James Newton Howard to Score Netflix’s ‘All the Light We Cannot See’
James Newton Howard (The Hunger Games, King Kong, Maleficent, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The Sixth Sense, Signs) is set to score the upcoming Netflix limited series All the Light We Cannot See. The show is written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, Locke, Eastern Promises), directed by Shawn Levy (Free Guy, Night at the Museum, Real Steel) and stars Louis Hoffmann, Aria Mia Loberti, Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, Lars Eidinger and Nell Sutton. The 4-part drama is based on Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller and tells the story of Marie-Laure, a teenager who is blind, and Werner, a German soldier, whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. Levy & Knight are also executive producing the 21 Laps Entertainment production with Dan Levine (Arrival, Why Him?) and Josh Barry (Shadow and Bone, Unsolved Mysteries). The composer announced his involvement on Instagram. All the Light We Cannot See is expected to premiere in late 2022 or 2023 on Netflix.
Could go either way? Recalls of 1917, THE BOOK THIEF and BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS from that trailer. Levy normally lets his composers write MUSIC and doesn't rely on DRONES. We shall see (and hear).
Indeed. Although JNH remains on my top 10 list of alltime favourite film composers, there are few, if any, scores in the last 20 years that have truly wowed me. Some great individual tracks, but few scores as a whole. Then A HIDDEN LIFE came along a couple of years ago and blew me away. He still has it! Obviously not expecting that kind of level (or type of music) for this project, but count me intrigued until proven otherwise.
1. Main Title (1:23) 2. August 1944 (1:16) 3. Falling Leaflets (0:57) 4. Werner Listens (1:22) 5. Secrets (2:19) 6. Depart Immediately (1:22) 7. Model City (3:23) 8. To the Museum (0:52) 9. A Day at the Museum (3:29) 10. Wire (1:36) 11. Messages in Code (1:53) 12. A Small Miracle (0:53) 13. A Great Professor (1:04) 14. Top of My Class (1:09) 15. Reason to Hope (0:51) 16. Spilled Milk (4:49) 17. Ten Seconds (1:57) 18. Retrieving the Jewels (3:06) 19. Father’s Fault (1:01) 20. Burning Carousel (0:30) 21. Illegal Broadcast (3:31) 22. Broken Radio (2:58) 23. Fix It or Die (2:22) 24. No Trains Left (1:42) 25. Burden (1:26) 26. A Promise (2:46) 27. Traditional Welcome (2:49) 28. Finding 1310 (1:52) 29. Time to Meet (1:17) 30. Take the Weapon (2:00) 31. Thought Destroys Action (2:28) 32. Genius Is a Gift (1:45) 33. You Are the Professor (2:13) 34. Catching Breath (1:13) 35. Model Building (2:24) 36. The Committee (2:17) 37. Speak to Me (2:25) 38. Fearless (2:45) 39. No Escape (1:28) 40. No Time for Games (2:27) 41. Ask Me Again (2:43) 42. I Need Your Strength (2:18) 43. I Am Not Alone (1:18) 44. Not Today (1:39) 45. Uncle Etienne Sent Me (1:18) 46. Sound Warnings (1:05) 47. The Most Important Light (2:19) 48. Liberation (4:03) 49. Sea of Flames (2:16) 50. Saint-Malo (2:31) 51. Model City Duet – James Newton Howard & James Ehnes (2:13) 52. Clair de Lune – Alison Procter (4:40)
Thank you for the links. I listened to the samples and am now even more looking forward to the complete album on Thursday! I like that main theme very much.
What a month with 4 releases from James Newton Howard :-)
Jesus that is a long album! My wife and I read this novel a few years ago and she is very much in anticipation of this. I'm less so. Shawn Levy is a bit of a hack in my personal opinion, and the last time a novel of this type of stature got a schmoozy adaptation it was Angie Jolie's film of Unbroken and I found that to just be a mess and easily forgotten. Regardless, we'll be watching it the moment it drops and hoping for the best!
Listened to the score and as usual it is too long with unnecessary short cues. Some beautiful and emotional moments but also disappointingly modern thriller style suspense cues with thumping synth percussion. Some aggressive orchestral moments as well but some of the music is night and day in style and jarring. Probably could have made a decent 50 min album. But the more delicate cues play very well.
Has some moderately nice passages, but there is a lot of 'in one ear, out the other'-type of static fluff. And of course it isn't helped by an excessive presentation that needs a LOT of whittling to work even as is. And as I'm all "whittled out" after my Grand Whittling Project recently, that would need to be down the line.
Although JNH remains on my top 10 list of alltime favourite film composers, there are few, if any, scores in the last 20 years that have truly wowed me. Some great individual tracks, but few scores as a whole. Then A HIDDEN LIFE came along a couple of years ago and blew me away. He still has it! Obviously not expecting that kind of level (or type of music) for this project, but count me intrigued until proven otherwise.
Thanks for bringing A HIDDEN LIFE to my attention! I ordered the CD yesterday (was only 7.99€. at Amazon and thanks to Prime is already here), and listen to it right now. Very poignant score. Somehow I missed the movie, even though it was a German production. Must seek this movie out.
You should. It's the best film of that year (and the best score). Proved to me that JNH's still got it, even though his track record in the last couple of decades is variable, to say the least.
Yeah, I definitely should and will. The score is great, and the movie is one I really would want to see. I'd get a 4k Blu-ray right away (it's a Malick film, so it should look great), but there doesn't seem to be one (yet). But I have this on my radar now for sure.
