Quentin Tarantino

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Quentin Tarantino

Tarantino at the Scream Awards, October 2007
Born Quentin Jerome Tarantino
March 27, 1963 (1963-03-27) (age 46)
Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Occupation Actor, Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Cinematographer
Years active 1988 – present

Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. He rose to fame in the early 1990s as an independent filmmaker whose films used nonlinear storylines and aestheticization of violence. His films include Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill (Vol. 1 2003, Vol. 2 2004) and Death Proof (2007). His films have earned him Academy, BAFTA and Palme d'Or Awards and he has been nominated for Emmy and Grammy Awards. In 2007, Total Film named him the 12th greatest director of all-time.[1]

Tarantino is presently editing Inglourious Basterds, a World War II movie planned to be released at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2009.[2]

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, the son of Connie Zastoupil (née McHugh), a health care executive and nurse, and Tony Tarantino, an actor and amateur musician born in Queens, New York.[3] Tarantino's father is part Italian and his mother is Irish with part Cherokee Native American ancestry.[4][5][6] Dropping out of Narbonne High School in Harbor City, California at the age of 15, he went on to learn acting at the James Best Theatre Company. At the age of 22, he landed a job at the Manhattan Beach Video Archives, a now defunct video rental store in Manhattan Beach, California where he and fellow movie buffs like Roger Avary spent all day discussing and recommending films to customers such as actor Danny Strong.[7]

[edit] Film career

After Tarantino met Lawrence Bender at a Hollywood party, Bender encouraged Tarantino to write a screenplay. In January 1992, Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs hit the Sundance Film festival. The film garnered critical acclaim and the director became a legend in the UK and the cult film circuit. Reservoir Dogs was a dialogue-driven heist movie that set the tone for his later films. Tarantino wrote the script in three and a half weeks and Bender forwarded it to director Monte Hellman. Hellman helped Tarantino to secure funding from Richard Gladstein at Live Entertainment (which later became Artisan). Harvey Keitel read the script and also contributed to funding, took a co-producer role, and a part in the movie.[8]

Tarantino has had a number of collaborations with director Robert Rodriguez

Tarantino's screenplay True Romance was optioned and eventually released in 1993.[9] The second script that Tarantino sold was Natural Born Killers, which was revised by Dave Veloz, Richard Rutowski and director Oliver Stone. Tarantino was given story credit, and wished the film well.[10] Following the success of Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino was approached by Hollywood and offered numerous projects, including Speed and Men in Black. He instead retreated to Amsterdam to work on his script for Pulp Fiction.

After Pulp Fiction he directed episode four of Four Rooms, "The Man from Hollywood", a tribute to the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode that starred Steve McQueen. Four Rooms was a collaborative effort with filmmakers Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, and Robert Rodriguez. The film was very poorly received by critics and audiences. He appeared in and wrote the script for Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn, which saw mixed reviews from the critics yet led to two sequels, for which Tarantino and Rodriguez would only serve as executive producers.

Tarantino's third feature film[9] was Jackie Brown (1997), an adaptation of Rum Punch, a novel by Elmore Leonard. A homage to blaxploitation films, it starred Pam Grier, who starred in many of that genre's films of the 1970s. He had then planned to make the war film provisionally titled Inglorious Bastards, but postponed it to write and direct Kill Bill (released as two films, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2), a highly stylized "revenge flick" in the cinematic traditions of Wuxia (Chinese martial arts), Jidaigeki (Japanese period cinema), Spaghetti Westerns and Italian horror or giallo. It was based on a character (The Bride) and a plot that he and Kill Bill's lead actress, Uma Thurman, had developed during the making of Pulp Fiction. In 2004, Tarantino returned to Cannes where he served as President of the Jury. Kill Bill was not in competition, Kill Bill Vol. 2 had an evening screening, while it was also shown on the morning of the final day in its original 3-hour-plus version with Quentin himself attending the full screening.

