LAURENT BOUZEREAU ON HIS NEW DOCUMENTARY, MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS
By Dr. Joshua Sherman Holiday 24
JOHN WILLIAMS is a beloved maestro and composer whose name is synonymous with some of the most widely known films and series of the past century, including Star Wars, Jaws, E.T., Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, and Schindler’s List, among many others. Over the course of his career, Williams has won five Academy Awards®, three Emmy® Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and 26 Grammy® Awards for his incredible music. For decades, Williams has also been a central figure at the renowned Tanglewood Music Festival here in the Berkshires.
In Laurent Bouzereau’s new documentary, Music by John Williams, audiences are taken on an enlightening journey through the life and career of this extraordinary figure. The film premiered at AFI FEST 2024 on October 23 in Hollywood and began streaming on Disney+ on November 1, giving fans an intimate look at a career that defined the sound of modern cinema. Produced by Lucasfilm LTD, Amblin Documentaries, and Imagine Documentaries, Music by John Williams celebrates the 92-year-old maestro’s unparalleled contributions to both film and concert music, offering a rare glimpse into the mind of the prolific genius.
Bouzereau, an award-winning filmmaker with over 150 documentaries to his name, was the perfect choice to helm this tribute to Williams. While growing up in France, Bouzereau was profoundly influenced by Williams’ scores. His deep admiration shines through in the film. The documentary features interviews with an extraordinary array of celebrities, ranging from Steven Spielberg and George Lucas to J.J. Abrams, Gustavo Dudamel, Chris Martin, Yo-Yo Ma, and Itzhak Perlman.
Williams’ passion for orchestral music and his commitment to preserving its legacy is also a recurring theme throughout the film. Despite the increasing digitization of film scores, Williams continues to compose by hand and work with live orchestras, a practice that is explored in depth throughout the documentary. As Bouzereau explains, “This was an important story to tell, not only because it is about one of the greatest composers of all time, but because of the message it carries about the survival of orchestral music and musicians.”
Shortly before the release of the documentary, Bouzereau shared with me his thoughts on the film, providing an invaluable glimpse into the life and career of the man behind the music.
JS: It's so nice to meet you, Laurent! Before we discuss John Williams, let’s talk about you. You started working with Bette Midler’s production company and then transitioned to working on behind-the-scenes footage for Steven Spielberg. How did those relationships evolve and lead you to working with John Williams?
LB: I came to America in 1982 and moved to New York, where I did some work in film and wrote my first book. I felt a calling to move to Los Angeles in 1989 and worked in feature development for Bette Midler at Disney’s All Girl Productions. I loved filmmaking, and I was intrigued by the home entertainment market with LaserDiscs. Someone I worked with mentioned me to Marty Cohen at Amblin. They were working on a new cut of 1941, and I was in love with that movie. Marty asked if I’d be interested in doing a retrospective documentary on 1941, and I jumped at it. That was my first encounter with Steven and John, 30 years ago. And what I thought was a one-off project became a career! Each time I did a new project, I would interview John, and he got used to me quickly. I’d bring my dog to the interviews, and he even got to know my dog! I became extremely fond of him. I would always tease him about doing a documentary about him, and he’d say, “That’s never going to happen.” But eventually, it did.
JS: Are you a musician yourself?
LB: No. I had aspirations to be a musician when I was seven. My parents wanted me to learn piano. I did go to a conservatory competition called Nerini, and I played a piece there. I forgot to do the da capo, and I got third prize, but I was so traumatized. I decided to focus on movies instead, but that remains one of my greatest regrets. I discovered John Williams at a young age, and I’ve joked with him that his music was often better than some of the films! In France, the soundtracks are released before the films, so I would buy soundtracks for movies before seeing them, and that’s how I first experienced American films—through John’s music. I really fell in love with his music, particularly the score to Monsignor. The music was fantastic, and John’s music played a huge role in my education in cinema. His music was that important to me. As a kid, I would always show silent films. I would buy Super 8 versions of King Kong, and I would restore them to John’s music. I would play some of John’s soundtracks while my parents were watching the first version of King Kong, and I would charge them five francs! So, I was playing with John’s music in a way that was informing my passion for that type of composition, but first experiencing it as music, not as music made for film.
JS: I was lucky enough to interview John Williams at the time of his 90th birthday. During my interview with John, he explained to me that when he writes music, he does it as if it’s the 1800s—he composes everything by hand and records it with a full orchestra. Did you ever need assistance understanding the technical aspects of his musical process?
