Howard Shore Releases Original Score to Michel Hazanavicius' Family-Film 'The Lost Prince'

Three-time Academy Award-winning composer Howard Shore composed the original score to The Lost Prince, a family adventure film by French director and Academy Award-winner Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist).

For his newest project, Hazanavicius tells the story of Djibi (Omar Sy – The Intouchables) and his daughter Sofia. Every night, to help her fall asleep, Djibi takes Sofia to ‘Storyland’, a fictitious film studio where their extraordinary fairy-tale adventures – starring Djibi in the lead role as the brave Prince – come to life. However, every child has to grow up at a certain point, a reality Djibi will have to face.

Just as for The Artist, director Michel Hazanavicius returns to his beloved ‘behind-the-scenes’ technique. In the case of The Lost Prince, the characters are passing from the real world to the imaginary fairy-tale world of the film set.

As he was looking for a ‘musical color close to the Pixar films’ for his family adventure film, French director Michel Hazanavicius really wanted to collaborate with Maestro Howard Shore. Shore composed a joyful original score, full of beautiful colours and very specific instrumental sounds, which perfectly illustrates the nostalgic fairy-tale atmosphere in The Lost Prince.

Michel Hazanavicius about his collaboration with Howard Shore:

‘I thought Howard would be unavailable because of his very busy schedule but the script moved him and he liked my previous work. Thus far, Howard is mostly known for his dramatic and tense scores, but he has also composed more light-hearted themes. What I love about Howard’s approach, is that he prioritizes the character and always manages – thanks to his beautifully developed melodies – to create a true emotion for them. I’m very keen on using musical themes which take their time to develop throughout the film, instead of the current trend in US cinema to rather rely on sound design, namely sound, colours, structures and rhythms. (…) Howard is able to follow the comedy aspects of the film whenever necessary, but also creates impressive lyrical themes when the situation calls for it.’

Howard Shore was happy to be part of this family-adventure film: ‘What a joy to work with Michel on this most beautiful film. The story is particularly close to my heart.’

©IMDB

Tracklist:
1. Le Prince Oublié
2. Le monde des histoires
3. Le grand studio
4. Le passé, le présent et le futur
5. Le Prince apparaît
6. Histoire finie, avant même de commencer
7. La femme à la porte
8. Sofia se retourne le dos
9. Pritprout
10. On reprend le plan
11. Sur la pointe des pieds
12. Des rôles pour tout le monde
13. Earthquake!
14. La Princesse est en danger
15. Les Oubliettes
16. La Reine Mère
17. Un cœur vaillant
18. C’est fini pour de bon
19. Ça y est
20. C’est l’histoire des Oubliés
21. Tell Me A Story (Natalie Prass)
22. Papa (Fantine)