What is there to say about John Williams’ score for The Rise of Skywalker? It marks a true end of an era, not only the end of the Skywalker trilogy of trilogies but also, by all accounts, the conclusion of his involvement with Star Wars. His score features the culmination of forty years of Williams’ Star Wars themes, a single piece indirectly celebrating Williams’ work. Although it’s had some detractors, the score marks a fitting end, as all these themes come together in one last adventure of galactic grandeur, tension, impossible stakes, and, of course, nostalgia.
Thomas Newman and Daniel Lopatin each give their own interpretation of a frenetic “race against the clock.” In 1917, Newman channels the feeling of wartime struggle and fear, diving headlong into the dangers of trenches and no-man’s land. To keep the listener from feeling completely exhausted, Newman intersperses this chaos with slower, surprisingly grandiose interludes. Daniel Lopatin, in Uncut Gems, gives no such respite. His synth-laden score is urgent, nonstop, stressful, and only stops when it dumps the listener into a floating stasis – but is it more dreamlike or comatose?
An Awards Favorite
Alexandre Desplat’s score for Little Women is one of the award season’s darlings, and for good reason. Desplat delivers an intimate, string-heavy score entrenched in the naivete of youth, of young love, loss, and an optimistic future. It is a fortunate and welcome resistance against today’s all too common cynicism. After an already strong 2019 with The Secret Life of Pets 2, Adults in the Room, and J’Accuse, Little Women further cements Desplat as one of the best working film composers.
Welcome Newcomers
I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Room8 had worked on Electric Youth’s debut album, and this collaboration shined in Room8’s score for Cuck. Despite the film’s heavy subject matter, the score is filled with laid back, warm synth that builds and swallows the listener; at once calming and unsettling, the warmth is tinged with an ever-present despair. It’s the reassurance of a fantasy within one’s head, but a fantasy that will fall apart when it meets the light of day.
