Rihards Zalupe joins The Film Scorer Podcast! Rihards’ latest score is for the Oscar and BAFTA nominated animated film Flow, which he co-composed with the film’s writer and director Gints Zilbalodis. As such, Rihards and I spend much of our conversation talking about the score, including creating themes or specific sonic palette choices for each of the film’s different animal main characters, co-composing a score with the film’s director (which was also Gints’ first time working with a composer on one of his films), and how Cat has become one of Latvia’s national heroes.
I was pleased to hear so much marimba (and other idiophones) throughout the score, a testament to Rihards’ long career as a percussionist. I’ve often talked about how transcendent and hypnotic those instruments can be, usually in the context of Cliff Martinez’s Solaris (using gamelan), and Rihards uses them with the same intent here. But given the relatively scant resources they were working with, including a lack of certain instruments readily available in Latvia, Rihards also had to make his own versions of idiophones, or at least instruments able to mimic them, including creating homemade balafon and gamelan. The repertoire really adds to the film’s – and the score’s – sense of journey.
Rihards’ score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. Flow is available on demand or streaming on HBO Max. You can find out more about Rihards on his website.
Have a listen to our conversation below or wherever you get your podcasts (including Spotify and Apple Podcasts). Enjoying these interviews? Show the love by subscribing and leaving a rating or review!
About Flow
“A wondrous journey, through realms natural and mystical, Flow follows a courageous cat after his home is devastated by a great flood. Teaming up with a capybara, a lemur, a bird, and a dog to navigate a boat in search of dry land, they must rely on trust, courage, and wits to survive the perils of a newly aquatic planet. From the boundless imagination of the award-winning filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis (Away) comes a thrilling animated spectacle as well as a profound meditation on the fragility of the environment and the spirit of friendship and community. Steeped in the soaring possibilities of visual storytelling, Flow is a feast for the senses and a treasure for the heart.”
