A lifelong fan of music and film whose duel passions combined with a talent for composition to lay the groundwork for a prolific career scoring films, Alexandre Desplat grew up admiring the cinematic scores of such legends as Bernard Herrmann, Georges Delerue, Maurice Jarre, and Nino Rota.
A native of France, Desplat began playing the piano at age five and was raised on a steady diet of American films. Though his education consisted of traditional conservatory training, the emerging composer penned music for a traveling theater troupe before branching out into short films and, later, television and features. Desplat eventually developed a style that revolved more around color and texture than traditional melody, and his creativity flourished in the European film industry -- where film composers are usually afforded smaller budgets and less-severe time restraints than their American counterparts. Though it was during the mid-'80s that Desplat began to establish himself in the realm of cinema, it was his continuing collaborations with director Jacques Audiard, beginning with Desplat's score 1994's See How They Fall, that inspired numerous other directors to seek out the composer's talents.
After nearly 15 years of making a name for himself in the European film scene, Desplat began working his way stateside with a Golden Globe-nominated score for Peter Weber's Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003). Having established a successful working relationship with French filmmaker Florent Emilio Siri with the 1998 coal-mining drama Une Minute de Silence, the pair continued to work together on Nid de Guêpes (a French variation of the John Carpenter classic Assault on Precinct 13). Later, when Siri made his way to the U.S. to helm the Bruce Willis thriller Hostage, he would bring his trusted composer along for the ride.
His star fast on the rise, Desplat earned yet another Golden Globe nomination for his Middle Eastern-flavored score to the labyrinthine Stephen Gaghan thriller Syriana before continuing the Hollywood trend with scores to The Alibi and Firewall in 2006. Though to some it may have appeared as if Desplat was abandoning his European roots in favor of stateside success, a César-winning score for 2005's The Beat That My Heart Skipped, a Golden Globe-winning score for the U.S.-Chinese co-production The Painted Veil, and a BAFTA-nominated score for director Stephen Frears' The Queen (composed in just three weeks after Frears deemed the previous composer's score unacceptable) proved without question that the increasingly prominent composer was still very much an international player.
| Title | Year | Editors' Rating | User Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Moonrise Kingdom
Composer (Music Score) |
2012 | |||
|
A Better Life
Composer (Music Score), Conductor |
2011 | |||
|
Carnage
Composer (Music Score) |
2011 | |||
|
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Composer (Music Score), Conductor |
2011 | |||
|
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Composer (Music Score) |
2011 | |||
|
Largo Winch II
Composer (Music Score) |
2011 | |||
|
My Week With Marilyn
Additional Music |
2011 | |||
|
The Ides of March
Composer (Music Score) |
2011 | |||
|
The Tree of Life
Composer (Music Score) |
2011 | |||
|
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
Composer (Music Score) |
2010 | |||
|
Tamara Drewe
Composer (Music Score) |
2010 | |||
|
The Ghost Writer
Composer (Music Score), Conductor |
2010 | |||
|
The King's Speech
Composer (Music Score) |
2010 | |||
|
The Special Relationship
Composer (Music Score) |
2010 | |||
|
A Prophet
Composer (Music Score) |
2009 | |||
|
Army of Crime
Composer (Music Score) |
2009 | |||
|
Chéri
Composer (Music Score) |
2009 | |||
|
Coco Before Chanel
Composer (Music Score) |
2009 | |||
|
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Composer (Music Score), Conductor, Musical Direction/Supervision |
2009 | |||
|
Julie & Julia
Composer (Music Score) |
2009 | |||
|
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Composer (Music Score) |
2009 | |||
|
Afterwards
Composer (Music Score) |
2008 | |||
|
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Composer (Music Score) |
2008 | |||
|
The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch
Composer (Music Score) |
2008 | |||
|
Intimate Enemies
Composer (Music Score) |
2007 | |||
|
Lust, Caution
Composer (Music Score), Conductor, Musical Performer |
2007 | |||
|
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
Composer (Music Score) |
2007 | |||
|
The Golden Compass
Composer (Music Score) |
2007 | |||
|
Firewall
Composer (Music Score) |
2006 | |||
|
Lies & Alibis
Composer (Music Score) |
2006 | |||
|
The Painted Veil
Composer (Music Score), Conductor |
2006 | |||
|
The Queen
Composer (Music Score) |
2006 | |||
|
The Singer
Composer (Music Score) |
2006 | |||
|
The Valet
Composer (Music Score) |
2006 | |||
|
Casanova
Composer (Music Score) |
2005 | |||
|
Hostage
Composer (Music Score) |
2005 | |||
|
Syriana
Composer (Music Score) |
2005 | |||
|
The Beat That My Heart Skipped
Composer (Music Score) |
2005 | |||
|
Birth
Composer (Music Score), Conductor, Musical Arrangement |
2004 | |||
|
Inquiétudes
Composer (Music Score) |
2004 | |||
|
The Corsican File
Composer (Music Score) |
2004 | |||
|
The Upside of Anger
Composer (Music Score), Conductor |
2004 | |||
|
Girl With a Pearl Earring
Composer (Music Score) |
2003 | |||
|
Les Corps Impatients
Composer (Music Score) |
2003 | |||
|
Stormy Weather
Composer (Music Score) |
2003 | |||
|
Tristan
Composer (Music Score) |
2003 | |||
|
The Nest
Composer (Music Score) |
2002 | |||
|
Barnie et Ses Petites Contrarietes
Composer (Music Score) |
2001 | |||
|
Read My Lips
Composer (Music Score) |
2001 | |||
|
Transfixed
Composer (Music Score) |
2001 | |||
|
Amazone
Composer (Music Score) |
2000 | |||
|
The Luzhin Defence
Composer (Music Score) |
2000 | |||
|
Vive Nous!
Composer (Music Score) |
2000 | |||
|
Monsieur Naphtali
Composer (Music Score) |
1999 | |||
|
Rien à faire
Composer (Music Score) |
1999 | |||
|
1 Chance Sur 2
Composer (Music Score) |
1998 | |||
|
Atilano, Presidente
Composer (Music Score) |
1998 | |||
|
Sweet Revenge
Composer (Music Score) |
1998 | |||
|
Le Cri De La Soie
Composer (Music Score), Songwriter |
1996 | |||
|
Le Montreur De Boxe
Songwriter |
1996 | |||
|
Love Etc.
Songwriter |
1996 | |||
|
Passage a L'Acte
Songwriter |
1996 | |||
|
Un Heros Très Discret
Composer (Music Score), Songwriter |
1996 | |||
|
Innocent Lies
Composer (Music Score), Songwriter |
1995 | |||
|
Le Plus Bel Age...
Songwriter |
1995 | |||
|
Les Milles
Composer (Music Score) |
1995 | |||
|
Marie-Louise Ou La Permission
Composer (Music Score) |
1994 | |||
|
Regarde les Hommes Tomber
Composer (Music Score) |
1994 | |||
|
The Advocate
Composer (Music Score) |
1993 | |||
|
Au Nom du Pere et du Fils
Composer (Music Score) |
1992 | |||
|
Sexes Faibles!
Composer (Music Score) |
1992 |

