After the Cliffhanger final in Part I, fans of Lupin Netflix have been waiting for Prime Part II, now that Diop Assane has been the most sought-after man in France. This Friday, the waiting finally ended because Netflix will release the next five episodes. In front of Part II Premiere, we talked to Mathieu exclusively about his work on the show. Read the full interview below.
If you are not familiar with this series, Lupin follows the Thief Professional Assane, the only son of an immigrant from Senegal who came to France to find a better life for his child. Ashanti’s father was framed because of the theft of expensive diamond necklaces by his employer, Hubert Pellegrini who was rich and strong and hung himself in prison cells in shame, leaving Ashane teenagers orphaned.
Twenty-five years later, inspired by a book about Thieves Arsène Lupine, his father had given him on his birthday, Ashane took revenge on the Pellegrini family, using charisma and mastery of theft, and disguise to expose Hubert’s crime. Adding tension and emotional performances was the score by French composer Mathieu Lamboley. Mathieu built a music landscape that was very unique for this series, creating hybrid sounds that mixed classical writing with Hip Hop Beats.
Win: Can you tell us about how you were initially involved with Lupine? What interests you about the script?
French agents, I heard about projects and manufacturers’ set tones. There was a competition with several composers working on several scenes and he managed to get me in the field. I immediately proposed a theme that eventually became the theme of Arsene, Lupine’s main theme. What I like in the script is the fact that this series is not the construction of Maurice Leblanc books, but it is more a way to continue the heritage of books in the present., With the character of Insane who lives in Paris in the 21st century.
Win: How do you describe your score for the series?
If I describe it in one word, I will call it “hybrid”. When I started working in Lupine, I spent time thinking about what the show was actually fighting for. For me, Lupine is about inheritance, a father who passes the literary inheritance to his son, and the latter continues his inheritance in the present. The question then becomes, how do you translate this in music? I decided to do hybrid music: Mix my classic heritage with a more modern voice, like myself trying to make my music heritage stay in the present. And this is what you can hear on the soundtrack: classic writing melts with hip-hop knock.
Won: Part II of this series directed by Ludovic Bernard and Hugo Gélin. What kind of input is each of them having a score for their episode?
Each director has their their own way to talk about music. But in performances like Lupine, there is also a problem uniting the season throughout the episode, and it is part of my work as a composer to create this union. Ludovic’s episode was really easy to treat because their aesthetics really fits what I made for the first episode. Hugo is responsible for the last episode, especially episode 10 which has a photoshoot at the Music Sequence in the Du Chatelet Theater. Hugo really wants to make this last episode big, like finale grande so I have to create something very new! A fantastic challenge for me when I finally compiled a symphonic work.
Win: How are your scores for my part different from Part II?
In Part I, I introduced the main theme and truly explore the style of Hybrid Lupine’s music.
Part II is a great opportunity to enter deeper into my writing. This is what I like with the series format. For composers, it is a fantastic opportunity because you have time to develop your ideas. When the episode continues, you can go far more in terms of creativity, because the audience has been familiar with the collective ceiling of the sound and theme for the show. For the last episode, I wrote a rich symphony where all the themes of the show were mixed together. It might be too much in other episodes, but for the part II finale, it is very fitting.
Won: Lupine put meta twist in the story of Master Thief Arsène Lupine, created by Maurice Leblanc in 1905. Lupine even crossed the road with Sherlock Holmes in a number of stories. Are you familiar with Leblanc stories before starting a job at the show? Have you returned and read one of them?
As a child, I am a real fan of the books Arsene Lupine, I read a lot of them, so I know the character and already like it. Once I started doing Netflix shows, I didn’t read it anymore, maybe because I was too busy writing, but also because I thought my mission was to compile a unique soundtrack for the show, not to become an Arsene lupine expert. Overall, I get most of my inspiration from the show itself, but always have memories of my childhood in my mind.
Win: Can you use the orchestra to score Lupine? If so, can you talk about where you recorded everything?
In various studios, in France and Macedonia. The important thing is to work with real people. When you hear the bass clarinet in Lupine, someone actually records it. For my symphony in the last episode, we were lucky enough to work with a great French orchestra: Orchester National D’Ile de France. We have 72 talented musicians playing my work. We have excellent musicians in France and are important for me to show this too.
Won: Between Part I and Part II There are four directors. How do you keep the sound that is consistent between all the different creative inputs?
When working on events like this, you spend a lot of time finding the right color during the first episode, basically defining music DNA. There are long and rich discussions with everyone from producers, showing off and executives at Netflix. After this language is established, everyone respects this as the main feature of the show. Music becomes a kind of another main character. Just like a character’s personality nature, after you have it, you play with them and develop it more. You will not completely change it from episode to episode, only because of the director.
Mathieu and Omar ©
Picture: Jean Baptiste Courtin
Win: One of the things that the criticism of babbling is to see France up and personally through the show, with your score makes it more authentic. Because you are French, how do you think your tone and style of music are different from American composers?
I must be a French composer, after studying at Paris Conservatoire, and my favorite composer is Ravel and Debussy. This of course can be heard in my music at some point. But the most important thing I thought was that I did not try to listen to America or ‘international’. I embrace my heritage. Just like the whole show, it didn’t try to remove “France”. I think it is part of the interests of the show like this, which has met a vast international audience. People see Paris, French culture, they can hear our language. And I tend to think I can share French music too. Then in terms of production, we love to show our savoir-faire, meeting international standards, while keeping our personality.
Won: Lupine is a French series but has gathered popularity throughout the world. My part is projected to have been watched by 70 million people. What about the show you think people are so like?
I think showing French culture is part of the appeal, maybe even more than the time where people cannot be traveling easily. And it’s just a good show! I believe people enjoy the most character Arsène. The interpretation of Omar is fantastic, fun, friendly, and fun with a touch of this low trick. He made human assanse in-depth, that’s what really?
Lupine Part II Hits Netflix on June 11, 2021.
