There’s no doubt that the film industry has been changing drastically in the past years, with Mexican filmmakers crowning themselves as the best of the best. However, one of those creators who don’t seem to be going anywhere and whose films are considered to be great masterpieces of the past 20 years is Quentin Tarantino. Whether you like him or not, there’s no doubt that he created a whole new way of making cinema and a movie universe we’ll never forget.
Quentin Tarantino Biography
Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee on March 27, 1963, to a very unstable family. His father, Tony Tarantino, had always dreamed of becoming a successful actor, which he never did, and eventually left his family on their own. After their divorce, his mother took young Quentin to Los Angeles, where he grew up surrounded by Hollywood and film culture, something that would become a huge part of his life.
From a very early age, Tarantino showed an interest in filmmaking, writing his first screenplay at the age of fourteen. Not only that, he also started participating at the Torrance Community Theater on some plays, where he also nurtured a passion for acting. School wasn’t really giving him what Tarantino wanted in life, so the following year, he decided to drop out of Narbonne High School against his mother’s will. Then, he started working as an usher at a porn theater and taking acting lessons at the James Best Theatre Company.
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In his youth, Tarantino worked in a lot of places, but perhaps the job that would mark his career the most was when he worked at “Video Archives,” a video store in Manhattan Beach where he was able to devour countless movies, certainly the foundation of his encyclopedia-like film knowledge. It was then that he met Lawrence Bender, a producer who saw his talent and encouraged him to write a real screenplay.
By 1986, Tarantino had gotten his first formal job in Hollywood as production assistant for Roger Avary (with whom he would work later on in projects like Pulp Fiction) in the production of an exercise video. Later that year, he started working on what would become his very first project, a movie he co-wrote, directed, and acted in: My Best Friend’s Birthday, a simple story that would, later on, become the foundation for his film, True Romance.
Little by little, Tarantino started making connections that would help him achieve his breakthrough in the nineties. His first screenplay to hit movie theaters was From Dusk till Dawn, where Tarantino himself starred next to George Clooney, and which was directed by one of his closest friends, Robert Rodríguez. He sold the script in the early nineties, and the movie was released in 1996, four years after the massive success of what’s considered his first masterpiece: Reservoir Dogs. Since then, he’s released hit movies considered to be masterpieces of contemporary popular cinema, and he’s kept working on his themes despite the controversies they spark.
In 2009, during his world tour promoting Inglorious Basterds, he met Israeli singer Daniella Pick. After years claiming he wasn’t that interested in marriage nor forming a family that would distract him from his work, he finally tied the knot in November 2018.
Quentin Tarantino Movies
Though Quentin Tarantino’s filmography isn’t exactly long, he’s been quite meticulous in the stories he’s released, giving us a unique universe with a wide variety of narratives and themes, always with his characteristic signature style and approach to storytelling. Tarantino is considered to be one of the last great film auteurs, and his fanbase doesn’t seem to get enough of him. However, and sadly for all of us, he’s stated he wants to stop making movies once he reaches his tenth production, meaning we only have two stories left counting the upcoming Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Tarantino has also claimed that this isn’t a definite decision, but if it is, he’s said he wants to delve into film criticism and screenwriting, which means he’ll never really leave film. In the meantime, here is his emblematic filmography:
Auteur films:
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Jackie Brown (1997) [Adapted from Elmore Leonard’s novel Rum Punch]
Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
Grindhouse: Death Proof (2007)
Inglorious Basterds (2009)
Django Unchained (2012)
The Hateful Eight (2015)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) [To be released]
Other films:
True Romance (1993) [Writer]
Natural Born Killers (1994) [Writer]
Four Rooms (1995) [Partial Director, Writer, and Actor]
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) [Writer]
Sin City (2005) [Partial Director]
Star Trek (?) [Directing?]
