German Playboy stands by its interview in which composer Ennio Morricone slated Tarantino

The German edition of Playboy magazine has said it’s standing by an interview it did with Ennio Morricone in which it’s alleged the film composer slated director Quentin Tarantino.

Quotes said to be from Morricone found him calling Tarantino’s movies ‘trash’ and the director ‘a cretin’.

Morricone, who made the soundtrack for The Hateful Eight, has since said that he’s planning ‘civil action’ against the magazine, and denies having made the comments or given the interview in the first place.

But in a statement (via Variety), German Playboy said: “We are surprised that composer Ennio Morricone denies giving an interview to German Playboy.

“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.”

The original article found Morricone, famed for his soundtracks on movies like A Fistful of Dollars, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, and Once Upon A Time In America, quoted as saying of Tarantino: “The man is a cretin. He only steals from others and puts that stuff together in a new way. None of that is original.

“He is not a director. Meaning you can’t compare him to Hollywood greats like John Huston, Alfred Hitchcock or Billy Wilder. Those were great. Tarantino only recycles old stuff.”

After it was published, and then picked up by the world’s media, Morricone released a statement, saying that he had never given the interview.

“This is totally false,” the 90 year-old composer said in a statement.

“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.”

He added that he considered 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,” the statement continued.

“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.”

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