Highlight of this Cannes 2022, the rise of the steps of Riposte féministe was punctuated by smoke bombs and banners displaying the names of 129 victims of feminicide. Meeting with Uèle Lamore who wrote the music for this punchy docu.
AlloCiné: You are in Cannes this year for two films, but also under the impetus of SACEM, in order to climb the steps with other composers: do you think that your profession is sufficiently highlighted?
Uele Lamore: I think that in France there is a long way to go on the place of film composers, because it is a profession of cinema and music, and it could be better put forward. But it’s no longer closed like before, there are more and more musicians who don’t just do film music and who are auditioned to do it. It’s going in the right direction.
In England and in the United States, the music has always been on a high level, and I feel that it is taking this turn in France. I am therefore very happy to be able to take part in this type of event that promotes our work, but above all I find it important to be in Cannes to support Riposte féministe and to be with the team, what is more because it is a first film.
How did your work on Riposte féministe go, why did you accept this project?
Uele Lamore: Beyond the subject covered in Riposte féministe, what I really liked was that they were two very young directors (Marie Perennès and Simon Depardon). We agreed on many points and I really liked the way they dealt with this subject, which is not necessarily easy for a mainstream film. I found it was done with great intelligence and I think it can really change mentalities.
It took a very long time to find the sound I was going to give to this film because it’s a bit special, it’s a documentary film with archive images of films of splicers etc.. but by dint of testing we found the right formula.
What do you like about composing film music?
Uele Lamore: Alongside film music, I do production and composition for personal projects, so it’s necessarily quite navel-gazing work. So, I really like being able to do film music because there is this feeling of being part of a big company, where everyone has to do their job to guarantee the result. It puts your feet back on the ground.
Then what I also like is that it’s an area where you can really experiment and push a lot of limits, where to make records you have to think about creating sounds that can be heard without the image. It’s really something that drives me and that I want to continue doing.
Do you have soundtracks that inspire you and/or that particularly marked you?
Uele Lamore: What inspires me are the composers who seek to find sounds that we are not used to hearing, who experiment. But there is also music like that of Lord of the Rings that particularly touches me, because of the immense research that has been done to find the sounds that we could have heard in this world.
There’s a fascinating documentary that explains the whole Howard Shore process. When you see the final result you can only be amazed, everything goes so well together, it’s perfect! And clearly, The Lord of the Rings without its soundtrack is no longer The Lord of the Rings. Otherwise I’m a big fan of all the work of Jonny Greenwood, especially on There Will Be Blood or Spencer.
If you had to quote a soundtrack that you would have dreamed of composing:
Uele Lamore: That of Alien, the eighth passenger.
Do you have any directors in mind that you would dream of working with?
Uele Lamore: I am very admiring of Jordan Peele and Ari Aster. I who am a big fan of horror, I find that they are two artists who really renew the genre so to be able to create a soundtrack for them would be a dream. Otherwise I love Park Chan-wook and Kathryn Bigelow.