{"id":989,"date":"2025-01-18T09:35:54","date_gmt":"2025-01-18T08:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/?p=989"},"modified":"2025-01-18T09:36:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-18T08:36:00","slug":"laurent-bouzereau-john-williams-est-un-des-rares-compositeurs-qui-ne-sest-jamais-fait-virer-dun-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lightofmylife.fr\/index.php\/2025\/01\/18\/laurent-bouzereau-john-williams-est-un-des-rares-compositeurs-qui-ne-sest-jamais-fait-virer-dun-film\/","title":{"rendered":"Laurent Bouzereau : \u00ab\u00a0John Williams est un des rares compositeurs qui ne s’est jamais fait virer d’un film\u00a0\u00bb"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alors que Los Angeles est toujours sous l’emprise d’incendies catastrophiques, l’industrie hollywoodienne tente tant bien que mal de maintenir son activit\u00e9, une t\u00e2che rendue complexe pour le personnel des studios mais qui reste en partie normale pour la cha\u00eene d’assemblage \u00e0 cause de la d\u00e9localisation de l’activit\u00e9 des grands studios, comme l’explique cet article du NYT<\/a>. Malgr\u00e9 ce contexte difficile, j’ai pu m’entretenir avec le r\u00e9alisateur fran\u00e7ais expatri\u00e9 aux \u00c9tats-Unis Laurent Bouzereau et l’interroger sur la conception de son documentaire sur John Williams<\/a> sorti fin d’ann\u00e9e derni\u00e8re sur Disney+. On apprend comment il a r\u00e9ussi \u00e0 le r\u00e9aliser malgr\u00e9 les difficult\u00e9s, quelle est la vraie nature de la relation entre Steven Spielberg et John Williams, et ce qu’il pense de la carri\u00e8re de Jerry Goldsmith, son deuxi\u00e8me compositeur pr\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ENGLISH VERSION AVAILABLE BELOW<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comment avez-vous eu l\u2019id\u00e9e de r\u00e9aliser le documentaire \u00ab\u00a0Music by John Williams\u00a0\u00bb<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cela fait trente ans que je connais John Williams gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 Steven Spielberg et autant de temps que j’avais envie de faire un documentaire sur sa carri\u00e8re et sa musique. Quand John a eu 90 ans, j’ai particip\u00e9 \u00e0 un hommage qui lui a \u00e9t\u00e9 rendu au Kennedy Center \u00e0 Washington. Et \u00e0 cette occasion-l\u00e0, j’en ai parl\u00e9 \u00e0 Steven une fois de plus en lui disant : \u00ab \u00c9coutez, c’est vraiment une opportunit\u00e9 manqu\u00e9e que de ne pas faire un documentaire sur lui \u00e0 ce stade de sa carri\u00e8re. \u00bb<\/em> Et donc il a demand\u00e9 \u00e0 John qui a dit oui. Apr\u00e8s \u00e7a, il \u00e9tait un peu plus r\u00e9serv\u00e9 mais nous avons r\u00e9ussi \u00e0 le convaincre et \u00e0 commencer la production. Il se trouve que comme je fais beaucoup de films, j’ai eu un rendez-vous avec Imagine Documentaries, la compagnie de Ron Howard, qui voulait \u00e0 tout prix travailler avec moi. Ils m\u2019ont dit qu\u2019ils voulaient faire un documentaire sur John Williams. Je leur ai dit : \u00ab Mettez-vous mettre dans la file d\u2019attente car vous n’\u00eates pas les seuls ! \u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a d\u00e9cid\u00e9 de s’associer \u00e0 eux une fois que Steven avait vraiment convaincu John et apr\u00e8s que Kathleen Kennedy et Frank Marshall, donc Lucasfilm, se sont associ\u00e9s \u00e0 la production\u00a0; c’est comme \u00e7a que le film s\u2019est retrouv\u00e9 sur Disney+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donc il n\u2019a pas \u00e9t\u00e9 particuli\u00e8rement difficile \u00e0 produire\u00a0?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ah si, c’\u00e9tait tr\u00e8s difficile \u00e0 produire, parce que d’un point de vue cr\u00e9atif, quand vous avez une carri\u00e8re aussi \u00e9norme que celle de John et qu’il y a autant d’archives et autant de musiques, quelles sont les choses sur lesquelles on se concentre ? Comment est-ce qu’on commence \u00e0 b\u00e2tir l’histoire du film ? Et il y a aussi la question du budget, et la question des droits musicaux qui sont tr\u00e8s compliqu\u00e9s et tr\u00e8s chers. Nous n\u2019avions pas des poches tr\u00e8s profondes car m\u00eame si c’est un film produit par les grands du cin\u00e9ma, il n\u2019avait pas un budget illimit\u00e9, m\u00eame pas du tout ! Car si c\u2019\u00e9tait un de mes projets depuis trente ans, je n\u2019ai pas eu beaucoup de temps pour le r\u00e9aliser. Une fois qu’on a commenc\u00e9, c\u2019est un des films que j’ai fait le plus vite de toute ma carri\u00e8re. Donc c’est \u00e7a qui a \u00e9t\u00e9 difficile. Pour les interviews par exemple, les gens ne sont pas imm\u00e9diatement disponibles, il faut voyager. Et ces facteurs ont des implications sur le budget et sur votre emploi du temps et la salle de montage. C’est un gros projet qui a \u00e9t\u00e9 tr\u00e8s difficile \u00e0 mener \u00e0 bien.