LB: Well, after 30 years of interviewing him and listening to his music, I could hum almost anything from his canon. I’m an appreciator. The challenge in the documentary wasn’t doing something technical—it was telling a story about a musician in a way that engages an audience. John’s musical catalog is vast, and his collaborations with Steven and other directors have left a huge cultural impact. I didn’t want to make something too “inside” and lose the audience, but I also wanted to capture the magic of his work. One of the things I discovered in my education with cinema was the notion of temp scores that are done before the music is created. I think that’s a fascinating thing that very few people know about, so there’s a whole discussion about the temp score for Jaws. John also spent time at the piano explaining the five notes from Close Encounters. He was very specific about how he wanted to discuss these things. John is precise, and I respected that. He was generous in guiding me through how he wanted the documentary to unfold.
JS: John’s music is truly integral to the storytelling of many films. I asked him during the interview if he’d ever reused music, and he told me, “I have a large trunk of music, but no remnants.” He explained that each piece is written deliberately for each film and isn’t reused. That fascinated me.
LB: Yes, unlike many of his contemporaries, John was never fired from a movie. His relationship with directors like Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, and Brian De Palma is based on trust and collaboration. He stayed faithful to his orchestral roots, even when composers like Jerry Goldsmith were using synthesizers in the 1980s. John uses synthesizers sparingly, and it’s usually for specific scenes, like in Munich. His classical approach makes the films he touches timeless.
JS: John told me that he feels the film in which his score is best integrated with the visuals is E.T. That surprised me. As someone who’s worked closely with both John and Steven, which score do you think best integrates music and film?
LB: That’s a tough question. There are so many. I would say the ones I listen to the most are from the 1970s—Close Encounters, Jaws, E.T., and even Superman. Each of those scores is so defining. Close Encounters stands out to me because of how the music evolves with the story. At first, the music reflects the fear of the unknown, and by the end, it becomes this beautiful symphony when we realize the aliens are benevolent. John’s ability to take us on that journey through music is extraordinary. Stepping outside of Steven’s world, I love the scores to The Fury and Dracula. The Superman score is incredible, too. John created distinct musical worlds for Krypton, Smallville, and Metropolis. It’s like he scored three different films. There’s another score John did that I listen to a lot, and that’s a score he did the same year as Star Wars and Close Encounters, for a movie called Black Sunday by John Frankenheimer. That score elevates the film. It’s completely different and incredible, and I listen to it quite a bit.
JS: That’s fascinating. Can you talk about any footage that didn’t make it into the documentary but that you wish could have been included?
LB: I try not to think about what’s missing, but rather what’s in the film. My favorite moments of John collaborating are there. That said, I would have loved to dive deeper into The Fury or Black Sunday, but they didn’t fit the narrative. However, a fun coincidence is that when my name comes up in the credits, it’s over a binder labeled Black Sunday. So, in a way, it made it in.
JS: You interviewed many people for this documentary, some of whom you had past working relationships with, like John and Steven, and others you may not have known, like Yo-Yo Ma and Chris Martin. Was there anyone who gave you unexpected insight into John?
LB: Chris Martin from Coldplay surprised me. I thought he would just say a few words about how he opens his concerts with the E.T. theme, but it turned into something much more. I gave him my phone, played the E.T. theme, and you can see him come alive as he listens. It’s one of the best moments in the film, and it shows the timelessness of John’s work. I thought that was illuminating. A similar thing happened with Seth MacFarlane. As funny as his work is, he’s a very serious scholar of music and a real appreciator of John’s work. He brought a very profound perspective into John’s music. For some of John’s more direct collaborators—like Perlman, Gustavo, and Yo-Yo Ma—they were all so welcoming, warm, and open. I felt like I knew them already. I don’t know if they felt the same way, but they were all hugging me like we had history, even though I’d never met them before. The second thing that surprised me, and I hope it’s captured in the film, is that they’re all so funny. They take their work so seriously, but they have this humanistic way of approaching it. Of course, the most iconic story is Itzhak Perlman’s connection to Schindler’s List. He had been asking John for years, “Hey, John, when are you going to write something for me?” Finally, John said, “Oh, I have this wonderful movie, Schindler’s List,” and Itzhak said, “I’ll think about it.” He told his wife, and she said, “What? You told John Williams you’d think about it on a Steven Spielberg movie? Are you crazy?” It’s a lighthearted story about a very heavy and tragic film, but it shows the spirit of these great musicians and how they approach things. You have moments of levity in the Schindler’s List segment, and then you get to John actually composing the music. I interviewed Steven’s wife, Kate, and she started crying. I extended the shot of her being unable to speak about her reaction to Schindler’s List as much as I could. At one point, she opens her mouth, and then she can’t speak again.
