I have to admit that I didn’t know Jérôme Rebotier before listening to this Comte de Monte Cristo. Mea culpa, because he seems to me to be a solid heir to the recent French tradition of film music (think Alexandre Desplats), which he brings together with Hollywood scope (Hans Zimmer). Le Comte is a polished spectacle of Hollywood visual and narrative quality. Rebotier’s music is woven into the film’s scenes, often enveloping and submerging them. Too much for some, but for my part, I see it as an ample and powerfully catchy score, perfectly suited to the monumentalism of the production. Rhythmic propulsions supported by warm harmonic motifs, in minor keys of course, reminiscent of Zimmer’s Da Vinci Code, anthemic and grandiose melodies – in short, a perfectly mastered recipe for a quality blockbuster. A tad redundant, the appearances of the few themes are nonetheless strong enough to provide the breath of fresh air you’d expect from this kind of entertainment and not bore you. A beautiful melody sung by the character of Haydée would have benefited from being used more often. On the other hand, the violin and cello solos are very assertive and imbued with a romantic force that the composer generously allows to blossom. Once again, Zimmer’s Code comes to mind. In a recent interview on the french podcast La radio du cinéma, Rebotier said he had no other projects on the table at the moment. Let’s bet the offers will come flooding in.
