To some observers it must seem as though the name Gustavo Santaolalla came from nowhere to win this year's Best Score Oscar and other awards for Brokeback Mountain. It is certainly true that his name is not as well-known as others in the industry, but he also received accolades last year for "The Motorcycle Diaries" (Diarios de Motocicleta) including winning the British BAFTA award for best score. The Motorcycle Diaries is based upon the Diary of Che Guevara who, as a student years before the Cuban Revolution, went with his friend on an 8000 mile trip across South America on a Motorcycle. As the trip takes the pair across Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela, the Argentinian composer Santaolalla was ideally suited to bring a regionally authentic sound to the film. In addition to the underscore, the film has some songs including two written by Santalolalla and the oscar-winning song "Al Otro Lado Del Rio" written and performed by Uruguayan composer Jorge Drexler.
However, Santaolalla has been composing and performing for many years both in his native Argentinia and in the US. He has founded and played with a number of groups, starting with "Arco Iris" and then "Soluna" before forming "Wet Picnic" while in Los Angeles. His groups and his solo albums have primarily explored a mix of latin rock and pop styles. Instrumentally he is very much at home with a guitar and to date his film scores have tended to be sparse and economical in their scoring, suitable for reflective moments and with a touch of sound design to lend plenty of atmosphere, but he is certainly no stranger to other latin and orchestral instruments. Santaolalla is also a successful record producer and his label "Surco" has signed and produced a number of artists and released albums with a significant number of sales both in the US and in Latin America.
The composer's most recent Oscar win is for "Babel". This perfectly judged soundtrack has tracks by other artists such as Ryuichi Sakamoto and all very nicely packaged together and cemented by Santaolalla's score.
Gustavo Santaolalla soundtracks on Amazon.com:
Films by Gustavo Santaolalla:
Amores Perros (Love's a Bitch)
The Insider - the song "Iguazu"
11'09"01 - September 11 - the segment "Mexico" from this multi-faceted film, the main theme being penned by Alexandre Desplat
21 Grams - a follow on from the same team who nmade "Amores Perros"
Diarios de Motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries) - dominated by guitars but sometimes joined by a South American drum section
Collateral - also featuring the song "Iguazu"
Brokeback Mountain - Santaolalla composed a number of the songs as well as the oscar-winning soundtrack score
North Country
Babel - a thoroughly deserved second consecutive oscar for this suberb score to an absorbing film
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