10 Extraordinary Partnerships Between Composers and Directors

[h2]1. Joe Hisaishi and Hayao Miyazaki[/h2]

My inspiration for putting together this list, Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki is far and away my very favorite filmmaker, and Joe Hisaishi is, without a doubt, my favorite film composer. It has to be that way, given my belief in the significance of film music; the best director must work with the best composer, and visa versa. Together, they embolden one another to previously unimagined heights.

This is what Miyazaki and Hisaishi have achieved, time and time again, through a career spanning nine feature films (and an upcoming tenth), all of them masterpieces. Miyazaki’s visual artistry is so profound, so far above and beyond what any other filmmaker working in any format, be it live-action or animation, can even dream of accomplishing, that the music always, from the very beginning, had to be equally magnificent. A balance of beauty had to be struck between the aural and visual elements, and if not, Miyazaki’s work would have lacked the powerful and precise equilibrium that makes his films so wonderful.

And from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind onwards, Miyazaki and Hisaishi have found that equilibrium time and time again, with Miyazaki’s stories and animation inspiring Hisaishi to consistently greater heights and Hisaishi’s music giving Miyazaki license to go bigger, bolder, and more intensely emotional with his storytelling. I love all of Miyazaki’s films, and adore each of Hisaishi’s scores, though the pinnacle of their collaboration is undoubtedly 1997’s Princess Mononoke, which features one of the two of three best scores ever written for film.

But watch any of Miyazaki’s films, or listen to any of Hisaishi’s scores in isolation (difficult, since most of them have not been released as albums in the United States), and you will be blown away by the artistic fruits of this incredible partnership. Many years from now, when Miyazaki’s work is firmly entrenched in the annals of film history, I believe this collaboration between director and composer will be studied and revered as one of the best and most substantial, and deservingly so. Music and film have rarely combined to forge experiences this transcendent.

What are your favorite director/composer partnerships? Are you familiar with the collaborations on this list? Which team-ups would you have included? Sound off in the comments and let us know!