellectual property code in France explains that there are three authors in a film: the screenwriter, the director and the composer. The law itself has recognized the importance of composers in a film," Rap-Veber told AFP. She adds: "We are very sad that, in a country like ours, in a world-famous festival, we have not yet managed to have music recognized in its rightful place", recalling that in the post-war period, the soundtrack was rewarded, before "it completely fell by the wayside".
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The "music lesson" of Howard Shore, 76, was an opportunity to pay tribute to this composer triple Oscar winner of the soundtracks of the trilogy The Lord of the Rings (two Oscars), The Hobbit, and many films by David Cronenberg.
Director Martin Scorsese, for whom Howard Shore composed the music for After Hours, Hugo Cabret and especially The Aviator, made a surprise appearance at the masterclass and spoke with the composer about their collaboration. "I like to improvise... I like to read the novel, the play or the screenplay, and then I dream of the story. That's where music comes from," Shore told AFP. He says he supports any effort to recognize the work of film composers who play a crucial role "in maintaining the relationship between the audience and the story that is told on screen."
