Watch Ennio Morricone Conduct ‘The Hateful Eight’ Score in New Featurette

The 70mm roadshow presentation of The Hateful Eight has been in theaters for a couple weeks now, and Quentin Tarantino’s newest film went into wide release back on New Year's Day. However, the Weinstein Company has no intention of letting up with their push of publicity for the distributors’ huge financial gamble, and in their constant preaching of the Hateful Eight gospel, they’ve released another new featurette. In this new video, Quentin Tarantino gushes about his deep, abiding respect for composer Ennio Morricone, who wrote the score for The Hateful Eight. Morricone’s involvement was a good get for Tarantino and the production; the legendary musician defined the sound of the Spaghetti Western films from which The Hateful Eight draws inspiration, and Tarantino’s latest marks the 87-year-old’s first work on a Western in over thirty years. The Morricone touch shows, too; the score is an instant classic, shifting from slow-burn menace to unbearable intensity with a quick-draw gunslinger’s speed.

But the real treat of this featurette is watching the master himself conduct an orchestra performing his Hateful Eight themes. Morricone doesn’t speak English — his soundbites in the featurette all receive subtitles — but watching him hold the musicians under his precise control communicates more than any casual quote possibly could. Morricone’s every move crackles with energy and passion; not one iota of his fire as a conductor and brilliant musical mind has been lost over the years. If anything, judging by the violent jabs of the Hateful Eight score, he’s only gotten tougher.