Legendary composer Ennio Morricone has denied participating in an interview with Playboy Germany magazine in which he was quoted as saying that Quentin Tarantino was a “cretin,” who made nothing but “trash” films.
Morricone accepting Best Original Score Oscar in 2016
“This is totally false,” the 90 year-old composer said in a statement released Sunday. “I have not given an interview to Playboy Germany and even more, I have never called Tarantino a cretin and certainly do not consider his films garbage. I have given a mandate to my lawyer in Italy to take civil and penal action.”
Morricone, who won an Oscar for composing Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight was quoted in the December issue of the German-language magazine as saying Tarantino was a “chaotic” director on set and lacked originality.
But Morricone claims the remarks were a fabrication.
“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.”
“I am forever grateful for the opportunity to compose music for his film.”
The statement in full:
It has come to my attention that Playboy Germany has come out with an article in which I have called Tarantino a cretin and consider his films garbage. This is totally false. I have not given an interview to Playboy Germany and even more, I have never called Tarantino a cretin 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 Tarantino for being one of the people 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.
Update:
Playboy in Germany acknowledged Tuesday that its published interview with Ennio Morricone had “reproduced incorrectly” some of the quotes attributed to the legendary Italian composer.
The magazine did not specify whether the incorrect quotes included comments in which Morricone appeared to disparage Tarantino as “a cretin” who produced subpar films. But it was those alleged remarks that caused a stir over the weekend and prompted a swift denunciation by Morricone, who said that he had not made them.
Playboy said that new information had caused it to reassess the matter, and blamed the writer, Marcel Anders, for the errors. The magazine also apologized to Morricone, who turned 90 a few days ago.
“Up to now, we have considered the freelancer who conducted the Morricone interview on our behalf to be a renowned print and radio journalist,” German Playboy editor-in-chief Florian Boitin said in a statement. “In the past, we have had no reason to doubt his journalistic integrity and skills. Based on the information now at our disposal, we must unfortunately assume that the words spoken in the interview have, in part, been reproduced incorrectly.
