‘Tis the season for year-end lists, but sometimes lost in the shuffle is the work of the craftspeople who are vital to a film’s success yet go unnoticed. Actors and directors are the most visible personifications of any film, but the composer is often overlooked despite the fact that his or her work is many times the glue that holds the narrative together. As such, I’ve opted to highlight some of the year’s best film scores and the composers responsible for putting together the music that accompanied some of our favorite films. It was a good year for original scores, as this list ranges from the minimal to the orchestral to the downright experimental. Take a look (and listen) below, and sound off with your own favorite scores of the year in the comments.
10) Hell or High Water – Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
Recording artistNick Caveis no stranger to film scores having worked previously on movies likeThe Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert FordandThe Road, but Cave andWarren Ellis’ score for the indie thrillerHell or High Wateris no less exciting. Their signature guitar flourishes abound, but this time holding an air of tension throughout asDavid Mackenzie’s terrific heist picture builds in intensity to its surprising climax.
9) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – James Newton Howard
I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan ofJames Newton Howard’s work. He’s an accomplished composer to be sure, but for whatever reason his themes don’t tend to hook me. However, I found Howard’s score forFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themto be one of the very best “blockbuster” scores of the year, paying homage to the tremendous compositions of theHarry Potterfranchise while carving out a new niche for theFantastic Beastsworld. The score sways from light and funny to disturbing and foreboding, and Howard does a swell job of navigating the various tones of the picture.
8) Lion – Dustin O’Halloran & Hauschka
ComposerDustin O’Halloran’s work on films likeEquals,Like Crazy, andBreathe Inproved his worth as a beautifully talented composer in his own right, but his collaboration with German pianist and composerHauschkafor the tearjerker dramaLionmight be his best work yet. The piano-driven score is emotional without ever being predictable, as the two compose these lyrical, winding themes that mirror the inner turmoil and confusion of the film’s lead character Saroo. With so many film scores packed to the brim with horns and strings and electronics nowadays, O’Halloran and Hauschka prove that a simple piano can still do the trick.
7) Moonlight – Nicholas Britell
Much like the film itself,Nicholas Britell’s score forMoonlightis poetic. Writer/directorBarry Jenkins’ coming-of-age story is a stunning piece of filmmaking, crafted as a narrative tryptic that overwhelms the audience with emotional information rather than exposition. And Britell’s score follows suit, crashing in and out almost like a tide, folding back in on itself by the film’s end to immensely emotional results.
6) Arrival – Jóhann Jóhannsson
ComposerJóhann Jóhannssonmanaged to dowright terrify audiences with his score for last year’sSicario, and his next collaboration with directorDenis Villeneuveis likewise very weird and very good. Jóhannsson continues to blur the lines between composition and sound design withArrival, as he uses alien-like sounds to mimic the daunting ships that arrive on Earth while blending the tones into something of a melody. That Jóhannsson is able to do this so well while also layering themes for the film’s emotional drive is a testament to his versatility, and he’s quickly become one of the most exciting composers working today.
5) Kubo and the Two Strings – Dario Marianelli
For a film likeKubo and the Two Strings, music is essential to the story. This tale of a young boy with a magical guitar doesn’t work without music the audience can buy, and composerDario Marianellidoes a tremendous job of selling the hell out of it. Marianelli is also able to craft themes that fit right into the film’s Asian aesthetic without coming off as stale or mimic-y. This is the composer’s second time working with the stop-motion animation studio Laika, but it may be his best score sinceAtonement. There’s a playfulness to the score that’s refreshing, and the stripped-down quality of some of his themes are a perfect fit with this intimate fairy tale.
4) 10 Cloverfield Lane – Bear McCreary
One of the year’s best scores actually came quite early with the top-notch Hitchcokian thriller10 Cloverfield Lane. ComposerBear McCrearyis prolific on the small screen, crafting the scores and themes for shows likeBattlestar Galactica,The Walking Dead, andDa Vinci’s Demons, but his work on10 Cloverfield Laneis his best yet, and proof positive that this guy should be scoring more films. He nails theBernard Hermannhomage without leaning too heavily on one composer, drawing from a variety of influences (you can definitely hearJerry Goldsmithin there) to craft one hell of an original composition. It’s flighty, it’s terrifying, it’s dynamic—McCreary perfectly matches the roller coaster ride that is10 Cloverfield Lanewith a score that’s as rich as it is effective, and boy is it effective.
3) Jackie – Mica Levi
MusicianMica Levimade her film composing debut with a wholly unique score for 2013’sUnder the Skin, and she does it again withPablo Larrain’s striking, intimateJackie. The film is more a portrait of Jackie Kennedy than a straight biopic, with Larrain more interested in meditating on grief and legacy than relaying the particulars of the former First Lady’s life, and Levi’s score isessentialto this piece of art.Jackieis incomplete without this score, which begins before a single image appears on the screen. It’s almost hypnotic as Levi plays with various tones and volumes, waving in and out as if we’re in a dream. Indeed,Jackieitself is dreamlike, which makes it all the more effective. The film forces audiences to enter the headspace of Jackie Kennedy in the hours and days following her husband’s assassination, and Levi soundtracks this head-trip to spectacular, singular results.
2) Swiss Army Man – Andy Hull and Robert McDowell
I’ve never seen a movie likeSwiss Army Man, so it’s only fitting that directorsDaniel ScheinertandDaniel Kwan’s unique buddy comedy/drama is accompanied by a wholly unique score.Andy HullandRobert McDowellofManchester Orchestrafame craft a tremendous soundtrack here, filled to the brim with a capella work that even includes the voices ofDaniel RadcliffeandPaul Dano. The thinking here is that since Dano’s character is alone on an island with Radcliffe’s “swiss army man” corpse, the soundtrack is made up of human sounds rather than something more traditional. It was a bold move on Scheinert and Kwan’s parts, but it paid off in spades with a score that is shockingly triumphant.
1) La La Land – Justin Hurwitz
Oftentimes with musicals, the actual score is overshadowed by the original songs. That’s not the case with filmmakerDamien Chazelle’s masterfulLa La Land, which is buoyed by a delightful original score from songwriterJustin Hurwitz. The score compliments the songs perfectly but doesn’tonlywork because viewers recognize familiar themes. Compositions like “Mia & Sebastian’s Theme” are lonely and sad and romantic all at once, while Hurwitz goes straight throwback with the golden age evocative “Planetarium” and “Summer Montage.” TheLa La Landscore doesn’t just work because it bolsters the film’s original songs, or because it sounds like the old Hollywood scores we used to love. It works because it goes above and beyond, morphing into something wholly original and unique that straddles the line between classic Hollywood musical and contemporary composition. That’s the tightrope walk that Chazelle pulls off with the film as a whole, and Hurwitz’s compositions are just as spectacular.
Honorable Mentions:The Handmaiden,Pete’s Dragon,Midnight Special,The Witch
For more of COLLIDER’s Best of 2016 coverage,click hereor on the links below.
