The French Dispatch (soundtrack)

Development

Before production began, Anderson sent the film's script to Desplat and Poster to design the sonic palette. Desplat described reading the script as finding what lies behind the virtuality of words, camera moves, production design, and costumes, noting the humor and deep stories that are blurred and out of focus, as Anderson protects his emotions through poetry. Desplat would play his musical sketches to Anderson, who gave notes, and they would explore and elaborate those ideas back and forth until finding a direction that felt right for the film.

Because the film is set in France, Desplat had the advantage of being hometown-based and having a history scoring French films. He stated that the film is a real homage to French culture from Anderson, who lives part-time in Paris and loves French literature, music, and cuisine. Desplat drew inspiration from French composers Erik Satie and Thelonious Monk. He scored the opening sequence and two episodes: 'The Concrete Masterpiece' and 'The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner'.

Desplat explained that the score should not be lush and huge but sparse and clear, reflecting a handful of people at a newspaper in the past, like a postcard from the 1960s. He collaborated with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, with whom he had worked on Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, to perform solo piano. They later created unusual duets using an offbeat collection of instruments including harpsichord, banjo, tuba, timpani, and bassoon. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Desplat recorded his parts with Thibaudet in Los Angeles, while the orchestra performed at Abbey Road Studios in London.

Reception

Music critic Jonathan Broxton described the score as an overload of whimsy and a landslide of musical hipsterism. James Southall of Movie Wave noted that the best way to experience the score is in sequence, but the album scatters songs and orchestral pieces. Marcy Donelson of AllMusic called it a lean, jaunty chamber music score. A. O. Scott of The New York Times found it playful and knowing. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Desplat's doodling piano themes help shape the jaunty tone. Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post complimented the score as delicately thoughtful, and Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal described it as funny.