By RAY KELLY
Recording of Michel Legrand’s orchestral score for The Other Side of the Wind was completed at Daft Studios in Malmedy, Belgium over the past three days.
Sixty six musicians from the Mosan Orchestral Ensemble were under the direction of noted Belgian conductor Jean-Pierre Haeck, according to the French newspapers NordEclair and La Meuse. Haeck has collaborated with Legrand in concert.
Daft Studios Manager Stijn Verdonckt posted a photograph of a recording session March 21 on Twitter.
“This week at Daft Studios, we recorded the orchestral scores for Orson Welles’ final film, The Other Side Of The Wind, in the best possible company: Composer and multiple Oscar- and Grammy-winner Michel Legrand,” Verdonckt said.
Recording the session were engineer Patrick Lemmens, Pro Tools operator Lukas Raport and assistant Luuk Schelvis. according to a Daft Studios posting on Facebook.
Legrand and producer Frank Marshall revealed work on the score began March 19 in interviews with Variety.
“After working with Michel on F for Fake and wanting a jazz-based score, Orson always spoke about him doing the music for Wind,” recalled Marshall, who was a line producer on the 1970s shoot.
Legrand added, “I asked myself constantly, ‘How would Orson have reacted?’ The very subject of the film touched me: the idea of the passage of time, the renewal of inspiration. I am proud to be the link between these two Welles films. I take it as a gift from Orson, through the clouds.”
Producer Filip Jan Rymsza posted on Indiegogo on March 20, “Michel has been writing since December and it’s exhilarating to hear his score come to life.”
Legrand has more than 100 movies credits include The Thomas Crown Affair, Summer of ’42 and Yentl.
He will finish his work on The Other Side of the Wind later this week with a jazz ensemble in Paris.
Unedited at the time of Welles’ death in 1985, the film is being completed by a post-production team headed by Marshall and Rymsza. Academy Award winners Bob Murawski (The Hurt Locker) and Scott Millan (Gladiator) are handling the editing and sound mixing, respectively.
Shot between 1970 and 1976, The Other Side of the Wind negative was locked away in a film laboratory outside Paris until Rymsza and Marshall reached agreements with the rights holders and teamed with Netflix last year. The streaming giant, which has 117 million subscribers worldwide, will also distribute a companion documentary by Oscar winner Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom).
The Other Side of Wind, originally a Welles and Les Films de L’Astrophore production, is being produced by Marshall and Rymsza’s Royal Road Entertainment.
Welles’ film takes place at the 70th birthday party of director Jake Hannaford (John Huston), who is struggling to make a comeback film during the Easy Rider era. The party is attended by young directors, like Brooks Otterlake (Peter Bogdanovich), hangers-on and critics. Hannaford dies in a car accident at the conclusion of the party. His final hours are recounted using a mix of still photos, 16mm and 35mm color and black-and-white footage shot at the party, along with scenes from his unfinished movie. The cast includes Oja Kodar, Bob Random, Cameron Mitchell, Mercedes McCambridge and Susan Strasberg.
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