In order to depict three distinct storylines and time periods — taking place in Mexico City during the World Cup in 2002, 2006, and 2010, respectively — “on a subliminal level,” writer/director Everardo Gout recruited three separate groups of composers for his new film, Days of Grace (Dias de Gracia): Nick Cave with Warren Ellis, Atticus Ross, and Shigeru Umebayashi.
Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in France this week, Gout’s film explores violence and police corruption through a fictional “breathlessly paced adrenaline rush,” according to one review. Gout enlisted Nick Cave and Warren Ellis for the ‘02 segment after hearing their work scoring The Proposition (the screenplay of which Cave also wrote) and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. “They created a piece which superbly integrates sounds, noises, urban and animal backgrounds, that could have only been composed by them,” he said.
Atticus Ross worked on the score for the ‘06 story before famously winning an Academy Award this year with Trent Reznor for The Social Network. “He worked on the feeling of fear for the most part,” said Gout, “on something more visceral, more primal.”
In addition to music by Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi, who composed the “quietest and most sophisticated [piece] of the three,” previously released versions of the song “Summertime” appear in the film, performed by Nina Simone, Janis Joplin, and Scarlett Johansson with Massive Attack. There’s no word on when, or if, this Spanish-language film will hit the big screen after Cannes, but for now, you can check out the trailer for Days of Grace below: