After an impressive Golden Globes win for The Hateful Eight's stellar soundtrack, Ennio Morricone's award for Best Original Score was accepted by the director of the film – Quentin Tarantino. During a speech that could only be delivered by the Pulp Fiction director himself, he made a pretty wild claim that Ennio Morricone hadn't won an award for any film he'd done. Which left us scratching out heads, as that claim didn't sound very accurate. As it turns out, looking into the actual text of Tarantino's argument proves his remarks correct, but to a certain extent.
Before we go any further, we'd like to present Tarantino's complete remarks from tonight's show – minus the two major digressions that he embarked on within the meat of his argument. His speech was, as follows:
Do you realize that Ennio Morricone…has never won an award for any one individual movie that he's done? He has in Italy, but not in America. And I know that this is not America, it's the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. But, I have to say... that I directed the movie that Ennio Morricone at 87 years of age did a great original score for, and won the Golden Globe.
While everyone, including ourselves, latched on to the first part of Quentin Tarantino's remarks, it's what he says right after that really counts. As it turns out, Ennio Morricone actually has won two previous Golden Globes – one in 1987 for The Mission and one in 2000 for The Legend Of 1900. So the initial claim that Morricone has never won an award for any of his films is, naturally, a load of bunk. However, what we think Tarantino is trying to say in his remarks is that the legendary composer hasn't won for any work he's done on an American film. In which case, he's absolutely correct.
The Hateful Eight is the first American film that Ennio Morricone has been awarded the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's highest honor, as both previous films were foreign productions. The Mission was a joint venture between the UK and France, and The Legend Of 1900 was an Italian film; so in a roundabout way, Quentin Tarantino was correct in what he had said. It's just that he unfortunately didn't do a good job of putting it into words. But then again – it's Globes night, and if you can speak straight after winning a Golden Globe, then you should probably check your pulse.
In any case, we'd like to congratulate Ennio Morricone for winning his third Golden Globe for Best Original Score, which just happens to be his first for an American film. The Hateful Eight was well served by his score, as well as Quentin Tarantino's script and direction, and it's a well deserved honor. However, we'd like to give a little advice to Mr. Tarantino for his next awards acceptance speech: draft them like you would your films, sir. The second pass always saves you in the end.
Stay tune to Cinema Blend for more live Golden Globes coverage, including a current list of the evening's winners.