The next project was Grindhouse, which he co-directed with Rodriguez. Released in theaters on April 6, 2007, Tarantino's contribution to the Grindhouse project was titled Death Proof. It began as a take on 1970s slasher films,[11] but evolved dramatically as the project unfolded. Ticket sales were low despite mostly positive reviews.

Among his current producing credits are the horror flick Hostel (which included numerous references to his own Pulp Fiction), the adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Killshot (for which Tarantino was credited as an executive producer but with the movie set for release in 2009 he is no longer associated with the project[12]) and Hell Ride (written and directed by Kill Bill star Larry Bishop). Tarantino is credited as "Special Guest Director" for his work directing the car sequence between Clive Owen and Benicio del Toro of Robert Rodriguez's 2005 neo-noir film Sin City.

Tarantino has been quoted as saying "When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, 'no, I went to films.'"[4]

[edit] Awards

Pulp Fiction won the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the 1994 Cannes film festival. That film earned Tarantino and Roger Avary Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay, and was also nominated for Best Picture.

In 2005 Quentin Tarantino won the Icon of the Decade award at the Sony Ericsson Empire Awards.

On August 15, 2007, Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo presented Tarantino with a lifetime achievement award at the Malacañang Palace in Manila.[13]

[edit] Projects

Tarantino finished writing Inglourious Basterds, the story of a group of guerrilla U.S. soldiers in Nazi occupied France during World War II. Filming began in October 2008 with a projected Summer 2009 release.[14]

Before this project, Tarantino had considered making The Vega Brothers. The film would have starred Michael Madsen reprising the role of Vic (Mr. Blonde) from Reservoir Dogs and John Travolta reprising his role of Vincent from Pulp Fiction. He decided to abandon the project because of the age of the actors. In 2007, he claimed that the Vega Brothers project (which he intended to call Double V Vega) is "kind of unlikely now".[15]

Tarantino has expressed interest in filming a much more faithful adaptation of the book Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis.

Tarantino divulged information about possible anime prequels to the Kill Bill films. These would probably center around the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, Bill or The Bride before the events of the first two films. In a recent interview with The Telegraph he mentioned an idea for a form of spaghetti western set in America's Deep South which he calls "a southern."[16] Stating that he wanted "to do movies that deal with America's horrible past with slavery and stuff but do them like spaghetti westerns, not like big issue movies. I want to do them like they're genre films, but they deal with everything that America has never dealt with because it's ashamed of it, and other countries don't really deal with because they don't feel they have the right to".[16]

Tarantino confirmed at the 2008 Provincetown International Film Festival that a full length version of Kill Bill will be released and will hopefully contain an extended "anime" section that detailed the development of Lucy Liu's character.

[edit] Television

Tarantino directed the fifth season finale to the hit show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which first aired May 19, 2005. The highly rated episode, entitled "Grave Danger", shared a very similar situation from Tarantino's second Kill Bill film: CSI Nick Stokes is captured and buried alive in a Plexiglas coffin while an Internet camera broadcasts the whole thing to CSI headquarters. (In Kill Bill Vol. 2, the Bride was also captured and buried alive in a coffin.)

The episode was delayed in being shown in the UK as the broadcast date coincided with the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London and it was felt that the depiction of a suicide bomber could cause offense. This double-length episode was released on DVD on October 10, 2005. Tarantino was nominated for an Emmy for this episode.

Tarantino directed an episode of ER called "Motherhood" that aired May 11, 1995, an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, and an episode of then-girlfriend Margaret Cho's show, All American Girl. He was featured as a guest judge on the televised singing competition American Idol for one episode during its third season. His reputation for creating memorable movie soundtracks was cited as qualifying him for the role.

Tarantino directed the season 20 (1994–1995 season) episode of the NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live hosted by John Travolta (musical guest: Seal), which featured a sketch called "Quentin Tarantino's Welcome Back, Kotter", a hybrid of the 1970s sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter and Tarantino's film Reservoir Dogs. He also hosted an episode of SNL in season 21 (1995–1996 season) with musical guest The Smashing Pumpkins.

