Jorge Arriagada
Jorge Arriagada was a French-Chilean composer residing in France. Specializing in film music, he is best known for his longstanding collaboration with director Raúl Ruiz.
Life and career
Arriagada studied composition and orchestral conducting at the National Conservatory of Music in Santiago. Later, he received a four-year scholarship from the French government, allowing him to study in Paris with Max Deutsch, a student and friend of the Austrian composer and theorist Arnold Schönberg. He also studied with Pierre Schaeffer, Olivier Messiaen, and Pierre Boulez.In 1972, the Guggenheim Foundation in New York awarded Arriagada a scholarship for his contributions to the field of electronic music at Stanford University in California, USA. During the same period, he served as a professor of music composition for French government scholarship recipients.
From 1977, he worked primarily in the film industry, composing music for over 160 films for about thirty directors, including Olivier Assayas, Patricio Guzmán, Benoît Jacquot, Orson Welles, and Barbet Schroeder, as well as 46 films directed by Ruiz.
His film scores often encompass symphonic music, as well as chamber music pieces. He even provided his interpretation of the fictional Vinteuil Sonata for Ruiz's film adaptation of Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time in 1999. The genres he has explored include classical, contemporary, electroacoustic, and jazz music.
In 2013, a CD titled "Les Musiques de Jorge Arriagada pour les Films de Philippe Le Guay" was released by Disques Cinémusique, featuring Arriagada's original compositions for Philippe Le Guay's films, including Les Femmes du 6e étage, and Alceste à bicyclette.
Arriagada served as a jury member at various film festivals, including Cannes, San Sebastián, São Paulo, Valencia, Buenos Aires, Valladolid, among others.
In 2020, he was awarded the Grand Prix Sacem de la Musique pour l'image in France.
Arriagada died on 8 October 2024, at the age of 81.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Director | Notes | - |
| 1977 | Colloque de chiens | Raúl Ruiz | Best Short Film Award Cesar 1977. Selection Cannes Film Festival 1978 | - |
| 1978 | Les Divisions de la nature | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1978 | The Suspended Vocation | Raúl Ruiz | Grand Prix San Remo Film Festival 1978 | |
| 1979 | L'Hypothèse du tableau volé | Raúl Ruiz | Selection Cannes Film Festival 1979 | - |
| 1979 | Of Great Events and Ordinary People | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1980 | Zig-Zag - le jeu de l'oie | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1981 | The Territory | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1982 | Le Péril rampant | Alberto Yaccelini | - | |
| 1982 | On Top of the Whale | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1982 | Moi, l'autre | João Botelho | - | |
| 1982 | Three Crowns of the Sailor | Raúl Ruiz | Selection Cannes Film Festival 1983 | |
| 1983 | Bérénice | Raúl Ruiz | Selection Avignon Festival 1983 | |
| 1983 | City of Pirates | Raúl Ruiz | Selection Venice Film Festival 1983 | |
| 1984 | The Terrible Lovers | Danièle Dubroux and Stavros Kaplanidis | - | |
| 1984 | Point de fuite | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1984 | Paris vu par... vingt ans après | Philippe Venault | - | - |
| 1984 | Notre mariage | Valeria Sarmiento | Golden Seashell Best Film San Sebastian International Film Festival 1984 | |
| 1984 | Ave Maria | Jacques Richard | - | |
| 1985 | Ces jours où les remords vous font vraiment mal au coeur | Melvil Poupaud | - | |
| 1985 | Manoel's Destinies | Raúl Ruiz | Selection Cannes Film Festival 1985 | |
| 1985 | The Insomniac on the Bridge | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1985 | Treasure Island | Raúl Ruiz | Selection Cannes Film Festival 1991 | - |
| 1986 | Life is a Dream | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1986 | Richard III | Raúl Ruiz | Selection Cannes Film Festival 1986 | |
| 1986 | Dans un miroir | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1986 | Hijos de la guerra fría | Gonzalo Justiniano | - | |