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comment le tournage s’est-il pass\u00e9 ? Est-ce que vous avez eu acc\u00e8s \u00e0 tous les gens que vous vouliez interroger ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Il y a des gens qui nous ont \u00e9chapp\u00e9 \u00e0 cause de probl\u00e8mes d\u2019emploi du temps, certaines personnes n’\u00e9taient pas disponibles \u00e0 ce moment-l\u00e0 ou n\u2019\u00e9taient m\u00eame pas aux \u00c9tats-Unis, etc. Mais dans 90% des cas, j’ai r\u00e9ussi \u00e0 avoir les personnes qui pouvaient s’exprimer le mieux sur John. C’est une liste qu’on a vraiment construit ensemble, et avec Steven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donc personne n\u2019a refus\u00e9 ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Non du tout. C\u2019est une question de timing. Par exemple, une personne qu’on devait interviewer s’est cass\u00e9 le bras\u2026 Il se passe plein de choses quand vous faites un film, que ce soit un documentaire ou un film avec un sc\u00e9nario, il y a beaucoup d’al\u00e9as. C’est une chose \u00e0 laquelle je suis habitu\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Est-ce que vous avez eu envie de parler avec Joseph Williams ? Vous vous entretenez dans le film avec Jennifer Williams, une des filles de John.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a d\u00e9cid\u00e9 avec John que c’\u00e9tait elle qui allait s’exprimer sur la famille.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(L-R): John Williams and Steven Spielberg in Lucasfilm\u2019s MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS, exclusively on Disney+. \u00a92024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Comme vous le savez, j’ai \u00e9crit un livre sur l’\u0153uvre de John Williams et j’avais h\u00e2te de voir votre film. J’ai vraiment beaucoup aim\u00e9 parce qu\u2019il d\u00e9voile les coulisses du travail de composition \u00e0 Hollywood. Vous avez eu acc\u00e8s aux rushes qu’a tourn\u00e9s Steven Spielberg pendant les enregistrements, notamment sur E.T.<\/em> Ce sont des images qu’on n’avait jamais vues.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je vous remercie, \u00e7a fait plaisir que vous ayez aim\u00e9. Effectivement, on a eu acc\u00e8s \u00e0 des images d’archives in\u00e9dites, et j\u2019ai pu \u00e9galement filmer depuis les coulisses du Hollywood Bowl, \u00e7a ne s’\u00e9tait jamais vu. Mais une fois de plus, tout \u00e7a est tr\u00e8s cher \u00e0 filmer. Il y a plein de r\u00e8gles. Et il a vraiment fallu se demander quels \u00e9l\u00e9ments allaient parler \u00e0 notre histoire et quelles sont les choses qui vont vraiment souligner son cheminement au pr\u00e9sent mais aussi au pass\u00e9. Trouver cette balance entre les deux a \u00e9t\u00e9 un challenge. Parce que, une fois de plus, quelqu’un qui fait de la musique depuis l’\u00e2ge de cinq ans n’est pas facile \u00e0 cerner. Jamais je ne me dis que je vais faire la version Wikipedia de quelqu’un. J’ai vraiment un point de vue. J’ai vraiment une histoire que je veux raconter. Il y a des gens qui peuvent \u00eatre frustr\u00e9s et dire : \u00ab Vous auriez d\u00fb parler de telle musique ou de telle chose. \u00bb<\/em> Je savais tr\u00e8s bien qu’on n’allait pas parler de tout, mais j’ai essay\u00e9 de couvrir le plus possible de son \u0153uvre. Je laisse l\u2019exhaustivit\u00e9 aux auteurs comme vous. Sinon, le film n’aurait pas \u00e9t\u00e9 possible \u00e0 produire vu le co\u00fbt des musiques et surtout vu le fait que \u00e7a devait \u00eatre d’une certaine dur\u00e9e, etc. Il y avait des choses \u00e0 respecter, mais \u00e7a ne me d\u00e9range pas du tout. Je trouve que c\u2019est m\u00eame un d\u00e9fi qui m’aide \u00e9norm\u00e9ment \u00e0 trouver une ligne conductrice dans mes films de se dire voil\u00e0, on ne fait pas 50 \u00e9pisodes sur la vie de John Williams, on fait un film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steven Spielberg filme quasiment \u00e0 chaque fois que John enregistre une musique pour ses films, cela repr\u00e9sente des heures et des heures de rushs. Vous avez d\u00fb faire des choix. Vous avez donc d\u00e9cid\u00e9 avec Spielberg de ce que vous alliez garder ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Il me laisse tr\u00e8s libre de mes choix. J’\u00e9tais familier avec les prises de vues de E.T.