Cannes Film Festival 2013

'Tinker Tailor' composer Alberto Iglesias takes top honors at World Soundtrack Awards

The Spaniard beats out such rivals as John Williams and Alexandre Desplat

<p>"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" received the award for Original Score of the Year at the World Soundtrack Awards.</p>

"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" received the award for Original Score of the Year at the World Soundtrack Awards.

Credit: Focus Features

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If you forget the current Oscar race for a minute, and cast your mind all the way back to the start of this year, you may recall that Spanish composer Alberto Iglesias nabbed what rather surprisingly turned out to be the only below-the-line nomination for "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy."

He inevitably lost to Ludovic Bource for "The Artist," but I wasn't the only one who thought his moody, jazz-infused score for the British spy thriller deserved the win -- and not only because his tonally contrasting, predictably unnominated work on Pedro Almodovar's "The Skin I Live In" was equally strong.

Months later, Iglesias has received his due, winning Composer of the Year for both films (plus French thriller "The Monk") at the World Soundtrack Awards, presented this weekend at the Ghent International Film Festival in Belgium.

Additionally, Iglesias took the individual Original Score of the Year prize for "Tinker Tailor" -- beating two of his fellow 2011 nominees, John Williams for "The Adventures of Tintin" and Howard Shore for "Hugo." Rather surprisingly, "The Artist" wasn't even nominated, while the World Soundtrack Academy scored some hipster points by shortlisting the Oscar-disqualified "Drive" instead.

Also a double winner was Irish composer Brian Byrne: the relative newcomer took the Discovery of the Year award for his work on "Albert Nobbs," and also shared the Best Original Song prize for that film's theme "Lay Your Head Down." That Sinead O'Connor-sung ballad wasn't nominated even nominated by the Academy; here, it beat Oscar winner "Man or Muppet" to the punch. (Meanwhile, the song's co-writer, Glenn Close, has finally claimed an actual award for her dreary passion project.) 

The Public Choice Award went to Abel Korzeniowski for "W.E." -- a film I didn't realize any members of the public had actually seen, while lifetime achievement honors went to Pino Donaggio, best known for his longstanding collaboration with Brian DePalma.

As you've surely gathered, the timing of this awards ceremony means it tends to be dominated by films from the previous year, so it's worth noting the few 2012 films to crack the nominee list. "Rust and Bone" and "Moonrise Kingdom" were folded into Alexandre Desplat's Composer of the Year bid; ditto "Cosmopolis" and Howard Shore. Meanwhile, "Snow White and the Huntsman" nabbed a Best Original Song nod for Florence and the Machine's "Breath of Life"; Greg Ellwood was recently wondering if the song could be Oscar-bound.

Finally, looking at the awards from the Ghent fest itself, I'm thrilled to see that Miguel Gomes's "Tabu" -- pretty much a lock for a medal in my year-end list -- won their top prize. Back on the soundtrack side of things, Olivier Assayas's "Something in the Air" won their second-highest honor for Best Music and Sound Design.

The full list of World Soundtrack Award honorees:

Best Original Score of the Year

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John Williams, "The Adventures of Tintin"
Cliff Martinez, "Drive"
Howard Shore, "Hugo"
Alexandre Desplat, "The Ides of March"
Alberto Iglesias, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" (winner)

Composer of the Year
Alexandre Desplat, "The Ides of March," "Rust and Bone," "Moonrise Kingdom," "Extreme Loud and Incredibly Close," "A Better Life," "Carnage"
Alberto Iglesias, "Tinker Tailor, Soldier Spy," "The Skin I Live In," "The Monk" (winner)
Cliff Martinez, "Drive," "Contagion"
Howard Shore, "Hugo," "Cosmopolis," "A Dangerous Method"
John Williams, "The Adventures of Tintin," "War Horse"

Best Original Song
"Lay Your Head Down" from "Albert Nobbs" (Brian Byrne, Glenn Close, Sinead O'Connor) (winner)
"The Living Proof" from "The Help" (Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Damon Thomas, Harvey Mason, Jr.)
"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" (Bret McKenzie, Jason Segel, Peter Linz)
"Breath of Life" from "Snow White and the Huntsman" (Florence Welch, Isabella Summers)
"Masterpiece" from "W.E." (Julie Frost, James Harry, Madonna)

Discovery of the Year
Brian Byrne, "Albert Nobbs" (winner)
Fall On Your Sword, "Lola Versus," "Nobody Walks"
Trevor Morris, "Immortals"
Lucas Vidal, "The Cold Light of Day," "The Raven," "Sleep Tight"
David Wingo, "Take Shelter"

Public Choice Award
Abel Korzeniowski, "W.E."

Sabam Award for Best Young European Composer
Valentin Hadjadj

Lifetime Achievement Award
Pino Donaggio 

Guy-lodge-sm
Guy Lodge
Critic
Guy Lodge is a South African-born critic and sometime screenwriter. In addition to his work at In Contention, he is a freelance contributor to Variety, Time Out, Empire and The Guardian. He lives well beyond his means in London.

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    Ladesh

    "The Artist" wasn't snubbed. It wasn't eligible due to a technicality. Per thewrap.com, "The Artist," was not eligible because its 2011 Cannes premiere fell outside the World Soundtrack Awards' eligibility period of July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012.

    October 22, 2012 at 4:38PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Guypic_talkback_profile

      Guy Lodge By that token, Drive shouldn't have been nominated either.

      October 22, 2012 at 4:57PM EST
    • Default-avatar

      Ladesh That's a good point, actually. I guess some movies are more ineligible than others. Which is a shame because "The Artist" did have a fantastic score.

      October 22, 2012 at 5:28PM EST
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    Christine

    Well deserved.

    October 22, 2012 at 6:23PM EST Reply to Comment
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    Jan

    I wonder how Glenn Close feels about the Academy's new "five nominees every year" rule, which probably would have helped her get nominated and possibly win the Oscar last year as a consolation prize/career award.

    October 22, 2012 at 8:22PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Guypic_talkback_profile

      Guy Lodge She'd never have beaten The Muppets. Even the nomination would have been a stretch, given the Academy's voting system in this category -- it's a closing-credits ballad, after all.

      October 23, 2012 at 2:18AM EST
    • Default-avatar

      Jan Of course, it wouldn't have guaranteed her anything, but she must have had a better shot at winning in that category than in Best Actress. I'm not sure how much the Academy really cares for the Muppets if they only nominated one song from that movie.

      Speaking of The Muppets, I still wish that "Me Party" had been 1) eligible, 2) nominated, 3) performed at the ceremony by Amy Adams, and 4) won.

      October 23, 2012 at 7:17AM EST
    • Guypic_talkback_profile

      Guy Lodge I second all four of those points.

      October 23, 2012 at 7:34AM EST

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Best Picture

Best Director

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Best Actress

Best Supporting Actor

Best Supporting Actress

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Best Original Screenplay

Best Cinematography

Best Costume Design

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Best Makeup And Hairstyling

Best Original Score

Best Original Song

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Best Animated Feature Film

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