The statement mentioned in the title is, of course, provocative, because it would be equally foolish and impossible to start discussions about who would be called the 20th/21st. century the best film author or authors. However, Quentin Tarantino, whose star shone brightly in the Hollywood sky in the 1990s and has continued to shine to this day, would definitely make the short list of the best candidates. He has been called both a pure-blooded genius and an untalented plagiarist, and such conflicting assessments prove in themselves that Tarantino’s works and words have had an indelible impact on the world cinema process during his approximately 30-year career.
It is important to note that Quentin Tarantino is not a unique exception, but the brightest representative of filmmakers of his generation. These are the directors – contemporaries and closest followers of Tarantino – who started working in the film industry in the late 80s and early 90s, and for many of them (but not all) education in film schools was replaced by a rich experience of watching films, a genuine love for cinema and inexhaustible enthusiasm. Authors such as Steven Soderbergh, Robert Rodriguez, Roger Avery, Paul Thomas Anderson, Sofia Coppola and many others – not only in America, but also in Europe and Asia – along with Tarantino, are considered creators of the new paradigm of cinema in the 90s and 21st century. at first.
Director without a diploma
Presumably, the story of Tarantino’s path to the director’s chair has already become a folklorized myth during these decades. But the most paradoxical thing is that this myth is pure truth – Tarantino has no formal film education today, he hasn’t even finished high school, but professor’s lectures have been replaced by insatiable cinema watching and discussing what he’s seen with family, friends and colleagues since childhood. From a modern point of view, it is worth mentioning that his mother also took her pre-pubescent son to films that were not intended for children’s audiences, and to little Quentin in the 70s “New Hollywood” the unprecedented open violence left an indelible impression – and it cannot be overlooked in his films as well.
It is widely known that a big stepping stone in his growth was a job at the California store “Video Archives”, where he not only got to watch thousands of films, but also made his early friends and companions. Among them, the most important is, of course, Roger Avery, with whom several early ideas for Tarantino’s scripts were created and “Lubene” was written, which brought both of them an “Oscar” award and widespread recognition. Avery did not manage to create a successful “solo career” afterwards, however, his small filmography is definitely worth the attention of moviegoers.