Reply to Topic
Quentin Tarantino and his Films
Quentin Tarantino is and probably always will be one of my favourite film directors, and probably the first ever director whose films I truly fell in love with.
Despite his popularity and success, largely gained through his two first films Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, the name Quentin Tarantino tends to divide the opinions of film watchers and critics. Whilst some are huge fans that thoroughly enjoy the director’s unmistakable style, others are less enthusiastic when it comes to his work, less impressed by his often used mixture of violence, comedy and pop culture references, some considering him a talentless hack, ripping off the work of others, a film geek that got lucky. Whilst I would be lying if I said I did not consider myself a ‘Tarantino Fanboy’, I am not here to argue with his critics over whether Tarantino is a con artist, whether his career has gone downhill since Pulp Fiction, or various other topics I often hear discussed, I simply want to share with you the reasons that I love Tarantino and talk about the influence and impact his films have had on me personally.
The first ever Tarantino film that I saw was also the director’s first: Reservoir Dogs, although this viewing was not until 20 years after the film’s original release. Before watching this film I never really considered myself to be a serious film watcher, I watched films purely for enjoyment, normally with friends and family and I certainly never read about films or discussed them with others fully or seriously.
This film was like nothing I had ever seen before, and completely changed my perspective of films. After watching it I was amazed, it was quite violent yet definitely one of the ‘coolest’ films I had ever watched, Tarantino’s combination of various elements hit all the right chords for me as a film viewer: a fantastic cast, a superb screenplay filled with tons of memorable dialogue that makes watching these characters who are stuck in a warehouse fascinating, great use of music in scenes ranging from ‘Stuck in the Middle with You’ in the film’s most iconic scene to ‘Put the Lime in the Coconut’ at the films end, and a bizarre mixture of violence and humour as mentioned before that I certainly found entertaining.
I watched the film again within a week of first seeing it; I had to see it again, it was one of the most fun film experiences I had ever had. When this film was originally released, a video store worker, wannabee film actor and writer Tarantino become an instant hit with American audiences thanks to the funding of Harvey Keitel, if this film started a cult following of Tarantino back in the 90s then I can certainly see why as it had a similar affect on me, I was immediately swept into the world of Tarantino and just wanted to see more and more of his films. My next film was a natural choice for two reasons, it was his second directed feature and I also knew it was regarded as his strongest film: Pulp Fiction.
Pulp Fiction had everything I loved about Tarantino’s first film and more, never had a two and a half hour film flown by so fast, an exhilarating experience to say the least, I thought Reservoir Dogs was ‘cool’ but this film took it to another level once again in terms of film greatness. It became an instant classic for me, and will be a film I will always remember, whilst since watching it I have gone on to expand my film viewings to various countries, directors and decades across cinema, and although I have viewed many magnificent films, none of them come close to Pulp Fiction as a first time film watching experience for me.
Watching Pulp Fiction gave me a greater insight into the mind of Tarantino and after watching it a few times I began to get a greater idea of his directorial style. Pulp Fiction might just be the greatest ‘men’s’ film ever created, with the laid back characters bringing so much style and charisma to the screen. I had fallen in love with Tarantino the director, but also importantly, the writer.
One similarity I noticed between Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction was how their openings had me gripped from the very start, Reservoir Dogs opens with a fantastic conversation between the group of criminals discussing the meaning of Madonna’s song ‘Like a Virgin’ and in this conversation are many great and humorous quotes, then we see them walking down the street to the sound of ‘Little Green Bag’, the film kicks into gear to the sound of a fantastic energetic 1970s (although actually 1969) song. In Pulp Fiction we have a similar style opening, a strange but great conversation between two characters, Pumpkin and Honey Bunny in which Tarantino slowly builds up until the point where they stand up, get out their guns and tell everybody to get down, then the iconic tune ‘Misirlou’ hits to get the film going. These highly detailed, full of dialogue scenes in which Tarantino introduces his characters have remained as the opening formula for his films as I will talk about later.
I could write thousands of words per film when it comes to Tarantino, and whilst I want to individually review all of his films eventually, I won’t really do that here, and instead just talk about how the films made such a big impact on me and what exactly drew me towards Tarantino. With his first two films I think they appealed to me mainly because I am a young male, the films are driven by masculine characters, cool, laid back characters that are extremely likable and we wish we knew. John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson remain two of the coolest on screen characters ever created, the latter is just brilliant and carries such a fantastic screen presence in his role as Jules, then in Pulp Fiction you have Bruce Willis, one of the ultimate masculine male actors who was superb in such a role in Die Hard.
Tarantino’s third feature Jackie Brown doesn’t get anywhere near the amount of attention or praise as his first two films, but for me is still an incredibly strong film and remains one of my favourites. I know that Sexy Celebrity on here is a big fan of the film, but I’m not quite sure what many others really think of it. In Jackie Brown we see Tarantino once again using actors that he personally likes, in one interview I have seen he talks about how his list of potential actors to use in films kind of follows the standard industry ones you get with agents, but is much bigger and personalised, filled with actors that he grew up watching and would love to cast given the chance, a recent example of this is Don Johnson in Django Unchained.
In Jackie Brown the two lead characters are portrayed by Pam Grier and Robert Forster, one a female and the other an old man, far from the young, charismatic and masculine duo of John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson, Sexy Celebrity often talks about how he feels this film is under loved due to its female lead and I think he is almost certainly correct. Jackie Brown represents a much more mature effort by Tarantino, although all his usual trademarks are still visible within the film, and the genre remains the same, there’s much more focus on substance, characters and relationships rather than style and violence. Roger Ebert’s four star review of the film (out of four) sums up this film perfectly for me: “You savor every moment of Jackie Brown. Those who say it is too long have developed cinematic attention deficit disorder. I wanted these characters to live, talk, deceive and scheme for hours and hours.”
All this is not to say that Jackie Brown is not as fun as Tarantino’s previous efforts, the characters portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson and Robert De Niro add another element to the film, there are plenty of plot twists and violent moments to compliment the plot and character development that takes place.
My fourth Tarantino viewing was a much more recent film from the director, skipping past Death Proof and Kill Bill and heading straight Inglourious Basterds. At the time I thought it was another great, fun Tarantino film, but now when I sit down and reflect on his body of work as a whole I think it might just be his second best film created. I mentioned previously about how Tarantino makes opening scenes that grab your attention to the film immediately and make you want more immediately, and this is certainly the case for Inglourious Basterds. I could probably write a separate analytical essay on Quentin Tarantino’s diner scenes within films, but in Inglourious Basterds the opening takes place in a remote French countryside home and it might just be my favourite film opening, not only in a Tarantino film, but in any film. Somehow Tarantino manages to combine his modern ‘hip’ style with famous history, many people dislike the film because of its cartoonish, fun reimagining of the second World War, but I think its important to remember Tarantino never tries to take a moral stance at any point, this is a film, Tarantino knows this and knows how to make it as entertaining as possible for the viewers.
The opening scene of Inglourious Basterds sees the introduction of Christoph Waltz, an Austrian actor who is now known for two Best Supporting Actor wins in his only two Tarantino films. Tarantino has talked about how he thought the role he wrote of Hans Landa would prove impossible to play, how he had gone through countless actors who he was unhappy with, he needed someone to perfect the role, a brilliant actor who could confidently converse in both English and German, and then he discovered Christoph Waltz. He plays the role to perfection, Tarantino has created many memorable characters in his films, and that is part of my love for him as a director, Hans Landa is definitely one of the best. He is a sick and despicable human being, there is no doubt about that, when he his in the room you can feel his presence as he an uneasy atmosphere, he gives us some of the films best scenes, and some of the most uncomfortable as well, I am talking about not only the film’s opening but also his meeting with Shosanna in the German restaurant.
There is not much more I can say about Tarantino as a director with Inglourious Basterds that I have not already discussed with his previous films. There are a number of top performances in the film, two of the best modern actors around feature: Brad Pitt in a hilarious role and Michael Fassbender who despite limited screen time proves why he has become one of the most wanted new actors around, there is also some more delightful cameos such as Mike Myers (Austin Powers) and Rod Taylor (The Birds).
Tarantino’s own influences are also evident in parts, the interior of Shosanna’s cinema is beautiful, and there is a lot of talk and visual references to the world of cinema, particularly the German industry. The inside of the cinema, projectors and use of film remind us of Tarantino’s love for cinema, he is a man with a love for traditional film and dislike for new digital filming. One of the film’s most beautiful scenes reminds us why, with Shosanna preparing herself for the Fuhrer’s visit to her cinema to the tune of David Bowie’s Cat People, once again reminding us of the director’s fantastic ear for strangely appropriate songs. This scene is also a fantastic reminder of the valuable contribution Sally Menke made to the career of Quentin Tarantino. She collaborated with the director on every film from Reservoir Dogs to Inglourious Basterds before her tragic death in 2010. Many have accused Tarantino’s 2012 film Django Unchained of being too disjointed, with Menke’s absence largely noticed.
Then you have the use of Ennio Morricone’s music within the film, Tarantino often talks about his love for Spaghetti Westerns (Django Unchained is basically one massive homage to Spaghetti Westerns) and cites The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as one of his all time favourite films, Ennio Morricone is famous for his collaborations with Sergio Leone, and Tarantino is clearly a huge fan himself. When you are watching Tarantino films he feels relatable in the fact that just like you he is a massive fan of films, he has grown up loving films and has taken elements he has loved to make something great himself. ‘Rabbia E Tarantella’ plays as the end credits hit, and it is absolutely beautiful, just before we hear Brad Pitt’s character utter the words ‘I think this might just be my masterpiece’, when I first finished watching the film I felt like applauding what I had just seen, and in years to come I hope this is a film that is remembered as a modern day masterpiece, at the moment it still seems to divide viewers.
I feel like I have wrote about the Kill Bill films too many times already, they are also films that seem to very much divide viewers. I think first of all that the two films should have been made as a four hour epic, but two parts is fine, both parts are definitely different in styles, and I feel that analysing both is important in realising that Tarantino is definitely not all style.
Volume 1 is more of an action film, what I most associate with it is The Bride taking on O-Ren Ishii’s crazy guards in the House of Blue Leaves, this scene is filled with blood, and many bizarre deaths, this in Tarantino in his full on fan boy mode, how many different gory deaths can we pack into one scene? It culminates in a stand-off between The Bride and O-Ren Ishii in classic style, and then we get a nice cliff hanger to take us on nicely to Volume 2. In Volume 1 we are thrown right into the middle of the action, many questions are left, much of the Bride’s origin, her relationship with Bill, why she is in the situation she is in now. We know there will be a Volume 2, so Tarantino I think tried to pack in as much violence and fun scenes into this film as possible, because he could.
Volume 2 is my preferred part of the film; it has much more substance, background information and character development. People say Tarantino’s films are pointless, forgettable, with little interesting characters or care taken to insure that these people we see are nothing more than figurines, I really don’t understand this complaint when it comes to Kill Bill. Each character of the Deadly Vipers Assassination team is quite clearly defined, in particular Bill and his brother Budd. In this film we go back to the start, we see The Bride’s role in the assassination team, how she was trained, her personal relationship with Bill, her decision to leave the team, and what exactly happened in the Church massacre. Tarantino could have carried on where he left off after Volume 1 and continued The Bride’s killing spree all the way up to Bill, but it would not have meant much. In order for her to complete her quest of revenge, we needed a greater sense of meaning and reason, and for me we definitely got that. By the end of the film the character of Bill is completely defined, from a mysterious figure we know nothing about from the first Volume to a complete new character who we fully understand, the ending has been described as anti-climatic by some, but for me it’s perfect. If Tarantino had made it a full on violent show down like the end of Volume 1, people would of complained that The Bride’s quest was just a showcase of violence with no meaning, he did not do that and instead linked in her history and added a lot of dialogue, but now it is ‘too boring’, for me the four hours of Kill Bill get the balance right between style and substance, and show a much greater level of maturity by the director than he will ever get credit for.
Django Unchained was the first ever Tarantino film that I was able to see when it was released, all the others I was watching long after, so this film was kind of special to me in the fact I was able to enjoy it first hand and immediately write my thoughts on it.
Because I was actual able to review the film when I originally saw it, I do not have so much to say about this film now. I have seen it a couple of times, and have ordered it on Blu-ray too, it was definitely my favourite and most enjoyable film of 2012. I previously talked about Tarantino’s love for Spaghetti Westerns (Inglourious Basterds section), here is what I wrote in my original review of the film, expanding on that point:
“Throughout his career, Quentin Tarantino has always made clear his admiration for Spaghetti Westerns, citing The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as one of his all time favourite films and paying homage to the surrealistic and gritty style of the films through elements of his own such as in Kill Bill where he even uses some work belonging to the Italian composer Ennio Morricone who famously scored the films of Sergio Leone.
When Quentin Tarantino announced that he was to finally make a film set as a Spaghetti Western, as a big fan of his, I was as excited as anyone to see the end result. Despite being a Western, Tarantino actually sets his film in the south of America, giving us his own unique take on a slice of history as he did in Inglourious Basterds.
