One of the staples of many of our lives – something that binds us together every bit as strongly as the Force – is the music of John Williams. From his beginnings as a performer, through his years as a jazz composer, on into the orchestra and composing for television and on to his true home of the cinematic score, he has delighted, excited, enthralled and challenged us with scores that are chiselled into our lives, and speaking with Lucasfilm director Laurent Bouzereau discusses making a documentary that surprisingly – or perhaps unsurprisingly once you realise just how humble a man Williams is – took some time to come together.
By coincidence, Ron Howard’s Imagine Documentaries had approached Bouzereau about a Williams documentary around the same time, thus helping solidify the film’s production team along with Amblin, Marshall and Kennedy, and Bouzereau’s own Nedland Media. But as plans came together, Williams once more showed reluctance to proceed. “I found myself at Amblin one day filming for another project,” Bouzereau recalls. “My crew was in one room and my computer was in another, and as I stepped out to go to my computer, there was John by himself.
“It was the weirdest thing to bump into him,” Bouzereau continues. “He told me, ‘I’m not sure about the documentary.’ I said, ‘Why? Everybody loves you!’ And he said, ‘Nobody cares about my life story.’ I told him, ‘This is really about your music and your musicians.’ I think it helped him to understand that I was approaching this through music. He realized that the goal was to show the musical journey first and foremost. Then I could ask him about anything as long as it was through the lens of music.”
Finally diving into production, Bouzereau and team were able to uncover a slew of rare material from Williams’ personal collection, Lucasfilm’s vaults, and beyond. Among the archival treasures in Music by John Williams is never-before-seen home video footage shot by Steven Spielberg during the respective scoring sessions of each of his films. The team was also able to have rare access to Williams, including private sessions at the piano where the composer discussed elements of his compositions.
Stay tuned for our review of this very special and affecting documentary in the coming days right here on the site.