<\/em> \u00e0 cause de mon travail sur le film pendant plusieurs ann\u00e9es. Il y avait en fait deux cam\u00e9ras behind the scenes.<\/em> La cam\u00e9ra Super-8 de Steven comme je le montre. Et il y avait aussi des prises de vues film\u00e9es en 35 mm par John Toll, le grand directeur de la photo qui a gagn\u00e9 l\u2019Oscar pour L\u00e9gendes d\u2019automne<\/em> et Braveheart.<\/em> Pareil avec les Indiana Jones,<\/em> les cam\u00e9ras de Lucasfilm \u00e9taient toujours l\u00e0, donc il y avait plusieurs sources d’archives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Est-ce que vous avez vu le documentaire de Tornatore sur Ennio Morricone qui est sorti en 2021 ? Est-ce que \u00e7a vous a influenc\u00e9, m\u00eame inconsciemment ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Non, pas du tout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mais \u00e7a vous a plu ? \u00c7a vous a int\u00e9ress\u00e9 ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

C’est Tornatore qui fait le film, donc c’est forc\u00e9ment fantastique. Il a \u00e9t\u00e9 impliqu\u00e9 dans l’histoire en tant que cin\u00e9aste lui-m\u00eame et collaborateur intime du compositeur. Ne serait-ce que pour \u00e7a, c’est compl\u00e8tement unique dans l\u2019histoire du cin\u00e9ma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J’ai vu des photos aux Oscars o\u00f9 John et Ennio se serraient la main, ils avaient l’air d\u2019\u00eatre assez proches. Comment faisaient-ils pour d\u00e9passer la barri\u00e8re de la langue ? Morricone lui ne parlait pas du tout anglais.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aucune id\u00e9e !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revenons \u00e0 votre film. Peut-on s\u2019attendre \u00e0 une future \u00e9dition physique avec des bonus ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je ne sais pas. Vu le co\u00fbt de la musique, je ne pense pas que cela soit possible. C’est Disney qui s’occupe de tout \u00e7a. Vu que le film est sur Disney+, \u00e7a m’\u00e9tonnerait qu\u2019ils tentent une sortie physique qui ferait peut-\u00eatre de l’ombre \u00e0 leur site de streaming. Aux \u00c9tats-Unis aujourd\u2019hui, c’est de plus en plus difficile de sortir des Blu-Ray, donc ce n\u2019est pas la priorit\u00e9. Et vu que c\u2019est un documentaire, c’est encore plus difficile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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John Williams in Lucasfilm\u2019s MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS, exclusively on Disney+. \u00a92024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

En faisant mes recherches et en \u00e9crivant mon livre sur John Williams<\/a>, j’ai compris que Steven et John sont vraiment proches, que leur entente est cordiale et qu\u2019ils ont les m\u00eames go\u00fbts sur pas mal de choses, notamment pour l’histoire am\u00e9ricaine. Est-ce qu’il y a quand m\u00eame eu des moments difficiles entre eux ? Je me doute que vous ne pouvez pas forc\u00e9ment en parler dans un documentaire comme celui-l\u00e0, mais est-ce qu’il y a eu des crises dans leur relation ? Ce n\u2019est pas \u00e9vident de travailler pendant cinquante ans avec quelqu’un.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Premi\u00e8rement, le film n’a pas du tout \u00e9t\u00e9 censur\u00e9. On a parl\u00e9 de choses difficiles. Mais ma perspective sur la relation entre John et Steven est vraiment symbolis\u00e9e et solidifi\u00e9e par Les Dents de la mer.