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Signature Themes
Tarantino is known for delving in different genres when it comes to his movies. This comes from his encyclopedic approach to cinema and his admiration for many different currents and filmmakers. However, there are some themes and characteristics that are always present in his movies, like the use of violence, his strange foot fetish, and, of course, even his sassy and really long dialogues. All of these things are what make him a real auteur and consolidate his stories as belonging to one solid universe, regardless of whether they meet in time or genre.
Violence
One of these shared elements is his constant use of really graphic violence to narrate his stories. Though he’s been highly criticized for it, he’s always had an unrepentant attitude towards the backlash, claiming that it all belongs to the realm of fiction. This type of violence and the excessive usage of blood respond to character development and visual compositions.
References
One of Tarantino’s strongest signatures, besides violence, is his obsession with references. Whether they come in the form of music, characters, visuals, scene replicas, or even dialogue, one thing that’s for sure is that you’ll find at least 10 references in each of his movies. He loves making homages to his favorite films and genres, and he’s become a real master on throwing these out. Though they might seem to be mere references, most of the time they do convey an important message in the narrative or become a crucial part of it to the point that, in some cases, without them, the movie would not make any sense.
Take for instance, Django Unchained: the name, the opening credits, the music used, the myth within the story, the shot angles, the types of characters. All of these end up creating a really deep hero character that wouldn’t be perceived that way only with his actions and lines. This happens in all of his films, and that’s why his characters and storylines end up being so complex and iconic.
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Cool Music
Music is pretty much a character on its own in Tarantino’s movies. Songs play such an important role in his stories that he’s even explained that most of his movies actually start with envisioning the opening credit sequence. Once he finds the perfect song, all the story kind of starts unveiling in his mind: “it’s a simple matter of me diving into my record collection and finding the songs that give me the rhythm of my movie.”
Though there’s a wide variety of genres and sounds in his soundtracks, we can safely say there’s a predominance of music from the sixties and seventies (mainly the latter). Still, we can find really interesting mixes, like in Inglorious Basterds, where there are some cool tunes from the forties accompanying hits like Bowie’s “Cat People” and Billy Preston’s “Slaughter.” Or in The Hateful Eight, when “Apple Blossom” by The White Stripes breaks with the score created almost entirely by the great Ennio Morricone. These songs provide personality to the story and the characters.
Powerful women
Except for Reservoir Dogs, all Tarantino movies have at least one strong badass female character always prepared to kick ass. I mean, Mia Wallace, Jackie Brown, Beatrix Kiddo, O-Ren Ishii, Jungle Julia, Shoshana Dreyfus, Broomhilda Von Shaft, and Daisy Domergue? They are extremely resilient, complex, and unique, really without equal in the history of cinema. Yes, they might be deeply flawed, but at the end of the day, these flaws are what make them so special and iconic. Tarantino has constantly been accused of misogyny for the use of violence against women in his films, but actually, one of the things that his female characters have shown us is that we can all punch life in the face, no matter how hard it gets.
Antiheroes
Another thing that all of Tarantino’s characters have in common is that they’re as f****d up as the rest, making them really cool, but really flawed anti-heroes. Even the most epic heroes you can think of in his movies are considerably disturbed, and that makes them as human as all of us. There are no perfect heroes in this universe, and if there were, they would probably have their asses kicked by one of his iconic characters. Perhaps the greatest example of this in the Tarantino-verse would be The Hateful Eight, where all the characters are the biggest jerks in the world, so it’s hard to actually root for any of them. Or our Pulp Fiction heroes, who are basically really charismatic criminals, but criminals nonetheless.
Scandals and Controversies
Of course, with movies with such strong themes and scenes, there will always be controversies, but Tarantino’s personality and very strong opinions on certain things can also spark intense and heated discussions about his work. That’s probably the reason why there are mixed opinions about him, so people either love him or hate him because of his carefree way of dealing with stuff.
