StreamingSoundtracks - StreamingSoundtracks.com - Julie & Julia - Alexandre Desplat

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31 listener votes for this album.

A wonderful Film with an Equally Wonderful Desplat Score

By:	jadedtitan
Date:	17 Oct 2009
Rating:

This is a splendidly yummy movie about two women who are separated by time but are brought together by their love of food. Alexandre Desplat�s score for the movie is by far my favorite score of his, my opinion. I fell in love with the themes, the simplicity of the music and the upbeat love that was brought out through each note.

The movie focuses on two women, Julia Child and Julie Powell, both stories are adaptation from two books. So the music follows this and is separated between the French styled music associated with Julia and the more modern urban sound associated with Julie. The first two tracks Julia�s Theme and Julie�s Theme are quite plainly the two woman�s main themes and are played in the rest of the tracks in various different versions. Great Big Good Fairy is a short track, slow solemn and the beginning of Julia's Theme. The Original French Chef Theme is the original theme for the TV show that Julia Child later did back in the USA on PBS. It is short, but happy and brings back memories of the real Julia Child and her great cooking show.

 Starting Out starts out with Julie�s theme music, with variations and a nice accordion that picks up in the middle. While it is more French reminiscent, it helps to showcase the merging of the two women as Julie sets out to conquer Julia Child�s French Cookbook. The end of the track is more in the line of Julia�s music as is closes the feeling. What Should I Do? is a simplistic form of Julie�s Theme, single instruments take the theme music along in the song, letting it play out in a simple yet curious sounding way. Eggs Is more upbeat than the previous track and showcases the playful sounding flute found in many of the tracks. It holds parts of Julie�s theme as well, letting the listener know who the track is for.

 A String of Pearls uses a piano to play out Julie�s Theme, is a slow loving manner with a flute picking up mid song to give a more emotional depth to the song. Time After Time is the old song played out on a solo violin at first then a background band accompanies. It is in the mood of a slow jazz tune that one can easily find themselves swaying to after a few notes. Burning the Stew is another short track is similar to What Should I Do, a simple slow rendition of Julie�s Theme, played out in a low time of Julie�s quest.
 Leaving Paris is a sad track, when Julia is forced to leave the city she loves. Her theme is played out on an accordion, giving the feeling of sadness, but hope and the violins and flute help the theme along. My Husband Left Me is another sad track, the low point of Julie�s story. Julie�s theme is again played out on the piano, slow and mellow at first then picks up in a more upbeat fashion near the end, leaving the listener with hope. The New York Times is Julie�s Theme played out in its original form, upbeat and happy. Added guitar in the track to add something new to it and it is in the style of a montage in that the track builds to a crescendo near the end.

 Boeuf Bourguignon is another playful flute piece, with parts of Julie�s Theme played out as she takes on this particularly hard French dish. The violins in this track are so entrancing and help build the track to the middle where it ends with Julia�s Theme making a little entrance, again showing the connection of the two women at this point. Julia Hates Me is another slow solemn track with Julie�s theme playing out in its simple form, but the accordion comes back to play a bit of Julia�s music. Last Supper is the final track, a happy ending track dominated by the flutes again and both woman�s themes are represented, showing the end of the film and the end of these two quests.

I love this movie and I love the score. It is such a happy upbeat and fun score, i believe it showcases Desplat at his best. He always does wonderful music, but this score stands out most for me.

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