<\/em> Le tournage du film s’est tr\u00e8s mal pass\u00e9 comme on le sait, c’est un film qui a laiss\u00e9 beaucoup de cicatrices. Et une fois de plus, je parle vraiment en relation vis-\u00e0-vis de la carri\u00e8re de quelqu’un, etc. C’est un film qui aurait pu carr\u00e9ment changer l’axe de celle de Steven Spielberg. Bon, il s’est trouv\u00e9 qu\u2019il a eu du succ\u00e8s et que \u00e7a a chang\u00e9 dans le bon sens. Mais pendant tr\u00e8s longtemps, \u00e7a a \u00e9t\u00e9 quelque chose de traumatisant. On a tous connu dans notre carri\u00e8re des \u00e9v\u00e9nements cr\u00e9atifs tr\u00e8s difficiles, et c’est tr\u00e8s dur de revenir sur ces histoires. Quand on se met dans la peau de la personne qu\u2019\u00e9tait Steven \u00e0 l’\u00e9poque du film, on se rend compte qu\u2019il \u00e9tait encore vuln\u00e9rable. Et tout d’un coup, il se retrouve avec un compositeur qui lui joue ces deux notes. Il a vraiment fallu qu’il y ait une confiance et une sorte de fraternit\u00e9 entre les deux pour qu’il accepte une musique qui au d\u00e9part pouvait para\u00eetre tr\u00e8s minimaliste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oui, \u00e7a ne lui parlait pas au d\u00e9part.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Et donc je pense que, une fois que vous avez travers\u00e9 quelque chose comme \u00e7a, et que la musique devient un des aspects qui sauve le film, vous \u00eates attach\u00e9s \u00e0 vie. Et Steven en parle dans le film, il dit qu\u2019il y a eu des fois o\u00f9 il avait d\u2019autres id\u00e9es, etc. Mais John est compl\u00e8tement ouvert \u00e0 tout \u00e7a. C’est un des rares compositeurs qui ne s’est jamais fait virer d’un film. Il a plut\u00f4t remplac\u00e9 d’autres personnes. Donc ce n\u2019est pas uniquement avec Steven, c’est gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 sa g\u00e9n\u00e9rosit\u00e9 d’esprit, sa rigueur, son travail et sa cr\u00e9ativit\u00e9 qui font qu\u2019il n’y a pas de drame comme il y a pu en avoir entre Bernard Herrmann et Alfred Hitchcock. Donc non, il n’y a pas de choses cach\u00e9es. Un des \u00e9v\u00e9nements importants, c’est ce qui s’est pass\u00e9 avec le Boston Pops quand les musiciens ont refus\u00e9 de jouer de la musique de film (au d\u00e9but des ann\u00e9es 1980). C’est une histoire que je connaissais un peu, mais pas tant que \u00e7a. Je n\u2019avais pas vraiment creus\u00e9, parce qu\u2019effectivement, le succ\u00e8s a \u00e9t\u00e9 tellement \u00e9norme que \u00e7a cache en fait tout \u00e7a. Mais on en a parl\u00e9 de fa\u00e7on tr\u00e8s ouverte. Il n\u2019y a eu vraiment aucune r\u00e8gle du genre : on ne peut pas parler de ci ou de \u00e7a. Les gens avec qui je travaille sont en confiance. Et je respecte \u00e9norm\u00e9ment les talents qui m’inspirent. Je ne suis absolument pas int\u00e9ress\u00e9 par ce qu’on appelle une interrogation <\/em>dans le sens journalistique du terme. Je ne suis pas un journaliste, je suis un raconteur d’histoires, de faits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dans tous les entretiens que j’ai lu avec des r\u00e9alisateurs ou des collaborateurs, ils n’ont que des mots agr\u00e9ables concernant John Williams, ce n’\u00e9tait pas du tout le cas, par exemple avec Ennio Morricone qui lui pouvait \u00eatre assez difficile.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ou Jerry Goldsmith que malheureusement je ne connaissais pas. C’est vraiment mon deuxi\u00e8me compositeur favori apr\u00e8s John, j\u2019aime surtout ses scores <\/em>des ann\u00e9es 1970 comme La Mal\u00e9diction, Ces gar\u00e7ons qui venaient du Br\u00e9sil,<\/em> les choses comme \u00e7a. Ce sont parfois des films qui ont pu \u00eatre sauv\u00e9s par la musique. Mais je sais que Jerry a \u00e9t\u00e9 remplac\u00e9 plusieurs fois et qu’il pouvait avoir des mots avec les r\u00e9alisateurs. Maintenant, j’ai travaill\u00e9 avec des compositeurs et j’ai eu aussi des relations difficiles avec certains. Donc ce n\u2019est pas compl\u00e8tement inhabituel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concernant Goldsmith, d’apr\u00e8s vous, comment est-ce qu’on peut expliquer qu’il ait eu moins acc\u00e8s que John Williams aux gros films ? Est-ce que c’est une question de chance ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je ne peux pas m’exprimer l\u00e0-dessus parce que je n\u2019ai pas du tout \u00e9tudi\u00e9 la question. Mais c’est \u00e9vident que John \u00e9tait tr\u00e8s en demande, que ce soit sur des films comme Superman<\/em> et tous les films grand spectacle si on peut dire, mais aussi sur des films comme Monsignore<\/em> qui est vraiment un score <\/em>immense pour un film plut\u00f4t m\u00e9diocre. Maintenant, on ne voit pas dans la filmographie de Jerry une relation avec un r\u00e9alisateur sp\u00e9cifique alors que John avait vraiment \u00e7a avec Steven, dont la carri\u00e8re a explos\u00e9. Donc \u00e7a l’a forc\u00e9ment aid\u00e9, mais il avait aussi George Lucas et Star Wars.