The anti-war drama has every chance of winning an Oscar – just like the haunting music composed by Volker Bertelmann. He tells DW about the difficulty of capturing the horror in notes.
Hauschka turns the cruelty of war into music
The anti-war drama by director Edward Berger has been nominated for an “Oscar” in nine categories. It will be announced on March 13th whether and how many it will win in the end. It has already won seven BAFTAs, including “best film”.
German composer Volker Bertelmann, better known by his stage name Hauschka, took home the BAFTA award for Best Soundtrack. In the DW interview, the musician tells what the greatest difficulty was when composing, why he played the main theme on his great-grandmother's old harmonium and what he thinks is the reason for the film's international success.
DW: First of all I would like to congratulate you on your award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Volker Bertelmann: Thank you very much.
Your soundtrack is nominated for an Oscar. This is your second nomination, the first being in 2017 for “Lion”. What do these nominations mean to you?
There is something very special about the nominations in terms of meeting people who are working at a similar level or doing interesting projects. And you get to meet people you admire, like John Williams now.
Will it work out with the Oscar this time?
And you are also looked at in a completely different way because you are suddenly in an environment of people who are simply among the best in the world at what they do. This is a great honor for me. That was a surprise for me in 2017, and I would have actually thought that this is my only chance in life, it won't come again (laughs).
You've already met the director several times Edward Berger – including on “Your Honor” and “Patrick Melrose”. What was your first thought when you were asked to write the music for “Nothing New in the West”?
The first thought was actually: “Definitely do it!”, and the second thought was: “Oh, how?!”. Because the book itself is material that you immediately say is a historical event, that it's being shot in German. And the second thought is of course: how can you tell German history with the war in such a way that it gives people the opportunity to form their own picture and find their own way of interpreting it without being forced into one point of view.
Did you write the music while or after the film was being shot?
I came on very late . The film was actually already finished, and I was invited to the screening in Berlin, and the film was so great that it was absolutely clear to me: It's going to be an impressive film. And the next day I had the first topic , which one hears at the beginning of the film, the harmonium with these three tones.
Director Edward Berger can also hope for an Oscar
I then sent the topic to Edward Berger – which is not normally done. You don't actually send the first idea to the director, but first collect maybe ten to 15 ideas so that you can be sure there's something there. But in this case I decided to send him the first idea straight away because it was so strong and clear for me. I wanted to know if he felt the same way.
The next day he called me and cheered into the phone and said: “Fantastic, that's awesome, we're happy, it's exactly how we want it!” Then it was clear to me: From now on I could actually edit everything with this topic in any way.
They wrote a very minimalistic but also very expressive and frightening music. It hits a nerve and amplifies the horror of the gruesome images of war. How did you decide what the music for this film should be like?
The story of the uniform is told in the first ten minutes of the film, and for me it was like a picture collage, a series of pictures. There is no text, you only see how slowly the soldiers go to war. And then the soldiers die, then their uniforms are taken off, they are washed, they go to a factory, where they are cleaned, then the sewing machines come and sew new name tags on the uniform.
And that was actually like the war machine for me, which dehumanizes the people who are involved in the war. They suddenly became like material. And I had the feeling that the music had to work in some way with the war machine, for example with the sewing machines. And that was only possible by taking short, small, actually iconic elements and letting them appear again and again, like an art installation.
War ends the dreams of youth
At the same time, I also thought that these five young men who go to war lose everything they dreamed of, everything they really are as people, in a relatively short time. And yet they still have moments when they might hold a woman's scarf in their hands or see a poster with a woman on it. In the film, women always tend to symbolize what these guys are actually waiting for, where they have the feeling of normality. There is hope. And I had the feeling that the powerful war machine sound also needed a religious theme.
I read that the main three-note theme throughout the film was played on your great-grandmother's harmonium.
More than a year ago I got a call from my home country that there was a harmonium available that was owned by our family. And now it's either going to be thrown away or I'll take it. I looked at the instrument and immediately said: “I want that.” In Düsseldorf, where I live now, there is a gentleman who restores harmonies. I called him and asked if he could restore it, and then I had it ready in my studio, waiting to be used at some point.
Distorted music accompanies the war action
After the first screening in Berlin, I thought it would be great not to go over the film with a synthesizer or a modern instrument and to convey to people: Yes, this is a modern film, but the film with it to an instrument that dates and also works like a machine.
And then I saw this harmonium and immediately thought it could be something, because it has bellows, it has air, you can hear the wood when you work on it. And then I played the first notes, it was a longer session where I recorded sounds and then distorted the harmonium. I put it through a distortion and an amp, and that made it so dynamic and powerful that you can hear it but still not quite know what kind of instrument it is. And I think that's really nice.
What was the most difficult thing for you when working on the music for this film?
The most difficult thing was actually not putting too much pathos and too much heroism into the music. Getting away from it, whenever you really want to devote yourself to the suffering of the soldier. As a composer this is of course a field where you tend to write sad, melancholic melodies and it has always been very difficult for me, but also very important to keep my distance and at the same time address the emotions without becoming too pathetic.<
The film has received seven BAFTA nominations and nine Academy Award nominations. This is a huge success for a German film. What is the reason for such a great international recognition?
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I think it's the possibility that people can form their own picture of what is portrayed. And of course also because of the current events, when the war is very close, because it's different than when the war is 15,000 kilometers away. That certainly played a role too. But it could just as well have been the other way around – people saying they don't want to see a war-related movie. But it seemed that the film resonated. The current time, the strong script and the strong implementation are also part of it. I think this combination has led to the vast majority deciding to watch the film to honor.
The interview was conducted by Marina Baranovska.