WAMG’s Conversation With THE NOVEMBER MAN Composer Marco Beltrami

Composer Marco Beltrami collaborated with director Phillip Noyce to set the tone for the big screen adaptation of THE GIVER, the beautifully ominous, suspenseful score for director Bong Joon Ho sci-fi thriller SNOWPIERCER, and Tommy Lee Jones’ Cannes-hit THE HOMESMAN.

Beltrami’s new films include the Tom Hardy/James Gandolfini film THE DROP and director Roger Donaldson’s latest movie, THE NOVEMBER MAN, starring Pierce Brosnan, Olga Kurylenko, and Will Patton. Based on Bill Granger’s novel There Are No Spies, the seventh of a thirteen part book series, THE NOVEMBER MAN centers on an ex-CIA operative pitted against his former pupil in a race to find a valuable witness who is hiding from the past, and holds the key to an international conspiracy. Read Jim Batts’ review HERE.

Adept to scoring both bone-chilling thrillers (World War Z, The Hurt Locker) and emotive dramas (The Sessions), the Academy Award nominated composer recently took some time to talk to me about his score for Pierce Brosnan’s spy movie and working with visionary directors.

WAMG: You’ve had quite the year – or last few years. We spoke to you in 2013 right before WORLD WAR Z was released. The Brad Pitt, zombies combo made for such a great score.

Marco Beltrami: Oh thank you!

WAMG: This year, audiences heard your music in SNOWPIERCER, THE GIVER and now THE NOVEMBER MAN – which is like 007 gone rogue. How were you brought into the project?

MB: Pierce Brosnan is a friend of mine and he told me he was shooting this movie and he’d love if I looked at it to see what I thought of it musically. I went in when they were editing and met director Roger Donaldson. We talked a little about the movie, which had a temp score at the time, and I told him about the things I liked and things that could give it a more unique identity. The film takes place in Eastern/Central Europe, so we talked about giving it that flavor.

WAMG: Did you know about the series of books beforehand?

MB: No, but after Roger showed me the movie, I went and worked for a bit and came up with some schematic ideas. He then came out to the studio and listened. It’s the first picture we’ve done together, so it always takes a bit to develop a common language. Overall the process went very smoothly and there’s a quite a bit of music in the movie.

WAMG: There is and it has a very retro sound to it. Were you keen on any particular instruments for this type of spy thriller?

MB:  I wanted to give it something that would be, if they make other November Man movies, something that can work as a theme. It does have a retro theme to it. It’s the guitar that gives it that vibe. It is a hybrid score – there are orchestral instruments, but also quite a bit of electronically processed instruments. Hopefully it has a modern sound to it.

WAMG: A sequel has been announced. Have you signed on for another movie?

MB: After the movie opens, we’ll see.

WAMG: With the terrific SNOWPIERCER, your score really captured the bleak desperation of director Bong Joon-ho’s vision. A suite from the film debuted at the opening night ceremony at the LA Film Festival. How did that go?

MB: That was really good. In fact, it’s up online and Sandy Cameron, the violinist, along with her ensemble, and I thought it would be neat to open the festival with a virtuostic violin piece based on SNOWPIERCER. She and the ensemble are amazing players so it came out really cool.

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wx74XO8BAI and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGo-L5jVWvo

WAMG: I love what you’ve done with the Revolutionary War TV show TURN on AMC. Is it a challenge to go between the two mediums.

MB:  The TV stuff is a very quick turnaround and invariably it’s very busy. You have different responsibilities depending on the day. Overall it’s been a very busy year.

WAMG: Are you partial to certain directors and their visions for a film?

MB: It’s varied. They all have their own personalities and quirks, so it’s really fun. The job never gets old in that respect. I also learn a lot – in the different way different directors treat the material and their approach to the score.

Where certain projects that I’ve done standout as things that I’ve really tried to do and it affected my work for future projects – like when I worked with Tommy Lee Jones on The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005).

WAMG: You worked with him again on his new movie THE HOMESMAN.

MB: That comes out in November and I totally changed the way we worked. We recorded the orchestra outside, with no walls for the sound to bounce off of, and then created outside instruments like an outdoor piano where the piano wires were 175 feet long. There were all kinds of neat stuff for that score and the spirit of innovation that he embraces. Tommy Lee Jones is one of those directors that never uses a “temp score” which ups your own creativity in terms of, there is no guide.  It’s a very unique movie.

WAMG: You have the Tom Hardy/James Gandolfini film THE DROP coming out soon, as well as second THE WOMAN IN BLACK film. You also worked on another TV show “1864”. Your music takes you all over the place and to different times.

MB: That was with Danish director, Ole Bornedal, that I’ve worked with in the past. He did the 8-part miniseries for Danish television and he’s going to make a feature film out of that, and we recorded that this year as well.  

The WOMAN IN BLACK: ANGEL OF DEATH is done and it came out well. It’s very similar to the first one. In fact, I tried to integrate the two movies. I had the exact same ensemble, the same musicians come in to play, and set them up in exactly the same spots as the first film. Half of the score is from the original and half is new to keep in the spirit of what was done before.

Right now I’m working on the movie TRUE STORY that stars James Franco and Jonah Hill. That will be in theaters soon.

Thanks To Marco Beltrami. THE NOVEMBER MAN is in theaters now and the score album will be released through Varese Sarabande on September 9th, 2014.

Listen to clips HERE.