<\/em> Maintenant, si Star Trek <\/em>de Robert Wise avait \u00e9t\u00e9 un succ\u00e8s aussi g\u00e9ant que La Guerre des \u00e9toiles<\/em> et si les suites avaient eu un succ\u00e8s mondial, la carri\u00e8re de Jerry Goldsmith aurait peut-\u00eatre \u00e9t\u00e9 diff\u00e9rente. Il avait certes une relation avec un r\u00e9alisateur comme Franklin J. Schaffner, mais ce n’est pas quelqu’un qui a continu\u00e9 \u00e0 faire des films qui ont march\u00e9 et qui ont d\u00e9fray\u00e9 la chronique. Donc, cela a certainement jou\u00e9 sur son parcours. Ceci dit, il a eu une carri\u00e8re fantastique et malheureusement \u00e9court\u00e9e par une vie trop courte. Quand vous voyez le rapport entre Hermann et Hitchcock, c’est vraiment dommage qu’ils se soient f\u00e2ch\u00e9s. Mais c’est vraiment rare ces relations qui durent pendant toute une carri\u00e8re, surtout quand celle-ci est longue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS, exclusively on Disney+. \u00a92024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Et vous parliez des Dents de la mer, justement, J’ai cru voir que vous pr\u00e9parez un documentaire pour les 50 ans du film ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tout \u00e0 fait, ce sera diffus\u00e9 dans le courant de l\u2019ann\u00e9e sur Natgeo, c’est \u00e0 dire Disney+. Et c’est pr\u00e9vu pour le courant de l’ann\u00e9e. On pourra en reparler au moment de la sortie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Et sinon, quels sont vos autres projets ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

J’ai \u00e9norm\u00e9ment de projets, ce sont des choses que je garde pour moi pour l’instant. Tant qu’ils ne sont pas en cours, \u00e7a porte malheur d’en parler \u00e0 ce stade. Mais effectivement, j’ai \u00e9norm\u00e9ment de projets en cours, dont des films que j’aimerais r\u00e9aliser, qui sont des films de fiction. Mais c’est toujours al\u00e9atoire et difficile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pour finir sur John Williams, vous pensez qu’on aura la chance d’avoir encore une \u0153uvre de sa part ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Je pense. Oui, je pense. J’esp\u00e8re. Il n’a pas fini, il continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Il y a un film de Spielberg qui se profile \u00e0 l’horizon pour 2026. D’apr\u00e8s ce que j’ai vu, un film de science-fiction apparemment, j’esp\u00e8re que John sera au rendez-vous. Merci beaucoup Laurent Bouzereau\u00a0!

ENGLISH VERSION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Los Angeles is still in the grip of catastrophic fires, the Hollywood industry is struggling to maintain its activity, a task made complex for studio staff but easier for the assembly line because of the relocation of the activity of the major studios, as explained in this NYT article. Despite this catastrophic context, I was able to speak with the director Laurent Bouzereau and ask him about the conception of his documentary on John Williams released at the end of last year on Disney+. We learn how he managed to make it despite the difficulties, what is the true nature of the relationship between Steven Spielberg and John Williams, and what he thinks of Jerry Goldsmith’s career, his second favorite composer.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you come up with the idea to make the documentary \u00ab\u00a0Music by John Williams\u00a0\u00bb? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have known John Williams for thirty years thanks to Steven Spielberg and for just as long I wanted to make a documentary on his career and his music. When John turned 90, I did a tribute to him at the Kennedy Center in Washington. And at that time, I brought it up to Steven again and said, \u201cLook, this is a really missed opportunity not to do a documentary about him at this point in his career.\u201d And so he asked John and John said yes. After that, he was a little more reserved but we managed to convince him and start production. It just so happens that because I make a lot of films, I had a meeting with Imagine Documentaries, Ron Howard\u2019s company, who were desperate to work with me. They said they wanted to do a documentary about John Williams. I said, \u201cGet in line because you\u2019re not the only ones!