Birth (Score)
Director Jonathan Glazer's supernatural mystery revolves around a NYC woman (Golden Globe nominated Nicole Kidman) who becomes obsessed with the young boy who claims to be the reincarnation of her dead husband. French composer Alexandre Desplat imbues the tale with a sophisticated orchestral score that conjures an aura of magic and mystery, often fusing the minimalist rhythms of Reich and Glass and the impressionistic classicism of fellow countrymen Ravel and Debussy with deceptive grace. The cues here brood and pulse with haunting subtlety, seasoned by fleeting waltzes and solo piano passages that recall the composer's previous fine work onThe Luzhin Defence. Desplat's masterful music here (honored with nods from both the Venice Film Festival and Online Critics Society) is on a par with his Golden Globe-nominatedGirl With a Pearl Earring, another elegant, post-modernist musical gem from one of filmdom's most underrated musical talents.--Jerry McCulley