Tarantino was originally slated to direct an episode of the X-Files, but was prevented from doing so by the Directors Guild of America. The episode, titled "Never Again," featured Scully heading to Philadelphia while Mulder was on vacation, to talk to a man who claims his tattoo is talking to him. The episode was written specifically for Tarantino to direct. The DGA contended that Tarantino, who is not a member, failed to compensate the union for lost revenue as a result of his directorial work on ER.

[edit] Acting

Although Tarantino is best known for his work behind the camera, he appeared in his own films Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Death Proof as minor characters, and co-starred alongside George Clooney in From Dusk Till Dawn. He has also appeared on the small screen in the first and third seasons of the TV show Alias. Tarantino once played an Elvis impersonator on an episode of The Golden Girls.[17] He played cameo roles in Desperado (directed by his friend Robert Rodriguez), and Little Nicky (as a crazy, blind, apocalypse preacher). In 1998, he turned his attention to the Broadway stage, where he starred in a revival of Wait Until Dark. In November 2006, an episode of the Sundance Channel's Iconoclasts features Quentin Tarantino interviewing and spending time with singer Fiona Apple. Tarantino appeared briefly in the beginning of Spike Lee's film Girl 6. Tarantino had substantial screen-time in Grindhouse's double-features, Death Proof and Planet Terror, where he respectively takes on the roles of Warren, a bartender, and The Rapist, an infected member of a rogue military unit. He starred as Johnny Destiny in the film Destiny Turns on the Radio. In 2007 he had a small role as Ringo in the Takashi Miike film Sukiyaki Western: Django.

[edit] Producer

In recent years, Tarantino has used his Hollywood power to give smaller and foreign films arguably more attention than they would otherwise have received. These films are usually labeled "Presented by Quentin Tarantino" or "Quentin Tarantino Presents". The first of these productions was in 2001 with the Hong Kong martial arts film Iron Monkey which made over $14 million in the United States, seven times its budget. In 2004 he brought the Chinese martial arts film Hero to U.S. shores. It ended up having a #1 opening at the box office and making $53.5 million. In 2006, the latest "Quentin Tarantino presents" production, Hostel, opened at #1 at the box office with a $20.1 million opening weekend, good for 8th all time in January. He presented 2006's The Protector, and is a producer of the (2007) film Hostel: Part II.

Election isn't one of "Quentin Tarantino presents...", but Tarantino loved the film so much that he still helped the DVD release of the film in some way; his quote "The Best Film Of The Year" is on this film's United States DVD cover.[18]

In addition, in 1995 Tarantino formed Rolling Thunder Pictures with Miramax as a vehicle to release or re-release several independent and foreign features. By 1997, Miramax shut down the company due to "lack of interest" in the pictures released. The following films were released by Rolling Thunder Pictures: Chungking Express (1994, dir. Wong Kar-Wai), Switchblade Sisters (1975, dir. Jack Hill), Sonatine (1993, dir. Takeshi Kitano), Hard Core Logo (1996, dir. Bruce McDonald), Mighty Peking Man (1977), Detroit 9000 (1973), The Beyond (1981, dir. Lucio Fulci) and Curdled (1996).

[edit] Style and techniques

In the opening credits to Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, he omits his own credit as writer and director. Characters in nearly all of his movies have aliases. Examples include Honey Bunny and Pumpkin from Pulp Fiction, the heist crew in Reservoir Dogs, Stuntman Mike and Jungle Julia in Death Proof, and many different characters in Kill Bill. Most of his films feature a "Mexican standoff" scene, in which three or more characters are simultaneously pointing guns at each other. This is a reference to typical spaghetti westerns, especially those directed by Sergio Leone.