\u201d We decided to partner with them once Steven had really convinced John and after Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, Lucasfilm, had come on board; that’s how we ended up on Disney+. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the film wasn’t particularly difficult to produce? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh yes, it was very difficult to produce, because from a creative point of view, when you have a career as huge as John’s and there is so much archive and so much music, what are the things that you focus on? How do you start to build the story of the film? And then there’s the question of the budget, and the question of the music rights which are very complicated and very expensive. We didn’t have very deep pockets because even if it’s a film produced by the big names in cinema, it didn’t have an unlimited budget, not at all! Because if it was one of my projects for thirty years, I didn’t have a lot of time to make it. Once we started, it was one of the films that I made the fastest in my entire career. So that’s what was difficult. For example, for interviews, people are not immediately available, you have to travel. And these factors have implications on the budget and on your schedule and the editing room. It was a big project that was very difficult to carry out. How did the shooting go? Did you have access to all the people you wanted to interview? There were people that we missed because of scheduling issues, some people were not available at that time or were not even in the United States, etc. But in 90% of the cases, I managed to get the people who could express themselves best about John. It was a list that we really built together, and with Steven. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So no one refused?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, not at all. It was a question of timing. For example, a person we were supposed to interview broke his arm\u2026 A lot of things happen when you make a film, whether it\u2019s a documentary or a film with a script, there are a lot of hazards. It\u2019s something I\u2019m used to. Did you want to talk to Joseph Williams? You talk in the film with Jennifer Williams, one of John\u2019s daughters. John and I decided that she was the one who was going to talk about the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you know, I wrote a book on the work of John Williams and I was looking forward to seeing your film. I really liked it because it reveals the behind the scenes of the work of composition in Hollywood. You had access to the rushes that Steven Spielberg shot during the recordings, especially on E.T. These are images that we had never seen before. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you, it’s good that you liked it. Indeed, we had access to unpublished archive images, and I was also able to film from behind the scenes at the Hollywood Bowl, that had never been seen before. But once again, all of this is very expensive to film. There are lots of rules. And we really had to ask ourselves which elements were going to speak to our story and which are the things that will really highlight its journey in the present but also in the past. Finding this balance between the two was a challenge. Because, once again, someone who has been making music since the age of five is not easy to pin down. I never tell myself that I am going to make the Wikipedia version of someone. I really have a point of view. I really have a story that I want to tell. There are people who can be frustrated and say: \u00ab\u00a0You should have talked about this music or that thing.\u00a0\u00bb I knew very well that we were not going to talk about everything, but I tried to cover as much of his work as possible. I leave the exhaustiveness to authors like you. Otherwise, the film would not have been possible to produce given the cost of the music and especially given the fact that it had to be of a certain length, etc. There were things to respect, but that does not bother me at all. I find that it is even a challenge that helps me enormously to find a common thread in my films to say to ourselves, here we are not making 50 episodes on the life of John Williams, we are making a film. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steven Spielberg films almost every time John records music for his films, it represents hours and hours of rushes. You had to make choices. So you decided with Spielberg what you were going to keep? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He gives me a lot of freedom in my choices. I was familiar with the shots of E.T. <\/em>because of my work on the film for several years. There were actually two cameras behind the scenes. Steven’s Super-8 camera as I show. And there were also shots filmed in 35 mm by John Toll, the great cinematographer who won the Oscar for Legends of the Fall<\/em> and Braveheart.<\/em> Same with the Indiana Jones, the Lucasfilm cameras were always there, so there were several archival sources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you seen Tornatore’s documentary on Ennio Morricone that came out in 2021? Did it influence you, even subconsciously? No, not at all. But did you like it? Were you interested? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tornatore is the one making the film, so it must be fantastic. He was involved in the story as a filmmaker himself and a close collaborator of the composer. If only for that, it is completely unique in the history of cinema. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw photos at the Oscars where John and Ennio were shaking hands, they seemed quite close. How did they overcome the language barrier? Morricone didn’t speak any English. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No idea! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s get back to your film. Can we expect a future physical edition with bonus features? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t know. Given the cost of the music, I don’t think it’s possible. Disney is taking care of all that. Given that the film is on Disney+, I would be surprised if they tried a physical release that would perhaps overshadow their streaming site. In the United States today, it is increasingly difficult to release Blu-Rays, so it is not a priority. And since it is a documentary, it is even more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In doing my research and writing my book on John Williams<\/a>, I realized that Steven and John are really close, that they get along really well and that they have the same tastes on a lot of things, especially American history. Were there any difficult times between them? I suspect that you can’t necessarily talk about it in a documentary like this, but were there any crises in their relationship? It’s not easy to work with someone for fifty years. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First of all, the film was not censored at all. We talked about difficult things. But my perspective on the relationship between John and Steven is really symbolized and solidified by Jaws. The filming of the film went very badly as we know, it’s a film that left a lot of scars. And once again, I’m really talking in relation to someone’s career, etc. It’s a film that could have completely changed the direction of Steven Spielberg’s direction. Well, it happened to be successful and that changed things for the better. But for a long time, it was something traumatic. We’ve all experienced very difficult creative events in our careers, and it’s very hard to look back on those stories. When you put yourself in the shoes of the person Steven was at the time of the film, you realize that he was still vulnerable. And all of a sudden, he finds himself with a composer who plays him these two notes. There really had to be trust and a kind of brotherhood between the two of them for him to accept music that at first could have seemed very minimalist. Yes, it didn’t speak to him at first. And so I think that, once you’ve gone through something like that, and the music becomes one of the aspects that saves the film, you’re attached for life. And Steven talks about it in the film, he says that there were times when he had other ideas, etc. But John is completely open to all of that. He’s one of the few composers who has never been fired from a film. He’s replaced other people instead. So it’s not just Steven, it’s his generosity of spirit, his rigor, his work and his creativity that mean there’s no drama like there was between Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock. So