The use of the ‘N’ word
Oh boy, people have a lot to say about this one. Though he’s used it pretty much in all of his films, it’s perhaps with films dealing directly with racism where he’s received more backlash from people who count obsessively how many times the word is used in each movie. By the way, Django Unchained holds the record: 110 times. Tarantino has said that it is his characters who use it, and that the story wouldn’t be believable if they didn’t use the word in the context they are.
Harvey Weinstein connection
It’s no news that Quentin Tarantino made a career thanks to Harvey Weinstein’s connections and support: basically all of his films were produced by him. When sexual abuse allegations against the powerful producer came out, Tarantino’s name was naturally involved. He released a statement in which he accepted he knew about some of the accusations, including that of his former girlfriend Mira Sorvino in the mid-nineties. According to Tarantino, he confronted Weinstein immediately and forced him to apologize, but of course, that’s not even close to being enough. He also said that he felt ashamed about not doing enough, and as he said, he “knew enough to do more than [he] did.”
Uma Thurman, a recurring actress in Tarantino’s films, revealed that Weinstein had made unpleasant advances to her, which she immediately reported to the director. Tarantino approached Weinstein again and banned all contact between him and the actress. To that she added that she also felt insecure while filming a car scene in Kill Bill; Tarantino had insisted that she do the stunt herself, which led to a crash that left her with some permanent injuries in her neck and knees. Tarantino apologized and even gave her the original footage of the crash, so she could do whatever she wanted with it.
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Naturally, after Weinstein was canceled, Tarantino, who was already looking for investment for his upcoming movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, decided to end his relationship with The Weinstein Company (formerly named Miramax) and look for a new studio. After several companies approached him to produce his film, he ended up going with Sony Pictures.
Quentin Tarantino Quotes
There’s nothing like a witty and sassy quote from a Tarantino movie to make a statement.
“I don’t wanna kill anybody. But if I gotta get out that door, and you’re standing in my way, one way or the other, you’re gettin’ outta my way.” – Mr. Pink (Reservoir Dogs)
“Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it’s necessary to yak about bullshit in order to be comfortable?” – Mia Wallace (Pulp Fiction)
“My ass may be dumb, but I ain’t no dumbass.” – Ordell Robbie (Jackie Brown)
“When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other that not only does God exist, you’re doing his will.” – The Bride (Kill Bill: Volume 1)
“No. You’re not a bad person. You’re a terrific person. You’re my favorite person, but every once in a while, you can be a real cunt.” – Bill (Kill Bill: Volume 2)
“Women, nacho grande platters, the fellowships of fascinating individuals like Warren here. Alcohol is just a lubricant for all the individual encounters that a bar offers.” – Stuntman Mike (Death Proof)
“Now, I don’t know about y’all, but I sure as hell didn’t come down from the goddamn Smoky Mountains, cross five thousand miles of water, fight my way through half of Sicily and jump out of a fuckin’ air-o-plane to teach the Nazis lessons in humanity. Nazi ain’t got no humanity. They’re the foot soldiers of a Jew-hatin’, mass murderin’ maniac and they need to be dee-stroyed. That’s why any and every son of a bitch we find wearin’ a Nazi uniform, they’re gonna die.” – Aldo Raine (Inglorious Basterds)
“Stephen. How many niggers you think you seen come and go? Seven thousand? Eight thousand? Nine thousand? Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine? Every single word that came out of Calvin Candie’s mouth was nothing but horseshit, but he was right about one thing: I am that one nigger in ten thousand.” – Django Freeman (Django Unchained)
“The only time black folks are safe is when white folks is disarmed. And this letter had the desired effect of disarming white folks.” – Major Marquis Warren (The Hateful Eight)
“You don’t have to know how to make a movie. If you truly love cinema with all your heart and with enough passion, you can’t help but make a good movie.” – Quentin Tarantino
Tarantino might just be the last auteur filmmaker with a consolidated career of over 20 years. His themes, his characters, his music, and his peculiar way of filming have crowned him as one of the best in film history. We just hope he changes his mind and doesn’t stop after his tenth film so we can keep enjoying his one-of-a-kind stories.
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