This month is bittersweet for fans of film composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. February not only marks the two year anniversary of the sudden, unexpected death of the Oscar-nominated composer but this month also sees the festival debut of his feature film directorial debut, “Last and First Men” in Berlin. And in a recent Deadline interview, several of Jóhannsson’s collaborators spoke about their time working with the composer.
For many film fans, Jóhannsson’s career is highlighted by his three collaborations with filmmaker Denis Villeneuve. The composer created the scores for “Prisoners,” “Arrival,” and “Sicario,” and earned an Oscar nomination for the latter. And for Villeneuve, looking back at their work together, he can’t possibly select his favorite work.
“I love the three scores he created for me, equally,” said Villeneuve. “‘Prisoners’’ music breaks my heart each time I listen to it. It is imbued with a beautiful depressive Nordic sensibility. Like when snow falls at the end of a day. His music brought a lot of humanity to this dark story. ‘Sicario’s’ score is a tour de force. I asked Jóhann to create music that would be inspired by the violence and the sadness of the border between United States and Mexico. He came back with what is by far one of the most influential scores of recent decades.”
He continued, “Jóhann composed true alien music for ‘Arrival.’ He used human voices to create new mesmerizing sounds that felt like they are coming from another solar system. He was experimenting like a mad scientist. There was something more feminine about this one.”
Another collaborator that shared some words about Jóhannsson was Darren Aronofsky. The duo worked together on the recent film “mother!” with the composer scrapping his score after they both decided that the film would have no music.
Aronofsky talked about how he spoke with Jóhannsson about the upcoming film “Last and First Men,” and how the composter-turned-filmmaker was “inspiring” to the “mother!” director.
“Jóhann spoke about ‘Last And First Men’ with a passion and excitement I will never forget,” said the filmmaker. “I remember him telling me about the patience and level of detail he brought to the project. It was inspiring.”
READ MORE: R.I.P. Oscar-Nominated Composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (1969-2018)
In addition to the works mentioned above, Jóhannsson scored an Oscar nomination for the score from “The Theory Of Everything” and was also the composer for films such as “Mary Magdalene” and his last work, the incredible “Mandy.”
“Last and First Men” will have its world premiere in Berlin tomorrow.