no, there’s no hidden stuff. One of the important events is what happened with the Boston Pops when the musicians refused to play film music (in the early 1980s). It’s a story that I knew a little bit about, but not that much. I hadn’t really dug into it, because yes, the success was so huge that it actually hides all of that. But we talked about it very openly. There was really no rule like that: you can’t talk about this or that. The people I work with are trustworthy. And I respect the talents that inspire me enormously. I am absolutely not interested in what is called an interrogation in the journalistic sense of the term. I am not a journalist, I am a storyteller. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all the interviews I have read with directors or collaborators, they only have nice words about John Williams, this was not at all the case, for example with Ennio Morricone who could be quite difficult. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or Jerry Goldsmith who unfortunately I did not know. He is really my second favorite composer after John, I especially like his scores from the 1970s like The Omen, The Boys from Brazil,<\/em> things like that. These are sometimes films that could be saved by music. But I know that Jerry was replaced several times and that he could have words with the directors. Now, I have worked with composers and I have also had difficult relationships with some. So it is not completely unusual. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerning Goldsmith, in your opinion, how can we explain that he had less access than John Williams to big films? Is it a question of luck? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can’t comment on that because I haven’t studied the issue at all. But it’s obvious that John was in high demand, whether it was for films like Superman<\/em> and all the big spectacle films, if you will, but also for films like Monsignore,<\/em> which is really a huge score for a rather mediocre film. Now, we don’t see in Jerry’s filmography a relationship with a specific director, whereas John really had that with Steven, whose career exploded. So that obviously helped him, but he also had George Lucas and Star Wars.<\/em> Now, if Robert Wise’s Star Trek<\/em> had been as huge a success as Star Wars<\/em> and if the sequels had been a worldwide success, Jerry Goldsmith’s career might have been different. He certainly had a relationship with a director like Franklin J. Schaffner, but he’s not someone who continued to make films that worked and made headlines. So, that certainly played a role in his career. That said, he had a fantastic career and unfortunately shortened by a life that was too short. When you see the relationship between Hermann and Hitchcock, it’s really a shame that they fell out. But it’s really rare to have relationships that last throughout a career, especially when it’s long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And you were talking about Jaws, precisely, I thought I saw that you are preparing a documentary for the 50th anniversary of the film? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Absolutely, it will be broadcast during the year on Natgeo, that is to say Disney+. And it is planned for the course of the year. We will be able to talk about it again at the time of the release. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And otherwise, what are your other projects? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a lot of projects, these are things that I keep to myself for the moment. As long as they are not in progress, it is bad luck to talk about them at this stage. But indeed, I have a lot of projects in progress, including films that I would like to direct, which are fiction films. But it is always random and difficult. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To finish on John Williams, do you think we will be lucky to have another work from him? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think so. Yes, I think so. I hope so. He is not finished, he continues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a Spielberg movie coming out in 2026. From what I’ve seen, it’s a sci-fi movie apparently, I hope John is in it. Thanks a lot Laurent Bouzereau!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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