“He, in the politest way, said that he felt that the score was too self-aware, that it seemed to be commenting on the film rather than being in the film, which is a very fair critique.”
The Bulwark · Policy · November 2026
Context
Carter Burwell recalls a first pass at the Three Billboards score, with a Morricone-style theme for every character, and the director's reaction. The note sent him back to find what the music should really do.
Transcript
Yes, they are. And Todd Haynes, too. And Todd Haynes, right? You
…of Anisharan and suggesting the Irish, what was something you had you've suggested to a director, and they were just like, no, that doesn't work. We're not doing this. And I'm curious how that kind of informed the rest of your work on the project to make it successful, to make the rest of it work.
Well, there have probably been many examples. I mean, one that immediately comes to mind is another Martin's film, the Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, where when I read the script, and still when I saw a rough cut of the film, I thought, well, I thought it really is like an ensemble piece. You have all these very carefully drawn characters and Woody Harrelson's character, and of course, Sam and Fran, and many very strongly written characters. And it reminded me a little bit of Sergio Leone and how it'll be this ensemble of people who get all the alliances keep changing. Again, like in a Leone film, like where people, sometimes they're allies, sometimes they're enemies. You never know how it's going to end up at the end of a scene or at the end of the film. Reminded me a little of Leone. So I did a little bit of a Borricone sort of thing where every character had a theme. And I played that for Martin. And he, in the politest way, said that he felt that the…
not even to the man who was giving the emotional heft to the movie.
No, I mean, we have those, you know, basically as a last resort, we sometimes have those conversations. So if it comes to that, that's a last resort, but it does happen sometimes. And here Martin just said, well, it's about a woman who goes to war with the police and or a mother who goes to war…
Well, we're running up against time limit here. I always like to close these interviews by asking if there's anything I should have asked, if you think there's anything folks should know about Wild Horse Nine or about your career more broadly. What do people not know about composing for a film that…
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