Inspired by the novel Hallowe’en Party, director Kenneth Branagh stars in A Haunting in Venice as famed detective Hercule Poirot. Set in eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows’ Eve is a terrifying mystery featuring the return of the celebrated sleuth, Hercule Poirot. Now retired and living in self-imposed exile in the world’s most glamorous city, Poirot reluctantly attends a séance at an old, haunted palazzo. When one of the guests is murdered, he is thrusted into a sinister world of shadows and secrets.
Familiar with Kenneth Branagh’s works, composer Hildur Guðnadóttir jumped on board when asked to join this project. In our interview with her, she gives a preview of how she developed the music score for this film and explains the importance of music in story-telling.
“My beginning point is always to look at what world we are in , in the film, and how the music can best serve the story and the whole universe, in that film,” Guðnadóttir said.
She added, “In a story like ‘A Haunting in Venice,’ it takes on a more … I guess, instead of the score leading the character from in front of the character, it works much more in parallel and from the subconscious mind.”
“It’s all these physiological things about how the way the music works I think with and in connection with storytelling that I find so interesting about writing film scores, is to play with these different ways of hearing and perceiving music and how you can be moved by it in a very different but effective way,” Guðnadóttir said.
“A Haunting in Venice” is set to premiere in theaters September 15, 2023.
