Quentin Tarantino, the renowned screenwriter, actor, and director is famous for the violence in his movies, his many references to Asian cultures, comics, classic movies, and the female characters that appear in most of his movies. So now, with only a few months to go before the release of his Charles Manson movie (which will probably be as bloody as it gets), these behind-the-scene images from his previous movies show that despite all the gore, the filming was a lot of fun.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
The budget for Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino’s first movie, was so low, that actors had to wear their own clothes (the plain, black suits). This is where Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson first met: Jackson auditioned for the Mr. Blonde role, and even though he didn’t get the part, Tarantino was so impressed by him, that he wrote the Jules character from Pulp Fiction especially for him.
Fun fact: In the movie’s opening scene, the characters talk about the meaning of Madonna’s song “Like a Virgin.” After watching the movie, the Queen of Pop sent Tarantino a copy of her album with a note that read: “Quentin: it’s about love, not dick -Madonna.”
Pulp Fiction (1994)
To this day, one of the biggest unsolved mysteries from this movie is what was inside the briefcase that Jules and Vincent Vega were carrying around. One theory claims that, since Vega is Mr. Blonde’s brother, the briefcase holds the diamonds stolen in the robbery that got everyone killed in Reservoir Dogs. However, Tarantino has never said anything to clear up the mystery. Instead, the director has hidden secret easter eggs and clues in his other films, and this one is no exception.
Fun fact: The wallet that Jules gives to Eli Roth’s character, which reads “Bad Motherfucker” is actually Tarantino’s, who loves cult objects.
Jackie Brown (1997)
It seems like Tarantino never forgets about actors who make an impression on him. Pam Grier auditioned for a role in Pulp Fiction, but since she didn’t get it, Tarantino gave her the lead role in Jackie Brown. This is the only Tarantino movie not written by him. By the time he made it, Tarantino’s name was known all over Hollywood, to the point that Sylvester Stallone himself showed up to a casting.
Fun fact: This is the only movie where Tarantino doesn’t make a cameo appearance. However, he lent his voice for Jackie Brown’s answering machine.
Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2 (2003 and 2004)
The most recurring word in Tarantino’s films is “fuck,” but in these two movies, considered his most violent ones, it is only uttered 17 times. The two Kill Bill volumes are love letters to Asian cult classics kung fu (the homage to Bruce Lee and the yellow tracksuit is clear). The idea for the movies came from conversations between Uma Thurman and Tarantino, when they were shooting Pulp Fiction and talking about the kinds of movies they’d like to make. Maybe that’s why Tarantino gave her the “Bride” part.
Fun fact: After Beatrix Kiddo has killed O-Ren’s guards in the duel at the House of the Blue Leaves, and the Crazy 88 arrive, O-Ren tells Kiddo: “I hope you’ve saved your energy. If you haven’t, you may not last five minutes.” The battle scene between Kiddo and the Crazy 88 lasts 4 minutes and 49 seconds.
Death Proof (2007)
In this case, the idea for the movie sprang from a conversation Tarantino had with a friend, who assured him that with only 10 or 15 thousand dollars, you could take your car to a specialist to make it death-proof.
Fun fact: The two cops investigating the murders are the same ones who appear after the El Paso massacre in Kill Bill.
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Killing Hitler is many people’s ultimate fantasy, and Tarantino felt that he had to do the dream justice, so he worked on the script for more than a decade. He started writing it before Kill Bill even, but he was never happy with it, so he would always shelve it. In the end, though, he was proud of the final result and the cast. Of all his movies, this is one of the most awarded by the Academy.
Fun fact: Tarantino has never been a fan of strangulation scenes because they’re not realistic enough, so for the scene where Hans Landa kills Bridget von Hammersmark, he chose to do it himself: “I’m going to just strangle you, all right? I’m going to cut off your air, for just a little bit of time, we’re going to see the reaction in your face, and then we’ll cut, okay?” Diane Kruger responded only with a “yes.”
Django Unchained (2012)
Django, like some of Tarantino’s other films, tells a story of revenge. The protagonist wants to rescue his wife and take revenge on the people who hurt them, his main target being Leonardo DiCaprio’s character and his men. However, one of the biggest themes in the movie is racism, and DiCaprio even had to take breaks to rest from all the racist lines he had to say throughout the film.
Fun fact: The scene where DiCaprio cuts his hand during an argument was real, but he asked Tarantino to keep rolling.
The Hateful Eight (2015)
This is Tarantino’s last film to date; he has said that he will retire after making his tenth film. However, he almost shelved it forever because of troubles during filming, and because the script and the trailer were leaked online. Fortunately, though, he thought better, so we were finally able to see Samuel L. Jackson in a starring role in a Tarantino film.
Fun fact: Tim Roth’s character’s real name isn’t Oswaldo Mobray, but rather Pete Hicox, which makes him the great-great-grandfather of Michael Fassbender’s character Lieutenant Archie Hicox from Inglourious Basterds.
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Tarantino belongs to the hall of fame of filmmakers who will go down in movie history thanks to the highly specific and interconnected universe of his movies, since beyond the violence, each of his masterpieces contains countless references to cult classics, music, comics, and many different cultures from around the world.
Translated by Zoralis Pérez
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