| 1986 | 15 août | Nicole Garcia | Selection Cannes Film Festival 1986 | |
| 1987 | Brise-glace | Jean Rouche and Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1987 | Le Professeur Taranne | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1987 | The Miracle | Jean-Pierre Mocky | - | |
| 1987 | Buisson ardent | Laurent Perrin | - | |
| 1988 | Les Mendiants | Benoît Jacquot | - | |
| 1988 | Terre Sacrée | Emilio Pacull | - | |
| 1989 | Winter's Child | Olivier Assayas | - | |
| 1989 | Blancs cassés | Philippe Venault | - | |
| 1989 | Les Deux Fragonard | Philippe Le Guay | - | - |
| 1990 | Amelia Lopes O'Neill | Valeria Sarmiento | - | |
| 1990 | Le procès du roi | João Mário Grilo | - | |
| 1990 | Un jeu d'enfant | Pascal Kané | - | - |
| 1990 | La Désenchantée | Benoît Jacquot | - | |
| 1991 | Langlois Monumental | Jacques Richard | - | |
| 1991 | Blanval | Michel Mees | - | |
| 1991 | Sushi Sushi | Laurent Perrin | - | |
| 1991 | The Sky Above Paris | Michel Béna | - | |
| 1992 | The End of the World | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1992 | Urgence d'aimer | Philippe Le Guay | - | |
| 1992 | Das Tripas Coração | Joaquim Pinto | - | |
| 1992 | Terra fria | António Campos | - | |
| 1993 | Dark at Noon | Raúl Ruiz | Won - Sitges Film Festival Award for Best Original Score. Selection Cannes Film Festival 1992 | - |
| 1993 | Rhésus Roméo | Philippe Le Guay | - | |
| 1993 | It's All True | Bill Khrone and Myron Meisel | - | |
| 1994 | Los Náufragos | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1994 | Exterior Night | Mark Rappaport | - | |
| 1995 | Le fabuleux destin de Madame Petlet | Camille de Casabianca | - | |
| 1995 | L'Année Juliette | Philippe Le Guay | - | |
| 1995 | L'Éducatrice | Pascal Kané | - | |
| 1995 | Elle | Valeria Sarmiento | - | |
| 1995 | Three Lives and Only One Death | Raúl Ruiz | Selection Cannes Film Festival 1996 | |
| 1995 | Pili, Prince des rues | Bertrand Van Effenterre | - | |
| 1996 | Transatlantique | Christine Laurent | - | |
| 1996 | L'Éducatrice | Pascal Kané | - | |
| 1996 | Os Olhos da Ásia | João Mário Grilo | Selection Cannes Film Festival 1993 | |
| 1996 | Mi último hombre | Tatiana Gaviola | - | |
| 1996 | Turres Eburnea | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1996 | Transatlantique | Christine Laurent | - | |
| 1997 | El Ché | Maurice Dugowson | - | |
| 1997 | Genealogies of a Crime | Raúl Ruiz | Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize Berlin Film Festival 1997 | |
| 1997 | Le Monde d'Angelo | Pascal Kané | - | |
| 1998 | Aventureros del fin del mundo | Miguel Latín | - | |
| 1998 | L'inconnu de Strasbourg | Valeria Sarmiento | - | |
| 1998 | Shattered Image | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 1998 | El Entusiasmo | Ricardo Larraín | Selection Cannes Film Festival 1998 | |
| 1999 | Quelque chose | Melvil Poupaud | - | |
| 1999 | La Isla de Robinson Crusoe | Patricio Guzmán | - | |
| 1999 | Time Regained | Raúl Ruiz | Selection Cannes Film Festival 1999 | |
| 2000 | 30 ans | Laurent Perrin | - | |
| 2000 | Love Torn in a Dream | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 2000 | Our Lady of the Assassins | Barbet Schroeder | Italian Senate Award Venice Film Festival 2000 | - |
| 2000 | Comedy of Innocence | Raúl Ruiz | Selection Venice Film Festival 2000 | |
| 2001 | Savage Souls | Raúl Ruiz | Selection Cannes Film Festival 2001 | |
| 2002 | Madrid | Patricio Guzmán | - | |
| 2002 | l'Astronome et l'Indien | Carmen Castillo | - | |
| 2002 | Cofralandes, Chilean Rhapsody | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 2003 | That Day | Raúl Ruiz | Selection Cannes Film Festival 2003 | |
| 2003 | A Place Among the Living | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 2004 | Operation Hollywood | Emilio Pacull | - | |
| 2004 | Tout pour l'oseille | Bertrand Van Effenterre | - | |
| 2004 | Salvador Allende | Patricio Guzmán | Selection Cannes Film Festival 2004 | |
| 2004 | Days in the Country | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 2005 | The Lost Domain | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 2005 | Horcón, al sur de ninguna parte | Rodrigo Gonçalves | - | |
