The Enchaines series is available on France.TV and is coming to France 2, and we spoke with composer Audrey Ismaël.
On Bourbon Island in 1806, after a devastating cyclone, the Bellevue plantation is ravaged. Despite being on the brink of ruin, owner Charles Bellevue decides to fight to restore his operation. As a reward for his composure during the cyclone, a young slave named Isaac is promoted to overseer. It is now his job to wield the whip. After years of loyal service, Isaac may one day be emancipated and become a free man. However, in the meantime, he finds himself in a difficult position, made more challenging by the fact that Charles Bellevue is not only his master, but also his father.
You are the composer for the series “Enchaines.” How do you approach a project when it comes to you? Specifically for this one, have your Reunion Island origins influenced your choice?
Indeed, every project leads me to ask myself the same question: how can I give it uniqueness? How can the music bring a particular touch? This is even more true for a series, where the music must link together choral stories, intertwining and diverging destinies.
For “Enchaines,” it is a very special project because I am originally from Reunion Island. There is something deeply connecting me to this story and this island. Making the island’s sounds resonate, bringing out its dynamic nature, seemed obvious to me. I was even called very early on because it required composing pieces directly sung by the actors on screen.
When dealing with slavery in the early 19th century, musical choices are crucial. It could easily fall into overly romanticized territory, like a grand saga, but you chose a more tribal approach.
That’s true. We are in a tragedy unfolding in a tropical setting in the 19th century, with an almost mythological dimension. From the first minutes, we know the story will end in blood and tears. My challenge was to convey this tragedy without falling into melodrama, without being too overtly emotional or theatrical. I wanted a mystical color, a rather tribal spirituality that corresponds to the island.
You seem to have used music to create a bridge between the masters and the slaves.
Absolutely. What interested me was to explore the link between these two families rather than their differences. On one side, Charles Bellevue’s very religious family, who prays a lot. On the other, the slaves, where we also find this spirituality, sometimes shamanic.
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