Setting the film in the south, during a time of slavery, allows Tarantino to set up a fantastic platform in which he can develop a fantastic array of characters in a classic revenge tale. Jamie Foxx stars as a freed slave, Django, who is attempting to rescue his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), Christolph Waltz stars as his accomplice to make for an enjoyable and fun ‘buddy’ relationship, and Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson star as the films villainous duo.”
Django Unchained is not without its problems, and I would almost definitely say this is an example of where the director choices style over substance, the relationship between Django and Broomhilda where you would normally expect relationships to be developed is not treated with too much attention and instead feels like simply a platform/story to use in order to develop greater and more enjoyable parts of the film, its an excuse to create characters such as Dr. King Schultz and Calvin Candie, but these parts are just so enjoyable and fun that up until the final thirty minutes, you probably won’t care.
The film is very self indulgent, probably too long, and unlikely to please everyone. I can understand why people may not like this film, as mentioned before it doesn’t seem as tight as a whole as Inglourious Basterds, likely down to the absence of Sally Menke. I personally though loved every minute of the film, and for me it could have lasted an hour more, Tarantino gets to make his own Spaghetti Western and writes roles for Christoph Waltz and Leonardo Di Caprio, I am not sure what else people were expecting here. It is definitely up there with Tarantino’s greatest work in terms of enjoyment, I find it difficult to rank in relation to his other films exactly now though, I think time will be important in doing so.
A homage to grindhouse films that Tarantino grew up watching, and initially released as part of a double feature along with Robert Rodriguez’ Planet Terror, the two films apparently failed at box office due to poor marketing, although I can understand why not many people would choose to go and watch these films in the cinema. However I can only imagine what a fun experience it would have been to see these films on the big screen. Just watching them at home it was great fun and a hell of an experience.
In my honest opinion, the first half of the film, which is almost two hours in length in its individual version, is as good as anything Tarantino has ever done. Tarantino took on the director of photography responsibility for himself with this film, and the first half feels very gritty, the picture is damaged, with scratches, smudges, the occasional jumping and also has strange credits at its introduction, Tarantino wanted to achieve the cheap grindhouse film, and to do so actually did all that I described manually by physically scratching the footage rather than digitally doing so, another reminder just how much Tarantino is not just a film maker, but a film fan. This genuinely felt like a sincere love letter to old grindhouse, horror films (even though I have not seen any, which might play a part) to me.
The character of Stuntman Mike I thought was brilliant, for the first half he is genuinely scary and has great presence on screen, the entire bar scene is brilliant as suspense builds as we here the group of woman talk, knowing their future fate. You can certainly see why these films were known as exploitative, the lap dance scene is very sexy, these feel like cheap thrills and we are supposed to be enjoying these young woman fall victim to the film’s villain. My favourite part of the film is when Mike asks his passenger as he heads ‘home’ which direction she wants to go, a brilliant, creepy, and hilarious line.
Whilst I liked the second half of the film, which switches from gritty to clear cinematography, I felt it actually suffered as a result of the first half’s brilliance. In the first half I fell in love with Mike as a villain. In the second half the roles are reversed, the group of girls are not young helpless prey, but powerful masculine like women who can take on Mike who is revealed to be nothing more than a wimp, the final scene comes with a sense of empowerment for the women, and is very fun, wit some great chase scenes, but I just wish we could have had a longer horror film, with Mike, the villain.
That is the end of my thoughts on Tarantino’s films and why I love them so much. There are other pieces of work associated with Tarantino that I also found myself enjoying. True Romance, which is actually included with the ‘Tarantino XX’ Blu-ray set is another great film which feels almost entirely like a Tarantino film because of its screenplay wrote by himself and great cast with many actors who also appeared in Tarantino films (Pitt, Penn, Walken and Samuel L. Jackson). Then there is his acting role in From Dusk Till Dawn, admittedly not the best film, but a fun one once again where he is able to pay homage to B-Movies. He also directed a segment in the fantastic Robert Rodriguez film Sin City, an adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novels.
I hope you enjoyed reading just why I love Tarantino as a director, and the impact he has had on me as a viewer in my first year and a half of watching films. I think I have made it clear just why I like him, I understand he is not for everyone but his style seems to do everything write for me, combining various elements from films he loves and adding his own unmistakable touch to them.
Last edited by Daniel M; 11-21-14 at 12:10 PM.
Reason: Fixing images
I love Tarantino too (who couldn't?) Although for me it's hard to imagine him ever topping Pulp Fiction, I find that his best films always have something more to them than mere pop entertainment, which is what his critics always claim he's guilty of making. To me, there's a lot going on beneath the surface of Jackie Brown, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, and of course, Pulp Fiction.
