Bruno Coulais is a French composer, born in Paris on 13 January 1954. He ha… Read Full Bio ↴Bruno Coulais is a French composer, born in Paris on 13 January 1954. He has a father from Vendée and his mother is an Iraqi Jew. He is most widely known for his music on film soundtracks.

Coulais began his musical education on the violin and piano, aiming to become a composer of contemporary classical music. However, a series of acquaintances gradually re-oriented him towards film music. Coulais was particularly influenced by director François Reichenbach, who asked him in 1977 to write the soundtrack to his new documentary Mexico Magico. The first full-length production he composed the score for was the 1986 film La femme secrète by Sébastien Grall. Until the end of the 1990s, he remained low-profile, composing mainly for television. His name can often be found from TV films by Gérard Marx and Laurent Heynemann. He also composed the soundtracks for Christine Pascal's 1992 film Le petit prince a dit, and Agnès Merlet's Le fils du requin in 1993.

In 1994, he met the television producer Josée Dayan, who let him write a theme for the TV series La rivière Esperance, aired on the France 2 network in autumn 1995. He worked with Dayan again with other major productions such as Le comte de Monte-Cristo, Balzac, and Les nuiteux.

The largest turning point of his career came in 1996, when he worked with directors Claude Nuridsany and Marie Pérennou of the documentary Microcosmos. This single film, which gave a great significance to the music in it, was a great success and made Coulais one of the most wanted composers of French film music. In 1997, he won the César award for the best musical score in a film, as well as a Victoire de la Musique. His reputation was confirmed by the soundtracks to Himalaya (1999) and Les rivières pourpres (2000), and after that Bruno Coulais's name was to be found on most new French blockbusters, such as Belphégor and Vidocq.

After producing the soundtrack to Winged Migration in 2001, Coulais announced that he wanted to significantly reduce his contributions to film music, and instead concentrate on other projects, such as the creation of an opera for children, and collaborations with Akhenaton, Akhenaton's group IAM and the Corsican group A Filetta, with whom he had worked since he had made the soundtrack for Jacques Weber's film Don Juan in 1998.

In 2002, his name was found on the ending credits of the animation L'enfant qui voulait être un ours, and in 2004, on Frédéric Schoendoerffer's Agents secrets. The same year, he wrote the soundtrack to the film Les choristes by Christophe Baratier, which subsequently became an international hit. The music for this film received as great praise as the film itself, and it won Coulais his third César award. Since then, Coulais's collaborations in cinema seem to be limited to works by directors with whom he already shares some history, in particular Jacques Perrin, Frédéric Schoendoerffer, and James Huth.

Bruno Coulais's musical style may vary significantly between different projects, but there are some constant factors visible: his taste for opera and for human voice (in particular that of children), for a search for original sonority, for world music and mixing different musical cultures, and finally, a certain tendency to give preference to the ambience created by lighting rather than the film's narration.

Les Avions En Papier
Bruno Coulais Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Cerf-volant
Volant au vent
Ne t'arrête pas
Vers la mer
Haut dans les airs
Un enfant te voit
Voyage insolent
Troubles enivrants

Amours innocentes
Suivent ta voie
Suivent ta voie
En volant

Cerf-volant
Volant au vent
Ne t'arrête pas
Vers la mer
Haut dans les airs
Un enfant te voit
Et dans la tourmente
Tes ailes triomphantes
N'oublie pas de revenir
Vers moi

(Merci à Mau-mau pour cettes paroles)

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Bruno Coulais's song, "Les Avions en Papier," evoke the image of a kite soaring through the air, leaving behind a trail of freedom and wonder. The words read as an invitation to follow the kite's path, one that is full of both thrilling adventures and innocent loves. The child gazing up at the kite is envious of its carefree existence, and follows eagerly in its wake.

As the kite follows the wind towards the sea, it stirs up both heady excitement and troubling storms. But even as it travels away, it remains a source of inspiration for the child who watches it. The child wishes to fly alongside the kite and share in the pleasures of its journey, where innocent love and carefree adventures can be found.

The final lines of the song express a plea for the kite to remember the child as it flies, to not forget the one who desires to join it in the skies. The overall effect is one of longing and yearning for a life that is unrestrained and free, where even the simple act of flying a kite can bring about both joy and love.

Line by Line Meaning

Cerf-volant
Kite

Volant au vent
Flying in the wind

Ne t'arrête pas
Don't stop

Vers la mer
Towards the sea

Haut dans les airs
High in the air

Un enfant te voit
A child sees you

Voyage insolent
Insolent journey

Troubles enivrants
Intoxicating troubles

Amours innocentes
Innocent loves

Suivent ta voie
Follow your path

En volant
While flying