Tarantino's films are renowned for their sharp dialogue, splintered chronology, and pop culture obsessions. His films have copious amounts of both spattered and flowing blood that are graphically violent in an aestheticized sense. His depictions of violence have also been noted for their casualness and macabre humour, as well as for the tension and grittiness of these scenes.

In the 2002 Sight and Sound Directors' poll, Tarantino revealed his top-twelve films: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; Rio Bravo; Taxi Driver; His Girl Friday; Rolling Thunder; They All Laughed; The Great Escape; Carrie; Coffy; Dazed and Confused; Five Fingers of Death; and Hi Diddle Diddle.[19]

He has been a supporter of Kevin Smith's work. Smith hit success with Clerks around the time Tarantino released Pulp Fiction. Tarantino cited Smith's Chasing Amy as his favorite movie of 1997.[20] In one of the Train Wreck making-of shorts for Smith's Clerks II, he invited Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez to a private screening of the film at the View Askew offices.

In August 2007, while teaching a four-hour film course during the 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival in Manila, Tarantino cited Filipino directors Cirio Santiago, Eddie Romero, and Gerardo de León as personal icons from the 1970s,[21] citing De Leon's "soul-shattering, life-extinguishing" movies on vampires and female bondage, particularly Women in Cages. "It is just harsh, harsh, harsh," he said, and described the final shot as one of "devastating despair".[21]

[edit] Music

Tarantino makes references to and features music from cult movies and television. He often features a character singing along to a song from the soundtrack, such as Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) with "Stuck in the Middle With You" by Stealer's Wheel in Reservoir Dogs and Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) with "Flowers on the Wall" by The Statler Brothers and Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) with "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" by Urge Overkill in Pulp Fiction.

He will incorporate a scene in which music is heard to fade out completely before fading back in again (known as Diegetic music), such as in Reservoir Dogs with the ear scene wherein Mr. Blonde walking to his car, then back inside to "Stuck in the Middle With You".

[edit] Storytelling

Tarantino often uses unconventional storytelling device in his films, such as retrospective, with frequent flashbacks (Reservoir Dogs), non-linear (Pulp Fiction), novelistic, "chapter" format dramaturgy (Kill Bill, Four Rooms), or time-twisting (Jackie Brown in the sequence showing what all the main characters did at the money drop in the mall or in Death Proof when he shows the car accident one time for every character involved). He guest directed a scene in Sin City which used a similar layout. (In the Reservoir Dogs DVD commentary with Quentin Tarantino, he mentions that he hates it when people say that most of his methods are "flashbacks". Flashbacks are recollections of an individual person, but the non-linear style he uses is just a different way of telling you the story and giving you the information, like a book.)

[edit] Camera angles and shots

There are a variety of camera angles and types of shots that are considered typical of a Tarantino movie. He often frames characters with doorways and shows them opening and closing doors, and he often films characters from the back. He uses widely-imitated quick cuts of character's hands performing actions in extreme closeup, a technique reminiscent of Brian De Palma.

He will use a long closeup of a person's face while someone else speaks off-screen (closeup of The Bride while Bill talks, of Butch while Marsellus talks, Ted's face when Chester talks in Four Rooms). Although he did not invent it, Tarantino popularized the trunk shot, which is featured in Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and Kill Bill. In Grindhouse (Death Proof feature), Tarantino's traditional shot looking up at the actors from the trunk of a car is replaced by one looking up from under the hood. Often he will shoot a character's feet during a key moment (such as the depressing of a car's pedals, as seen in Pulp Fiction).

