Best Original Score: Ranking Every Oscar Nominee
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
After checking out the Best Sound nominees, it only makes sense to dip into the musical categories next, starting out with the Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score. As is usually the case here, these five nominees are actually all really good, and I feel like the Academy chose wisely; this holds up especially since two of these nominees have original songs as well (and the Academy was able to see past these and appreciate the scores underneath), and one is attached to an international release (something you don’t find too often). Which film had the best music of 2021? Here are your nominees.
Biggest Snub: Spencer-Jonny Greenwood
It sounds stupid to try and say that a guy that did get nominated this year was snubbed, but Jonny Greenwood could have easily been nominated twice in one year, especially since Spencer boasts some of my favourite compositions of 2021. The mesmerizing harps on top of the jazzy swirls below makes for a harrowing juxtaposition that accurately captured Princess Diana’s predicament: a symbol of grace to us that was facing her own intense battles in secret.
5. Encanto-Germaine Franco
Despite placing Encanto last, this score is really good. I feel like the other four scores do something a little different to warrant being placed higher, but as far as traditional scores go, this latest Disney feature actually has some beautiful music. It’s not easy keeping up with the original songs of Lin-Manuel Miranda, but Germaine Franco’s lush, swirling score does just that: it carries out Encanto’s magic as accurately as possible in musical form.
4. Parallel Mothers-Alberto Iglesias
First of all, I am shocked and nonplussed that Alberto Iglesias’ score for Parallel Mothers wound up here. I was hoping it would but didn’t have high hopes, given the Academy’s affinity for voting for scores attached to English language productions. Well, here it is, and it sounds partially like his answer to Henry Mancini and his own version of Pedro Almodóvar’s latest genre-bender. It feels retro yet modern, and each melody really sticks out as a result.
3. Don’t Look Up-Nicholas Britell
I’ve been a big fan of Nicholas Britell for the last little while because of his ability to come up with classical compositions (sometimes with some current day productional help) with such fresh melodies that feel like they were never created before. It’s a bit of an astounding talent that he possesses, and it always shines through and elevates whatever he works on. In Don’t Look Up, his music provides the most amount of hope — yet the same amount of intellectual acceptance of the worst case scenario — that makes a lopsided epic feel justifiable throughout.
2. Dune-Hans Zimmer
Every Film 101 kid is likely champing at the bit for Hans Zimmer’s inclusion here, but I do think that his Dune score is one of his best in recent memory. He goes even further than the typical extra mile that he reaches here, with an amalgamation of sounds and styles (throat singing, abrasive noise, his signature orchestrations, electric instruments, and so much more) to make an end result that is both haunting yet ambitious. It’s one of his largest-sounding compositions to date, but it also feels as imaginative as so many of his best creations before.
1. The Power of the Dog-Jonny Greenwood
Even though Jonny Greenwood was snubbed for Spencer, he wound up here anyway with his score for The Power of the Dog. I feel like Spencer is his flashier composition, but his work in The Power of the Dog has such a strong tie to the film it is associated with. It is occasionally stripped down of any scope, focusing on the amount of storytelling that a lone violin can possess. At other times, his score is as vast as the landscapes of Jane Campion’s latest opus, with soul and heart for miles and miles. This is another success in Greenwood’s illustrious career, and it is my favourite score of 2021.
My Review of The Power of the Dog
Who I want to win: While any of the nominees here are worthy of winning in my eyes (and I am actually a big fan of a handful of them), I think it’s about time Jonny Greenwood finally wins an Academy Award (even if it wasn’t an accolade he’d be interested in, I’m assuming). Given his near-perfect track record that he already has, it only makes sense to acknowledge one of his finest cinematic accomplishments.
Who I think will win: As it stands right now, I feel like Jonny Greenwood has a good chance, considering his legacy and how he has never won before. Having said that, the best odds go to Hans Zimmer, who has won once before (for The Lion King), which is eons before his most acclaimed era at this point (nearly thirty years later). I think Zimmer will win because of this, as well as Dune’s complete takeover of these tech and art categories, but don’t be surprised if Greenwood sneaks his way in for the kill.
Tune in tomorrow for our next Academy Award category! We’re reviewing every single nominee on every weekday.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.