Mark Kermode's Top 5 film scores of 2021
Mark reveals his favourite film scores of the year
Last updated 2nd Feb 2022
2021 has been a big year for the movie industry. Following a difficult lockdown, we have finally been able to experience many long-awaited films on the big screen.
From No Time To Die, Nomadland and Dune, to Spider-Man: No Way Home, West Side Story and The Green Knight, 2021 has had its fair share of incredible cinematic experiences. Just as incredible as the films themselves are the scores to accompany them. Every Saturday at 1pm, the UK's best-loved film critic, Mark Kermode, presents his weekly movie music show.
In his latest show, Mark looked back at 2021 in the world of cinema, featuring music from the big releases, and ended the show by showcasing his top five film scores of the year.
Here is what Mark has to say about his top 5 film scores of 2021:
5 – Emile Mosseri – Minari
I love Minari, and I particularly like the music because it bridged the gap between the real world and the magical world that the film encompasses. It's got woodwind, piano, guitar, the synthesized theremin-style sounds and processed vocals, and they all come together in a fabulously textured score. Watching Minari you really appreciate just how much work the music is doing. It's subtle, but it's also really bringing the audience into the drama.
4 – Daniel Hart – The Green Knight
A film that takes a Middle English source and brilliantly reimagines it for a 21st-century audience. The thing about The Green Knight is it has a spectacular atmosphere, partly due to the brilliant cinematography, but also to the richly dramatic score by Daniel Hart. This is a really poetic work of cinema. I think it's one of those films that will stand the test of time, and that in years to come, people will look back on it as a real work of art. And I think central to that is Daniel Hart's brilliant music which absolutely captures that sense of transcendence that's buried deep in the film.
Daniel told us "What a thrill it's been to see our weird little film not only out in the world, but thriving. I've been really moved these past few months by friends and strangers alike reaching out to tell me how much they enjoyed The Green Knight, and all the music I wrote. There were so many moments of pained head-scratching last year, as I tried to find the right voice for the score. I'm happy to say I still like it and love it, and feel deeply connected to it."
3 – Nainita Desai – The Reason I Jump
The Reason I Jump is a wonderful film about nonverbal autism that really helps the audience get inside the experience of the people upon whom it focuses. It's a documentary inspired by a best-selling book but it's also adventurously dramatic - and at the heart of that drama is Nainita Desai's score, which for my money bridges the gap between the mathematical and the emotional, and draws the viewer into the experience of the people on screen. I think it's a really important score because I think what it does is it amplifies the message of the film and helps the audience to understand the film in a way that words never could.
Speaking about her score, Nainita told us "This has been my most collaborative film scoring experience to date, on a film which has also altered my own perception of the world. The aim was to evoke the intense sensory worlds described in the book upon which the film is based, blurring the lines between sound design and music to create a cinematic immersive experience.
"I like to shake up my process and create a unique sound world for every project so I wrote a lot of material based on the key ideas in the book without seeing any visuals, bringing in musicians early on and holding semi-improvised recording sessions.
"It's been heartening to hear from so many autistic people saying how they feel the film is such an accurate representation of their view of the world."
2 – Jonny Greenwood – Spencer
It was a real battle to decide between number one and number two but at number two, I've gone for Jonny Greenwood's brilliant music from Pablo Larrain's Spencer, which is a film about three days in the life of Princess Diana at Sandringham from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day. At the centre of the film is this note-perfect performance by Kristen Stewart, but what really takes us into her experience is Jonny Greenwood's score.
It's really experimental and I think it's one of those scores that you think if I watch the film, without that music, it would have so much less impact. I know that Jonny Greenwood really enjoyed the project and really wanted to get to the heart of that character. And I think he does it brilliantly. He's one of my favourite composers and if you're a regular listener, you'll know how much I loved his music for Phantom Thread and There Will Be Blood, but I think Spencer is just a terrific work and shows that Jonny Greenwood really is one of the greatest screen composers currently working.
Jonny told us "This music started from the determination of having some free-form jazz as part of the score: traditionally, these kinds of film are done with Purcell and Handel-style music - royal music, in other words. But then I realised that nothing has changed much, instrumentally, in the intervening 300 years. Trumpets, drums, double basses, keyboards are all essentially the same - as are lots of the chord sequences -so I just wrote some baroque themes for a small orchestra, and had the jazz players replace the orchestral players, one at a time, until it morphed from one world into another. Diana is a free spirit in this film - or trying to be - and that's what the score is attempting to describe."
1 – Eiko Ishibashi – Drive My Car
I'm delighted to say that number one in my countdown of my favourite film scores of 2021 is a composer who was new to me until I saw the movie Drive My Car. I loved the film, but I particularly found myself spellbound by Eiko Ishibashi's score. In fact, straight after seeing the film, I went out and downloaded it, and just listened to it over and over again, both in my home and in my car.
It's one of those scores that does a brilliant job of amplifying the themes of the film, but also works as a standalone piece. I got in touch with Eiko Ishibashi to say it was my favourite score of the year and she said, "I'm very grateful that you chose an inexperienced person like me out of so many wonderful film scores. I'm very honoured. I'd like to thank the director, actors and staff for making this film possible. I hope the music will help people to remember this film and the wonderful images in their own cars and hearts".
Well, that's exactly what it's done for me. If you haven't seen the movie, it's still worth checking out the score because I guarantee you whether it's working as incidental music for a film or as a standalone album, it's just a superb work.
Tune in to Mark every Saturday from 1 - 3pm to hear a range of familiar film scores, new releases and more eclectic discoveries. Listen as he reviews the latest films, champions up-and-coming film composers and takes us on a journey through the film scoring process.
If you enjoy film music you can hear the very best film scores from John Williams to Hans Zimmer and Howard Shore on our Premium station, Movie Blockbusters.