Alexandre Desplat talks to Hypable about his brilliant Suffragette soundtrack, and how the militant music urges women to “continue the war.”
Suffragette, Sarah Gavron’s new movie about the women’s movement of the early 1900s, opens in theaters today.
The movie stars Carey Mulligan as Maud, a young woman who is drawn into a militant activist group fighting to give women the right to vote. Also starring are Helena Bonham Carter, Anne-Marie Duff, Romola Garai, Ben Whishaw, Brendan Gleeson, and Meryl Streep.
Suffragette‘s heart-pounding score is composed by Alexandre Desplat, who was present at the BFI London Film Festival red carpet premiere earlier this month.
Related: Suffragette review: An unapologetic, brutal love letter to female empowerment
Hypable caught up with Desplat on the red carpet, and, having seen the film, we asked him about the militant, powerful base tones of the soundtrack, which really heightened the intensity of the women’s struggle.
Desplat explained that he made the soundtrack militant, not only to emphasize the characters’ struggle in the movie, but to encourage women to keep on fighting for gender equality today.
“I’ve used a lot of relentless war drum instrumentation, that keeps this struggle going on, so that when the movie is finished you still want to continue the war,” explained Desplat, who went on to assert his support of the gender equality movement.
“[In the movie] it’s a war they’re trying to fight and to win… and they’re still fighting. You were there!” he added, pointing to where the demonstration that had disrupted the red carpet earlier in the evening had taken place.
Related: Suffragette director Sarah Gavron: “There aren’t enough roles for women”
A group of female activists from Sisters Uncut had stormed the fence in order to raise awareness about the victims of domestic abuse. Director Sarah Gavron, and Emmeline Pankhurst’s descendants Helen and Laura Pankhurst, also told Hypable that they were in favor of the women’s actions.
“We’re all trying to find out why society cannot get rid of machoism,” said Desplat. “So let’s get rid of machoism and get equity, and women free, as it should be, as anything. There’s no difference between being a man and a woman, except for their sex. But they should be the same in society.”
‘Suffragette’ is in theaters now!
Alexandre Desplat is also the composer of this year’s The Danish Girl, starring Eddie Redmayne, and is currently gearing up to score Star Wars: Rogue One for Lucasfilm. Previous movies include Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Godzilla, and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
