The new movie Joker is stirring up a furious debate as it gets mixed reviews. What has been depicted in the movie can certainly be the talk of the town considering the real-life violence in the rise of anarchy. Whether the movie was well made can be a controversial topic, the movie certainly did a great job creating the dark, creepy, uneasy ambience. Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir was able to add sophisticated layers to the nuance and support Joaquin Phoenix's profound acting.
Guðnadóttir was born in Iceland and started playing cello at age 5. Her delicate cello-heavy scores in Joker are not surprises considering her being a cellist all her life. Low strings with enchanted percussions surely enhance the character's agony and suffering as well as violence and madness. But Guðnadóttir stated that she also felt great empathy towards the character.
"He's trying to actually bring joy to the world, and just doesn't really succeed because of outer circumstances that really affect his inner turbulence,... I was just really sympathetic towards that that. It's very tragic. So, I thought it was important that he was allowed to kind of have this softer side." - Hildur Guðnadóttir
It is not our first time to hear her sounds in films. Guðnadóttir has collaborated with Jóhann Jóhannsson (one of my all-time favorite composers!) as a cellist and a co-composer a couple of times. She has also won an Emmy for the HBO miniseries Chernobyl.
The film music industry has been an extremely male dominated field. Her increasing presence adds a new page to the industry. I wonder what she will bring next to Hollywood.