35 years ago, 9 million spectators immersed themselves in “Le Grand Bleu” by Luc Besson. And it is thanks to the music of Eric Serra that the immersion was total. The composer tells us about the creation of his score…
The sound of the sea, the song of the whales, the sliding of the sand… 35 years after the release of the cult film by Luc Besson, the composer Eric Serra plunges back for AlloCiné into the creation of his most memorable score: Le Grand Bleu .
This soundtrack, sold more than 3 million copies worldwide, won him a Victoire de la Musique and the César for best original music and became, on its release, the most listened to album in France in front of the most great pop stars of the time.
Before creating this unforgettable music, the composer first trained for three weeks with Jacques Mayol, the first diver in the world to descend to a depth of 100 meters in apnea, and to whom Jean-Marc Barr lends his features in the film.
The dolphin man: “Luc Besson took the story of Jacques Mayol and turned it into a fable. It had nothing to do with reality”
To compose this hypnotic and abyssal music, Eric Serra tells us that he was inspired by the impressions felt during these few minutes of underwater immersion, but also by the incredible sounds he heard at the bottom of the sea, such as the discreet sliding of grains of sand on the seabed. .
As for the famous “dolphin song” or “sonar music”, emblematic of the film’s music, it is neither a natural sound… nor dolphins, contrary to popular belief which associates it with cetaceans. . These notes are actually artificial, and are inspired by the song of the whales thatEric Serra attempted to revisit in its own way. For a decidedly powerful impact.
If you want to dive back, beyond our podcast, Eric Serra is currently on tour in cine-concert around the Big Blue whose score is replayed on stage to the nearest note and to the nearest image. Three dates are expected this summer in France: Saturday July 22 in Antibes Juan-les-Pins, July 23 at the Ancient Theater in Vienne (Isère) and August 31 at the Pellicu-Live Festival in Thuir.