Ennio Morricone: ”The Hateful Eight is not a Western”
Ennio Morricone is one of the most famous and arguably the most prolific film composer of our time. He has more than 500 films and television series on his account. Outside of cinema, the maestro actively performs music, which he calls "absolute" - self-sufficient, understandable without a video sequence. Morricone is a longtime idol of Quentin Tarantino, who repeatedly used the works of the Italian in his films and twenty years ago invited the musician to work together. Ennio was supposed to compose music for "Inglourious Basterds", but then cooperation with the director did not happen: the tight schedules of both interfered. In 2012, for the painting "Django Unchained" Morricone wrote the composition Ancora Qui , and the year of the longest-running collaboration at the moment was 2015.
The "Hateful Eight" soundtrack is the first in which the director gave preference to one musician. The hour of original classical music has already brought Morricone a dozen awards, including BAFTA , Golden Globes and the sixth Academy Awards. In a recent interview with Deadline Ennio spoke about his attitude towards the famous award, the genre of "Eights " and working with a persistent filmmaker.  You were nominated for an Oscar five times, but the award stubbornly passed you by ... Remembering all my nominations, I can say that I did not expect any of them. Including this one. They all came as a big surprise. I was very worried when I received the honorary " Oscar " - it was a very touching moment. And if I manage to win this year, I will be just as moved and flattered.  Quentin Tarantino flew to Rome to meet you and try to get you to write music for The Hateful Eight. At first you agreed on one musical theme, but then it all started to spin, and now Quentin has the first film with completely original music, and you have the first soundtrack to a western in more than thirty years, which many movie fans know you by. This is true, except that the " The Hateful Eight " is not Western. at least for me. I saw in Quentin a dramatic adventure set at an important moment in American history, and in the snow. You don't often see this in the westerns that everyone is used to. I didn't write music for Westerns - I tried to bring into the picture something unique and certainly different from what I did in this genre 40 and 50 years ago. I know that my music will be recognizable, but I try to give each director something new, something that others did not have.  Is it true that during the work you did not have the opportunity to view the footage? True. I only had a script. This practice is nothing new, but this time the story on paper was just crammed with details. Every episode and even every character was very specific. As a result, I began to imagine how Tarantino sees and embodies this or that written scene into reality. I did it well before our personal meeting, and after talking face to face it got even better.  Tarantino is known for his eccentricity always and everywhere: on the set, during interviews, in life - no one gets bored. What was it like working with this man who was still eager to get you as their composer? Knowing the musical scrupulousness of Quentin , I was surprised when I realized that my hands were untied - he did not demand anything and did not even ask for anything. But creative freedom is not always good, at least it significantly increases the degree of responsibility. My main and only motivator was the desire to do better than before. After the first listen to my work, Quentin said that I wrote the music for a horror movie, and after the second or third time he agreed with my vision.  Can fans of Ennio Morricone's music and Quentin Tarantino's films hope for a new collaboration between their idols? I never ask directors to work with me again, but Quentin himself has already told me about his next film, which we have to do together. To this I replied that in the future I want to have at my disposal much more time to digest the video material and think about future musical decisions, and also hope for constant contact and exchange of ideas with the director.  Recall that the music series "The Hateful Eight" is fighting for the Academy Awards with The Force Awakens (John Williams), The Spy Bridge (Thomas Newman), The Assassin ( Johan Johannsson) and Carol (Carter Burwell). The winners will be announced on 28 February . The Topic of Article: Ennio Morricone: ”The Hateful Eight is not a Western”. |