JS: You said something interesting earlier about the Superman score and how it’s almost like three different scores, each one matching the setting. I’m curious: Did John Williams and the director, Richard Donner, intentionally create those different sounds together, or was that something John came up with on his own?
LB: While there is incredible dialogue between John and his directors, John is mainly inspired by seeing the film itself. He doesn’t read scripts; he’s stimulated by watching a cut of the movie. He talked about being inspired by Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder in Superman. They became friends, which is unusual—composers don’t often form close relationships with actors—but John said he couldn’t wait to get his hands on the love theme because he related to them so much. John has a very tactile, emotional connection to the people he works with. He’s not just a composer—he’s a humanist. He’s changed the world and spoke to history, the future, and the present through music. The fact that his music is for movies is almost secondary because, as we know, his music stands on its own. I quickly understood that John doesn’t talk about his process in technical terms; he talks about emotions, human connections, and storytelling through music. He also has an immense love for the orchestra and his musicians. The greatest compliment I got from John when he watched the film again with the final mix was, “You have really paid tribute to my musicians,” and that
really meant the world to me.
JS: I sat in on one of the rehearsals for John Williams Film Night at Tanglewood, and among the songs they played was Marion’s Theme from Indiana Jones. I sent Karen Allen, who played Marion and lives here in the Berkshires, a short video from the rehearsal. She responded, “I’ll never get tired of hearing it. He expanded it years ago into an entire piece and played it for me at Tanglewood. I cried. It was so beautiful.”
LB: That’s wonderful. And it ties into something I mention in the film: Marion’s character doesn’t have a huge part in Raiders of the Lost Ark—we think she’s dead for a third of the film. So, the music fills in the blanks, conveying the romance between her and Indiana Jones that isn’t explicitly in the script. That’s what makes John’s work extraordinary. He conveys entire backstories and emotions through his compositions.
People love to say that the music in Jaws replaces the mechanical shark, but I think that was always Steven’s intention—to not show the shark too much. He found in John’s score a companion to create suspense and terror without needing to show the shark. That iconic two-note theme—da-dun—replaces the visual, and it’s remarkable.
JS: That’s such a powerful example of how John’s music transcends the visuals. I imagine capturing that essence of John as both a composer and a conductor was challenging. How did you decide on the lens through which to tell his story? Obviously, focusing on his music makes sense, but how did you balance all the other aspects of his life and career?
LB: It was a huge challenge, because John has lived for almost a century and has been making music since the age of five. But John guided me. He was incredibly generous, and I realized early on that the way to approach everything was through music. I didn’t ask him personal life questions like, “How did you become a conductor?” Instead, I’d ask, “How did Star Wars change your life?” And he would explain that it wasn’t the film itself, but the concerts that followed, which led to him conducting for the Boston Pops.
I approached his story through the music, letting that guide the narrative. I wasn’t aiming to create a definitive biography that covers every single detail of his life—that’s more of a Wikipedia page. A film is a story, and the interviews aren’t talking heads, they’re close-ups. I wrote a script based on the interviews, shaping the story as we went along. The idea was to focus on what really matters to John, rather than trying to cover everything. It was also about working closely with my editors. We had three editors on the film, each bringing a different skill to the storytelling. We didn’t have a lot of time to make the film, so the biggest challenge was piecing together a narrative that feels cohesive. We wanted to avoid making it just a “Greatest Hits” or a love fest, even though everyone who worked with John does love him. After we finished the film, I showed it to Steven Spielberg at Amblin. He came out of the screening emotional, and we hugged. I told him, “Steven, I worked so hard on this—I wanted you to be proud, not just as a producer, but as someone who’s worked so closely with John for so many years.” And he said, “Laurent, I don’t see the work. All I see is the love.” That’s how it felt for all of us in the cutting room. We were all humming along to the music and smiling. I hope that anyone who watches the film will feel that same love.
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