The soundtrack-gathering prowess of Quentin Tarantino has been discussed in this space before, and the release of the song list for his forthcoming World War II flick–the spell-check-defying Inglourious Basterds, which premieres at Cannes on Wednesday–is notable for its heavy reliance on the work of famed composer Ennio Morricone, not to mention the excavation of the Giorgio Moroder/David Bowie track from the 1982 film Cat People. Full list of tracks–and the movies the songs were culled from–after the jump.
1. “The Green Leaves of Summer,” Dimitri Tiomkin (The Alamo)
2. “After The Verdict,” Ennio Morricone (The Big Gundown)
3. “L’Incontro Con La Figlia,” Ennio Morricone (
4. “White Lightning,” Charles Bernstein (White Lightning)
5. “Il Mercenario (Ripresa),” Ennio Morricone (Il Mercenario)
6. “Slaughter,” Billy Preston (Slaughter)
7. “Algeris 1 Novembre 1984,” Ennio Morricone / Gillo Pontecorvo (The Battle of Algiers)
8. “The Surrender (La resa),” Ennio Morricone (The Big Gundown)
9. “One Silver Dollar,” Gianni Ferrio (One Silver Dollar)
10. “Bath Attack,” Charles Bernstein (The Entity)
11. “Davon Geht Die Welt Nicht Unter,” Zarah Leander
12. “The Man With The Big Sombrero,” Sam Shelton and the Michael Andrew Orchestra (Hi Diddle Diddle)
13. “Ich Wollt Ich Waer Bin Buhn,” Lillian Harvey, Willy Fritsch, and Paul Kemp
14. “Cat People (Putting Out Fire),” David Bowie & Giorgio Moroder (Cat People)
15. “Mystic and Severe,” Ennio Morricone (Death Rides A Horse)
16. “The Devil’s Rumble,” The Arrows (Devil’s Angels)
17. “What I’d Say Zulus,” Elmer Bernstein (Zulu Dawn)
18. “Un Amico,” Ennio Morricone (Revolver)
19. “Tiger Tank,” Lalo Schifrin (Kelly’s Heroes)
20. “Bastero Gondors Rabhia e Tarantella,” Ennio Morricone (Allonsanfan)
Yes, but which version of Cat People will be on the soundtrack? The crap single cut or the epic 6 minute one that was on the original Cat People soundtrack? These are burning questions dammit.
Ummm, ya know QT, Ennio Morricone ain’t dead yet. He’s still working. Maybe you should be satisfied that your pastiche work on the Kill Bill movies was as good as it gets, and, hire a composer for a change. Like, for instance, Ennio Morricone.
Also: It looks like there are only two vintage songs, the Lillian Harvey/Willi Fritsch and Zarah Leander numbers. I suspect they’ll be seen in clips from contemporary German musicals, since a movie house is supposed to play a big part in the film. Which is nice, ’cause Harvey’s kinda swell.
And yes, the Cat People soundtrack version of the Bowie song is MUCH better than the single. It’s better than the movie.
I once had a reeeeeeeally long conversation with someone where they were talking about Cat People and I was talking about Absolute Beginners, and about ten minutes went by before either of us realized that we weren’t talking about the same movie, and our minds had both heard “David Bowie theme song” and wandered apart.
@clarknhilldaleredux: I heard that QT did try to hire Morricone and he couldn’t do it.
The one German song is called “Ich wollt, ich wär ein Huhn” which means “I wish I were a chicken”. And it’s ridiculous. Looking forward …
@Lucas Jensen: QT should have tried harder to get Morricone.
@Hershel Krustofsky: Why? Because you’ve seen the movie and know exactly how all of this music works in context?
@Lucas Jensen: No, because it would be a good artistic risk for a control freak like Tarantino to take. Maybe Morricone has another brilliant score or 2 in him. Like Bernard Herrmann’s late career scores for De Palma (Sisters) and Scorsese (Taxi Driver). And if QT wasn’t satisfied, he could still do a late switcheroo like Peter Jackson did on King Kong (and Kubrick did with 2001).
But Quentin did pursue Morricone for this film. His intention to have it ready for Cannes didn’t give Morricone enough time to preform a score he was content with. I agree it would be an interesting move, but hey, maybe for the next one.