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Ennio Morricone Claims Playboy Germany Made up an Interview Where He Bashes Quentin Tarantino

Ennio Morricone is a legendary composer who has provided the soundtrack to hundreds of films, most notably the Sergio Leone-directed Dollars Trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly), the seminal Clint Eastwood Western series. Even if you’ve never seen these films, you’re probably familiar with the soundtrack, especially the iconic theme to The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

More recently, Morricone worked with Quentin Tarantino to provide the score for The Hateful Eight, which netted the composer his first Oscar win, though he had previously been given an Honorary Academy Award Oscar. He also won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA for his work on the film. Tarantino was also with Morricone when he recieved his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

So it was kind of surprising when Morricone gave a scathing interview to Playboy Germany about Tarantino. In it, he calls Tarantino a “cretin” and says he steals his work from better directors, and calls his work “trash.” It’s rough. And according to Morricone, it’s made up.

Morricone gave this statement to The Hollywood Reporter:

It has come to my attention that Playboy Germany has come out with an article in which I have stated extremely negative comments about Tarantino and his films, and the Academy. I have never expressed any negative statements about the Academy, Quentin, or his films — and certainly do not consider his films garbage. I have given a mandate to my lawyer in Italy to take civil and penal action.

I consider Tarantino a great director. I am very fond of my collaboration with him and the relationship we have developed during the time we have spent together. He is courageous and has an enormous personality. I credit our collaboration responsible for getting me an Oscar, which is for sure one of the greatest acknowledgments of my career, and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to compose music for his film.

In London, during a press conference in front of Tarantino, I clearly stated that I consider Quentin one of the greatest directors of this time, and I would never speak poorly of the Academy – an important institution that has given to me two of the most important acknowledgments of my career.

That is a strong denial, and it’s certainly not the first time a magazine has been accused of making up an outrageous interview. 

But Playboy Germany is standing by the interview, insisting that Morricone did indeed give the interview and that the statements it reported were true.

“We are surprised that composer Ennio Morricone denies giving an interview to German Playboy,” the company said. “In fact, the conversation took place on June 30, 2018, at his estate in Rome. The interview, about the concert organizer Semmel Concerts, which was also present at the interview, had been agreed to with German Playboy. We also cannot understand that parts of the published statements were apparently not found to have been accurate.”

I don’t know who’s telling the truth here. Do we believe the award-winning and beloved composer who is 90 years old and has nothing to lose by speaking his mind or the German pornographer? I just don’t know. Of course, I wouldn’t be afraid to set my drink on a glass table in Morricone’s house, I can’t say the same thing about the Playboy Germany offices.

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