11. Jóhann JóhannssonPrisoners OST
I don’t know if Johann will take offence to this but I see a direct lineage from The Thin Red Line soundtrack to this one. It’s now become as influential in the world of film scores as Zimmer’s work. What he did here is perfection. It’s boiled down to the minimum essence of what you need and then exploited so well sonically that it perfectly catches the mood.
When you listen to it by itself, it has its own story. It doesn’t need anything more. I have not rewatched Prisoners but I have listened to this many, many times. One of the things I’ve always tried to do with my music is to try to convey narrative and imagery – almost as if it’s experiment to see how much of what I intend to put in there for a listener can actually be translated and experienced by them. That’s why film scores like this one have always been integral to how it is I work.
