2007 Oscar preview: Honorary Academy Award for Ennio Morricone

A fistful of statue

by John P. Meyer

Forget about this year's actual nominees for best film score: Gustavo Santaolalla for Babel; Thomas Newman for The Good German; Philip Glass for Notes On A Scandal; Javier Navarrete for Pan's Labyrinth; and Alexandre Desplat for The Queen.

These are all worthy composers, but like I said, forget about 'em. Because this set of pikers can't hold a baton-shaped candle to the guy receiving this year's honorary Oscar.

If you've ever seen The Good, The Bad and The Ugly or any of the dozen or so other spaghetti westerns scored by Ennio Morricone, one of the primary things you'll recall about the film - even years after viewing it - is the music.

I first encountered the work of the prolific Italian composer while attending weekend film showings on campus at the University of Texas at Austin in - dare I say it? - the mid '70's. Before the screening of a film called, pretentiously enough, Once Upon a Time in the West, we were handed a flyer summarizing the film and listing the credits. I noticed "Ennio Morricone" credited for original music, and wondered whether this was an actual guy's name or an exotic ice cream dessert. I should have known, of course, because ice cream desserts can't write music. (They melt too fast.)

As soon as I heard the wheezing-harmonica theme that followed the Charles Bronson character throughout the film like an aural dust cloud, I knew that, if nothing else, the next 2 1/2 hours was going to be an interesting listening experience. Of course, it turned out to be much more - I consider Once Upon a Time in the West to be the greatest western ever made. As opposed to The Wild Bunch, which is the best western ever made (yes, I make the distinction). Trust me on this, or go watch hundreds of westerns and report back.

Morricone worked on numerous film projects with Gaillo-master Dario Argento (i.e., Bird with the Crystal Plumage; Cat o' Nine Tails; The Four Velvet Flies), and with art house favorite Pier Paolo Pasolini (on Theorem; The Decameron; The Canterbury Tales). Progressive rock band The Mars Volta uses his A Fistful of Dollars theme for their walk-on music.

What you may not know (unless you've been paying attention to the credits - and award nominations - all these years) is that maestro Morricone also wrote the hauntingly beautiful scores for such films as Days of Heaven, The Mission, The Untouchables, Cinema Paradiso and Bugsy.

I could continue listing, but you get the point. Along with John Williams, John Barry, Bernard Hermann, Maurice Jarre, Jerry Goldsmith and - depending on how far back in film history you'd like to go - Max Steiner and Erich Korngold, I consider Mr. Morricone to be one of the all-time great composers to have ever hooked up with the movies.

Jangling, quirky, at times melodramatic but always tuneful, Morricone's scores will shake you up, tear you up (as in "teardrop" rather than "tear to shreds") and occasionally elicit a groan, but they will seldom bore you. Minimalist, he is not.

After having been nominated by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences five times - and, criminally, never having walked away with the golden boy - E.M. will be recognized this Feb. 25th with an honorary Oscar. For those of us who've loved his work for more years than we'd care to admit, this happy occasion has been a long time coming.

(While we're on the subject of westerns, tune into this website over the weekend for a review of Seraphim Falls, the new western from Sony Pictures starring Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the dry gulch...)

Breaking Morricone news:

As I prepared to post this story, Sony Classical announced the release of a tribute recording called We All Love Ennio Morricone, to feature selections orchestrated by Morricone himself, along with interpretations of his work by such artists as Celine Dion, Quincy Jones, Bruce Springsteen, Andrea Bocelli, Metallica, Roger Waters and Yo-Yo Ma.

That's right, I just mentioned Metallica and Yo-Yo Ma in the same sentence; that's what a talent like Ennio Morricone can do for us. (This is a good thing, right?)

Complimenti, Ennio!