[edit] Casting

Tarantino frequently casts actors with whom he has worked on previous movies, with Samuel L. Jackson having featured in the most(four):

Actor Reservoir Dogs Pulp Fiction Jackie Brown Kill Bill Death Proof Inglourious Basterds
Michael Bacall X markN X markN
Michael Bowen X markN X markN
Steve Buscemi X markN X markN
Omar Doom X markN X markN
Julie Dreyfus X markN X markN
Samuel L. Jackson X markN X markN X markN X markN
Linda Kaye X markN X markN
Harvey Keitel X markN X markN
Helen Kim X markN X markN
Michael Madsen X markN X markN
James Parks X markN X markN
Michael Parks X markN X markN
Eli Roth X markN X markN
Tim Roth X markN X markN
Uma Thurman X markN X markN

[edit] Tarantino universe

Tarantino often makes minor connections between his films, usually by reusing names, locations, and fictional brand names and business. An example of this is Tarantino's assertion that John Travolta's character in Pulp Fiction, Vincent Vega, and Michael Madsen's character in Reservoir Dogs, Vic Vega, are brothers. Harvey Keitel's character in Reservoir Dogs, Larry Dimmick/Mr. White, is also said to be related to Tarantino's character in Pulp Fiction, Jimmie Dimmick. In Death Proof, the Twisted Nerve title theme, featured in Kill Bill: Vol. 1, can be heard as a ringtone. The character Sheriff Earl McGraw appears in both Kill Bill, Vol. 1 and Death Proof, as well as From Dusk Till Dawn (written, but not directed by Tarantino) and Planet Terror (written and directed by Robert Rodriguez). The name 'Alabama' was used in Reservoir Dogs as Harvey Keitel's former female partner in crime, and in Tarantino's screenplay for True Romance, in which it was the lead female character's name. In Death Proof Stuntman Mike mentions that he once saw one of Jungle Julia's billboards at Big Kahuna Burger, the fast food place mentioned in Pulp Fiction.

Almost all of his films are set in Los Angeles (Death Proof, Kill Bill and Inglourious Basterds being notable exceptions, although Kill Bill had a minor scene taking place in Los Angeles).

[edit] Invented companies

Tarantino is known to go out of his way to avoid placement of real products and/or places in his movies, often placing fake or long-since discontinued products in scenes when the situation calls for it. An ad for Jack Rabbit Slim's, the restaurant at which characters in Pulp Fiction dine, is heard shortly before Bruce Willis/Butch enters Vincent Vega's apartment, and Red Apple cigarettes, the brand smoked by Bruce Willis/Butch and Mia Wallace (she reaches for the pack before Vincent gives her one) in Pulp Fiction has a prominent billboard in the subway in Kill Bill. Although Robert Rodriguez directed Planet Terror in Grindhouse, El Wray is tossed a pack of Red Apple cigarettes. In Death Proof, Abernathy asks Kim to get her a pack of Red Apple 'Tans' when she goes into the store. Tim Roth's Ted the Bellhop character has a half-smoked pack lying on a shelf near his belongings in Four Rooms. Freddy Rodriguez's character in Planet Terror is called El Wray, which is also the name of the place the Gecko Brothers are traveling to in Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn.

Big Kahuna Burger has been referenced in several of Tarantino's films. In Reservoir Dogs, Michael Madsen's Mr. Blond character shows up at the warehouse, the principal setting of the film, holding a soft drink from the burger joint. In Pulp Fiction, Samuel Jackson's character, Jules Winnfield, makes small talk about Big Kahuna Burger with Brett and his associates upon noticing food from there in the apartment. In From Dusk Till Dawn, Seth Gecko brings burgers from Big Kahuna Burger to the motel. Stuntman Mike from Death Proof also mentions Big Kahuna Burger in passing because Jungle Julia has a billboard next to it. In the final Four Rooms segment which Tarantino directed, Jennifer Beals's Angela character is seen sipping from a violet-colored soft-drink cup with a Big Kahuna Burger logo on it.

The cereal Fruit Brute (not fictional, but discontinued in 1983) is featured in Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Kill Bill, Vol. 1. Also, in Grindhouse, there is an ad for a non-existent Mexican restaurant called "Acuña Boys," a name given a fleeting mention in Kill Bill, Vol. 2. Characters in Death Proof are seen drinking sodas from cups with the restaurant's logo on them. A character from Jackie Brown, Sheronda has a cup with the Acuña Boys logo on it as well.