| 2005 | Juanita de Tanger | Farida Benlyazid | - | |
| 2006 | Klimt | Raúl Ruiz | Selection Rotterdam Film Festival 2006 | |
| 2006 | Vocation Cinéaste | Laurent Perrin | - | |
| 2007 | Terror's Advocate | Barbet Schroeder | Selection Cannes Film Festival 2007 | |
| 2007 | La Recta Provincia | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 2007 | Crosse | Liova Jedlicki | - | |
| 2007 | Nucingen House | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 2008 | Secretos | Valeria Sarmiento | - | |
| 2008 | Mr President | Emilio Pacull | - | |
| 2008 | Inju: The Beast in the Shadow | Barbet Schroeder | Selection Venice Film Festival 2008 | |
| 2008 | Litoral | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 2008 | Nucingen House | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 2009 | Nova: The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies | Nick de Pencier | - | |
| 2009 | El Pasaporte amarillo | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 2009 | History of a Chair | Pablo Salvador N.G. | - | |
| 2009 | Medea's Ark | Pablo Salvador N.G | - | |
| 2010 | Je ne vous oublierai jamais | Pascal Kané | - | |
| 2010 | Il Était une fois King-Kong | Laurent Perrin | - | |
| 2010 | Mysteries of Lisbon | Raúl Ruiz | ICS Award for Best Original Score.Silver Seashell Award Best Director San Sebastian International Film Festival 2010 | - |
| 2010 | La Maleta | Raúl Ruiz | - | |
| 2010 | The Women on the 6th Floor | Philippe Le Guay | Audience Award Colcoa French Film Festival 2010 | |
| 2011 | Ballet Aquatique | Pascal Kané | - | |
| 2011 | Diario de mi Residencia en Chile | Valeria Sarmiento | - | |
| 2011 | Cornelia frente al espejo | Daniel Rosenfeld | Selection Rotterdam Film Festival 2012 | |
| 2011 | Alguien ha visto a Lupita | Gonzalo Justiniano | - | |
| 2012 | Chez Frida Kalo | Xavier Villetard | - | |
| 2012 | Ferlinghetti le dernier des Beatniks | Laurent Perrin | - | |
| 2012 | Night Across the Street | Raúl Ruiz | Selection Cannes Film Festival 2012 | - |
| 2012 | Lines of Wellington | Valeria Sarmiento | Selection Venice Film Festival 2012 | |
| 2013 | Cycling with Moliere | Philippe Le Guay | Nominated - César Award for Best Music Written for a Film. Selection Tribeca Festival 2013 | - |
| 2013 | Diary of a Residence in Chile | Valeria Sarmiento | - | |
| 2013 | L'Harmonie familiale | Camille de Casabianca | - | |
| 2014 | Welcome Home Emma-Rose | Miriam Heard | - | |
| 2015 | Al centro de la Tierra | Daniel Rosenfeld | - | |
| 2015 | Floride | Philippe Le Guay | Selection Locarno Film Festival 2015 | |
| 2015 | Le Saphir de Saint-Louis | José Luis Guerín | - | |
| 2016 | Sélection Oficielle | Jacques Richard | - | |
| 2016 | Tierra Yerma | Miriam Heard | - | |
| 2016 | Raoul Ruiz: Drama Against Ignorance! | Alejandra Rojo | - | - |
| 2016 | Jean Dupuy, une Biographie à 2 Têtes | Pascal Kané | - | |
| 2016 | Mademoiselle Clara | Daniel Rosenfeld | - | |
| 2017 | Casa di Angeli | Valeria Sarmiento | - | |
| 2017 | La Telenovela Errante | Raoul Ruiz and Valeria Sarmiento | Selection Locarno Film Festival 2017 | |
| 2017 | Le Venerable W | Barbet Schroeder | Selection Cannes Film Festival 2017 | |
| 2018 | Il Etait une fois le Progrés | Pascal Kané | - | |
| 2018 | O Caderno Negro | Valeria Sarmiento | Selection San Sebastian Film Festival 2018 | |
| 2019 | Entierro | Maura Morales | Selection Bologna Film Festival 2019 | |
| 2020 | The Tango of the Widower | Raoul Ruiz and Valeria Sarmiento | Selection Berlin Film Festival 2020 | |
| 2022 | L'Heure de Départ | Camille de Casabianca | - | |
| 2023 | El Realismo Socialista | Raoul Ruiz-Valeria Sarmiento | - | |
| 2023 | Toxicily | François Xavier Destors | - |
Discography
Three original soundtracks composed by Arriagada can be found on the CD compilation Les Musiques de Jorge Arriagada pour les films de Philippe Le Guay, released by Canadian label Disques Cinémusique, in 2013 : Alceste à Bicyclette, Les Femmes du 6e étage and Les Deux Fragonard. French and English liner notes. .The same label also released the same year Arriagada's complete original soundtrack from Les Lignes de Wellington.