Racer and the Jailbird (Raf Keunen)

Digital: iTUNES | AMAZON | SPOTIFY

MovieScore Media continues its journey to find the best scores of Europe with its release of Racer and the Jailbird (Le Fidèle), Belgium’s official submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2018 Academy Awards. The film is directed by Oscar-nominee Michael R. Roksam (Bullhead) who once again sets his story against a backdrop of crime, telling the tragic love story between Gigi, a high-flying gangster, and Bibi, a young racing driver with very upper-class roots. The film stars Matthias Schoenaerts (Bullhead) and Adèle Exarchopoulos (La vie d’Adéle) in the title roles.

”Working with Michael is not ‘working’: we know each other so well, we don’t need long sessions of explaining what we hear about the scenes,” says the composer about working on the project. ”We worked on the score the minute the editing began and even before that. We knew we needed a quite large string orchestra from the beginning to emphasize the characters deeper motives, hidden truths and shifting emotions. String effects are used for the crimes, solo strings for the characters (violin for Bibi, cello for Gigi) but hidden behind the orchestra and synths, as their inner voice. Very low strings refer to the cars, very airy strings (sometimes at the same time) to evoke transience and the fragile but strong love between the both of them. In the final scene music, all of this comes subtly together.” The soundtrack also includes the theme song Lettre d’un taulard by Belgian singer Viktor Lazlo.

Raf Keunen studied composition and orchestration at the Royal Music School of Brussels. He started his career by writing for the shorts of Michael R. Roksam with whom he eventually collaborated on the Oscar-nominated crime thriller Bullhead. His other important collaborator include Roel Mondelaers with whom he worked on Plan Bart (2014) and Kamen Kalev for whom he scored Tête Baissée (2015). More recently Raf has composed for the short Dead of a Shadow which itself was a nominee at the Oscars Academy 2013.

MMS18014 • RACER AND THE JAILBIRD (Le Fidèle) (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music Composed by RAF KEUNEN
Release date (digital): July 20, 2018