The Big Kahuna Burger and Red Apple labels and ad design were done by Jerry Martinez, an old Tarantino buddy and current Miramax employee. Martinez says that if viewers watch closely during Mr. Tarantino's "Four Rooms" sequence, an electric sign with a logo for Jack Rabbit Slims can be seen. Robert Rodriguez designed a label for a bottle of "Jose Quentin Tequila" for the scenes inside the Titty Twister saloon in From Dusk Till Dawn. The slogan on the tequila label reads, "Drink with Quentin... and die."

[edit] Other trademarks

While in general film characters are rarely shown using the bathroom, Tarantino often includes a toilet scene (e.g. Tim Roth in Reservoir Dogs, John Travolta and Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction, Christian Slater in True Romance, Juliette Lewis in From Dusk Till Dawn, Uma Thurman in Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Daryl Hannah in Kill Bill Vol. 2). In Death Proof, both Vanessa Ferlito and Rosario Dawson mention that they have to go to the toilet as well as Amanda Plummer aka Honey Bunny, "I gotta go pee!" in the final scene of Pulp Fiction.

He often includes characters dressed in black suits with white shirts and black ties: the thieves in Reservoir Dogs, John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, Pam Grier in Jackie Brown (without a tie), the Gecko brothers in From Dusk Till Dawn, the crazy 88s in Kill Bill Vol. 1. It is stated on the fact commentary on the Pulp Fiction DVD that he uses the black suits as the standard outfit that his characters wear in the way that other directors have certain outfits for their characters, like Leone's main characters usually wearing dusters.

His films often contain lines of dialogue in which a character rhymes when talking, similar to verse drama. For instance in Kill Bill vol. 1 a character introduces himself by saying: "My name is Buck, and I'm here to fuck" (which is also Robert Englund's first line in Tobe Hooper's Eaten Alive) or, in Pulp Fiction, Jules Winnefield lies: "My name's Pitt, and your ass ain't talking your way out of this shit." Also in Pulp Fiction, a bartender tells Vincent Vega "My name is Paul, and that shit's between y'all." Yet another example is when Tim Roth´s character tells Samuel L. Jackson´s in Pulp Fiction: "If you don´t take your hand off that case, then I´ma unload in your fucking face." In Kill Bill Vol. 2, Michael Madsen's character Budd says to a tied and injured Beatrix (Uma Thurman) "Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey" to wake her up.

[edit] Influences

Stanley Kubrick's The Killing is a direct influence on the fractured narrative structure (Lionel White, author of the novel Clean Break on which The Killing was based, was given a dedication in the end credits of Reservoir Dogs) while the idea of the color-coded criminals is taken from The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. The infamous ear-cutting scene in Reservoir Dogs resembles a scene in Sergio Corbucci's 1966 Spaghetti Western classic Django, in which a man's ear is cut off and fed to him before he is shot dead.

The Don Siegel version of The Killers played an influence on Pulp Fiction, and the events of the adrenaline-injection scene closely resemble a story related in Martin Scorsese's documentary American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince. The line about going "to work on homes here with a pair of pliers and a blow torch" is similar to "You know what kind of people they are. They'll strip you naked and go to work on you with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch" from another Don Siegel film, 1973's Charley Varrick.

The dancing scene in the diner is inspired by a scene in Godard's Band of Outsiders, the film after which Tarantino named his production company, though it bears very little resemblance to it at all. The misquoted Bible verse Samuel Jackson recites in Pulp Fiction can also be found in the movie Karate Kiba (a 1970s Japanese action film starring Sonny Chiba, also known as The Bodyguard), which Tarantino has mentioned in interviews with The New York Times and Positif. The title crawl of the movie contains the line:

The path of the righteous man and defender is beset on all sides by the iniquity of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper, and the finder of lost children. And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious anger, who poison and destroy my brothers; and they shall know that I am the Lord when I shall lay my vengeance upon thee.

