A festive film celebration: underscored by women

As the days get shorter, and the nights get colder, we find ourselves in that time of year where the best evenings are filled with cosying up on the settee and watching a film. The soundtracks of some of these festive classics begin to spring to mind; Home Alone, It’s a Wonderful Life, Die Hard. The music of these films almost underscores the whole Christmas season, but how many of these are curated or composed by women?

One composer paving the way for future female composers is the award-winning Rachel Portman. Originally from Surrey, Portman went on to study at Oxford, gaining valuable experience and enthusiasm for film composition by working on student productions. Notably, Portman was the first female composer to win an Academy Award; this was for the charming adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, featuring Gwyneth Paltrow. She took home the award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score. Her work on the 2000 film, Chocolat, was also nominated for Best Original Score.

Returning to our seasonal theme, among her many stellar film compositions, are two Christmas hidden gems. A personal favourite from my own childhood, Portman composed the unequivocally festive and Disney-flavoured, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas. A follow up to the 1991 Disney hit, The Enchanted Christmas employs amazing voice talents, such as Bernadette Peters, Angela Lansbury, and Tim Curry, that lift Portman’s music off the page and onto the screen. Like many straight to VHS releases, the film is slightly lost to obscurity, having a smaller budget than its predecessor (and the lower animation quality that comes with that). However the music and voice acting are what really elevate the film to being a cosy, hidden Christmas classic.