How Quentin Tarantino finally got an Ennio Morricone score of his own
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
Will Ennio Morricone become an Oscar winner with this year鈥檚 ceremony?
Mr. Morricone, composer for such iconic Western films as 鈥淭he Good, The Bad, and the Ugly鈥� and 鈥淔or a Few Dollars More,鈥� has received his sixth Academy Award nomination this year for his work on the Quentin Tarantino film 鈥淭he Hateful Eight.鈥�
The composer received an honorary Oscar in 2007 but has never won the award for best original score, though Morricone was nominated for such movies as 1978鈥檚 鈥淒ays of Heaven鈥� and 1987鈥檚 鈥淭he Untouchables.鈥�
鈥淚 hope that this time there will be [Oscar victory]....聽I am not certain it will happen, so I am going there tranquil, serene, hopeful that it goes well,鈥� .
Director Sergio Leone's Westerns, including films propelled by Morricone's scores, such as 鈥淎 Fistful of Dollars,鈥� 鈥淔or a Few Dollars More,鈥� and 鈥淭he Good, the Bad and the Ugly,鈥� are often called the pinnacle of the genre.
聽saying, 鈥渢he picture is full of iconic moments, culminating in the classic three-way, five-minute-long face-off in a graveyard where Ennio Morricone's score essentially becomes a fourth character.鈥�
singled out Leone鈥檚 movie 鈥淥nce Upon a Time in the West,鈥� writing, 鈥淓nnio Morricone鈥檚 score, composed in advance, is a masterpiece.鈥澛�
Morricone has influenced subsequent generations of filmmakers as well. Tarantino included pieces by Morricone in films such as "Inglourious Basterds" and "Kill Bill: Vol. 2."
When he was considering the music for "The Hateful Eight," Tarantino said he knew he wanted something different 鈥� the first original score for one of his movies.
"On this movie, I can鈥檛 describe it any more than a whisper in my ear that I鈥檝e never had before that said this should not be taken from other movies," Tarantino said in . "This should be its own score and have its own theme and its own personality."
"From age 12 on, I started collecting soundtracks and before I knew it I had a huge Ennio Morricone collection," Tarantino recalled.
"It鈥檚 not exactly a Spaghetti Western score that Ennio made, nor did I expect it to be," said Tarantino. "He had made it clear that he wasn鈥檛 really interested in doing Western scores anymore, which is why I was so taken that he wanted to sit down and talk with me about 'The Hateful Eight.' I knew in my heart it wouldn鈥檛 be a Western score. I knew he鈥檇 respond to the drama of the story and, frankly, he gave me a horror movie score, to some degrees a Giallo score, complete with a diabolical music box that comes in from time to time. It was perfect for the movie."
