Beyond being judged as good or bad filmmakers, in the world of cinema we find professionals who are experts in telling stories that move millions of viewers. Others, much less, are capable of making poetry with the silences on the screen and suggesting, rather than showing, the inner world of their characters.
Finally there are those with a vocation for arsonists and adrenaline junkies, who load their movies with tons of violence. Films that are recommended to be seen in theaters with a defibrillator nearby, in case the viewer has heart problems.
Perhaps the best example of these directors is the American Quentin Tarantino, who turns sixty on March 27, half of them making movies. According to The Hollywood Reporter, sources close to the filmmaker assured that the director is close to directing “The Movie Critic”, a film that could be the last one he makes and whose production could begin in the last quarter of this year.
THE VIDEO CLUB AS A FILM SCHOOL
Born in 1963 in the southern state of Tennessee, Tarantino was one of those young people passionate about cinema, who grew up in a context with little chance of making his dream of directing movies come true.
Although as a teenager he received drama classes, he soon realized that acting was not enough to channel his creative power. Curiously, it was his work in a video club that gave him the opportunity to expand his cinematographic culture from the hundreds of films that he devoured while serving behind the counter.
Recycling classic and auteur cinema with genres considered minor and simple entertainment, such as Blaxploitation (inspired by the world of African-Americans), martial arts or spaghetti westerns, Tarantino forged a personal aesthetic with which he has become a fan. name in film history.
QUENTIN GOES TO HOLLYWOOD
“Reservoir Dogs”, the first feature film directed by Tarantino, was released in 1992. With a B-movie budget, it is considered one of the best “first films” ever. A film that exalted its director and elevated him as a great guru of modernity in cinema.
The narrative structure of the film has many points in common with “The killing” (Perfect robbery, 1956). Like the Stanley Kubrick film, its construction is similar to a mosaic in which the protagonists tell the story from their particular point of view. The idea was fortunately exploited in another of his biggest hits, “Pulp Fiction” (1994).
THE MOST CHARLATAN CRIMINALS IN THE HISTORY OF CINEMA
“- And do you know what they call the quarter pounder with cheese in Paris?
– Don’t they call it a quarter pounder with cheese?
– They use the metric system, they wouldn’t know what the fuck a quarter pounder is.
– Well, what do they call it?
– They call it a “Cheese Royale”
– Royale with cheese, hahaha… and what do they call the Big Mac?
– A Big Mac is a Big Mac, but they call it “Le Big Mac”
The above is one of the dialogues heard in a scene from the aforementioned “Pulp Fiction”. The characters, two criminals with few scruples, talk about something as everyday as a hamburger while they go to commit their usual misdeeds.
This type of conversation, which anyone could have in normal contexts, is one of the hallmarks of his style and represents a change in the treatment of the characters. In his films, the Manichaeism that was common in this type of film is abandoned, and he opts for a relativism more typical of postmodern thought.
THE MUSIC OF TARANTINO
Another feature that distinguishes his films is the use of pop music classics, which show his great knowledge of the genre. Songs as heard as “Stuck in the Middle with You”, by Stealers Wheel, on Reservoir Dogs (1992); Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell” and Dick Dale & The Del Tone’s “Misirlou” in Pulp Fiction (1994); Nancy Sinatra’s “Bang Bang” in Kill Bill 1 (2003); or “Cat People (Putting Out Fire)”, by David Bowie, in “Inglourious Basterds” (2009), are some of the themes that fill his films with references to popular culture.
In this sound universe there is room for two songs by Spanish groups: “Tu mirá”, by Lole and Manuel, which sounds on Kill Bill 2 (2004); and “Bring a Little Lovin”, sung in English by Los Bravos, which appears on “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (2019).
TARANTINO’S ACTORS
The director cannot be denied his keen eye for casting. Harvey Keitel, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth or Leonardo DiCaprio, are some of the actors who have played a leading role in his films. But also, Tarantino has brought some stars out of oblivion.
The case of John Travolta, star of “Pulp Fiction”, is an example of how a movie can put an almost buried actor back on the bill. Another of the recovered names is that of David Carradine, protagonist of the mythical television series of the seventies “Kung-Fu”.
WILL THE TENTH BE YOUR LAST FILM?
With a career built from dialogues, which his fans repeat almost religiously, catchy songs, which he has made his own after being featured in his films, and visual violence, not without aesthetics, Tarantino magnifies his legend with the announcement of that will put an end to his tenth film.
So far he has signed nine: “Reservoir Dogs” (1992), “Pulp Fiction” (1995), “Jackie Brown” (1997), three films of “Kill Bill” (2003) -which the director counts as one-, ” Death Proof” (2007), “Inglourious Basterds” (2009), “Django Unchained” (2012), “The Hateful Eight” (2015) and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (2019). Tarantino has off-the-count directing jobs like “My Best Friend’s Birthday” (1987).
If what was published by The Hollywood Reporter, which is preparing a new film, is confirmed, “The Movie Critic” would be his tenth job and the possible retirement of a self-taught and controversial filmmaker, who became one of the best directors in history without ever abandoning his status as a fan of genres considered minor and that had no place in the encyclopedias of the “seventh art”.
Gerardo Dominguez.
EFE REPORTS
