Dern taught herself to play the instrument from scratch, and performs all the solos herself, and the cues which feature the theme are some of my favorite pieces of music of the year, especially “Marie’s Secret,” “Shadows of the Past,” and “Father”. The score very much tries to capture that struggle and alternates between isolating melancholy, exhilarating adventure, hopeful warmth, and Christmas joy.” Taking this into account, the centerpiece of the new score is the theme for “Marie,” which features the gorgeous tones of a bass recorder leading the melody, backed by a sentimental orchestra. We go on a journey with this family trying to find their Christmas spirit again.

It’s a profound story about grief and loss during times of holidays. The score for the film is again by the exceptional German composer Anne-Kathrin Dern, who this time not only leans into the sound of the season, but also writes some music that is heartbreakingly emotional.ĭern says “This isn’t your average feel-good Christmas movie. In this second film, Jules is again getting ready for the busiest time of the year with grandpa Noël, until he receives a very special letter with an intriguing question – he is asked to help a very sad little girl named Marie reunite her broken family. It continues the story of teenager Jules, who in the last film discovered that his grandfather is the real Santa Claus, and had to overcome his apathy towards the season and embrace his family’s legacy.

The second film in the series of Dutch-language family films, The Claus Family 2 is directed by Ruben Vandenborre, and stars Jan Declair, Mo Bakker and Bracha van Doesburgh. As such, I now present the second part of my final group of reviews looking at the best “under the radar” scores from around the world – the five titles included here represent some of the best film music heard this year to date, and include a seasonal fantasy from the Netherlands, two British dramas telling very different true stories, and two spectacular entries from Scandinavia: a Finnish nature documentary, and a Norwegian variation on the Cinderella story. 2021 is over and, as the world of mainstream blockbuster cinema and film music continues to recover from the COVID-19 Coronavirus, I again urge people to look beyond the confines of mainstream Hollywood to find the best film music being written.

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