The Comet blogger Jackie Otero interviews award-winning composer Cyril Morin, whose credits include the cult classic soundtrack to “Samsara,” about life, art, David Bowie, emotion and the secret sauce to scoring films, including “Human Resources Manager,” which just screened at the Toronto International Film Festival..

Cyril Morin used to dream of living the rock star life as a guitarist.  While he was also a self-proclaimed cinephile, for years those worlds remained separate passions.  His musicianship gradually moved offstage and into the studio, writing for commercials and short films.  “People started to say, ‘Your music fits very well to picture,’ and I suppose I started to believe it,” Morin tells the Comet.

Thus his career began as an acclaimed film composer and cult favorite. To date he has scored over 60 productions, including features, TV series, and documentaries.  Morin’s awards include best score at Cannes for “The Syrian Bride,” best music at the Israeli Documentary Film Awards for “Unmistaken Child,” and best soundtrack at the Bastia Film Festival for “Little Jerusalem.” He has also recorded seven solo albums and has worked with recording artists including Madonna. As a producer, his latest projects include singer Zera Vaughan’s album “The New Seed,” as well as his own solo project, “The Evolutionist,” which he even compares to his a film score.

“It’s like action movie meets psychological thriller.  It’s a symphonic orchestra mixed with loops and electronics.  It usually takes me three years to complete my own albums – it’s something I do when I have five minutes here and there.”

The last score Morin finished was for the film “The Human Resources Manager” with Israeli director Eran Riklis. 

“I went to Budapest to record these gypsy musicians, which was really, really amazing. It was really a great experience to mix film score with gypsy music.”

Next he’ll be composing for a short science fiction film with Beau Bridges in the main role, then Jacques Perrin’s new film about King Louis XI of France – ”it’s quite a big film for France.”

Morin isn’t afraid of change in his profession – as recording technology has evolved, he has embraced new ways of collaborating and combining usually distinct sounds, such as a symphony orchestra with computer-based loops and Pro-Tools plug-ins. 

“I’ve always thought that if a composer from the 18th century had access to what we have now, they would use everything – so that’s what I do.  I love combining a classical orchestra, traditional instruments, and electronics.  In fact, I was just doing a test recording between myself in Los Angeles, my producer in France, and session musicians in Budapest.”

His success can be attributed to not only his talent as a musician, but also his innate ability to pull strong emotions into his work.  For Morin, the process of film scoring is extremely intimate.

“It’s very similar to being an actor – you create with your background, with your life experiences.  When you see a picture, you receive something, and you send it back.  When you have a strong movie with a strong story, director, and actors, you receive so much.  When you cry during a film, it’s because you’re witnessing something.  The work of a film composer is to make a translation and send it back to the audience in the right way.”

His work is often intensely beautiful and emotional, and serves as a character in his own right. He says that tapping into the audience’s feelings isn’t always enough – you also have to think about the intelligence of the music.  It has to be clever as well as emotional.

There is one artist in particular that he admires as being able to bring those necessities together. 

“In painting, you have Picasso – in music, you have David Bowie.  He is my first and biggest influence and my favorite pop artist ever.”

So what keeps scoring fresh, project after project?  For Morin, it’s all about working with talented collaborators and exploring new worlds. 

“Music has brought me to countries I would have never visited, and takes me to worlds I’ve never seen – right now I’m with King Louis XI in the 14th century in France.  Next I’ll be in Germany with a basketball team, then in old time Italy.  I’m not just creating the music, I’m researching it, living it.  That’s maybe the best part of what I do.”