The intro titles to Jackie Brown are a careful homage to the intro titles to The Graduate.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 is heavily influenced by the 1973 Toshiya Fujita film Lady Snowblood, in addition to some shots being virtually identical to those in Branded to Kill. The fighting scene where The Bride duels as back lit silhouettes is almost a direct copy of a similar scene in the 1998 Hiroyuki Nakano film Samurai Fiction. The Superman monologue delivered at the end of Kill Bill Vol. 2 was inspired by a passage from Jules Feiffer's 1965 book, The Great Comic Book Heroes, which Tarantino confirmed in a 2004 interview with Entertainment Weekly.

In Tarantino's Death Proof, he pays homage to 1970's sleazy exploitations car chase movies.

[edit] Theme of African American culture

The influence of African American culture is apparent in much of Tarantino's work, arguably more than Asian culture, which was more prevalent in the Kill Bill series. His references to blaxploitation films and soul music are complimentary tributes.

Tarantino has however been criticized for a too familial attitude towards other cultures. Spike Lee questions the use of racial epithets in his films, particularly the word "nigger" in True Romance, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Death Proof, and Reservoir Dogs. In an interview for Variety discussing Jackie Brown, Lee said: "I'm not against the word... and I use it, but Quentin is infatuated with the word. What does he want? To be made an honorary black man?"[22] However, Samuel L. Jackson, who has appeared in films directed by Tarantino and Lee, defended Tarantino's use of the word. At the Berlin Film Festival, where Jackie Brown was being screened, Jackson responded to Lee's criticism by saying:

I don't think the word is offensive in the context of this film. ... Black artists think they are the only ones allowed to use the word. Well, that's bull. Jackie Brown is a wonderful homage to black exploitation films. This is a good film, and Spike hasn't made one of those in a few years.[23]

Tarantino has defended his use of the word, arguing that black audiences have an appreciation of his blaxploitation-influenced films that eludes some of his critics, and, indeed, that Jackie Brown, another oft-cited example, was primarily made for "black audiences".[24]

[edit] Personal life

Tarantino worked in a video rental store prior to becoming a filmmaker, paid close attention to the types of films people liked to rent, and has cited that experience as inspiration for his directorial career. Tarantino has been romantically linked with numerous entertainers, including actress Mira Sorvino,[25] directors Allison Anders and Sofia Coppola,[26] actresses Julie Dreyfus and Shar Jackson and comedians Kathy Griffin and Margaret Cho.[27] There have also been rumors about his relationship with Uma Thurman, whom he has referred to as his "muse".[cite this quote] However, Tarantino has gone on record as saying that their relationship is strictly platonic. He has never married and has no children.

One of Tarantino's closest friends is fellow director Robert Rodriguez (the pair often refer to each other as brothers). Their biggest collaborations have been From Dusk Till Dawn (written by Tarantino, directed by Rodriguez), Four Rooms (they both wrote and directed segments of the film), Sin City and Grindhouse. It was Tarantino who suggested that Rodriguez name the final part of his El Mariachi trilogy Once Upon a Time in Mexico, as a homage to the titles Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon A Time In America by Sergio Leone. They are both members of A Band Apart, a production company that also features directors John Woo and Luc Besson. Rodriguez scored Kill Bill: Volume 2 for one dollar, and the favor was returned in kind, with Tarantino directing a scene in Rodriguez's 2005 film Sin City for the same fee. Rodriguez was responsible for introducing Tarantino to digital cinematography. Prior to this, Tarantino was a vocal supporter of using traditional film.

Tarantino is a friend of Japanese director Takashi Miike, whom he asked to perform a cameo in Eli Roth's film Hostel. As a favor for Miike doing so, Tarantino appears in the opening action sequence of Miike's movie Sukiyaki Western: Django, released in August 2007.

In a Playboy interview, he talked of smoking cannabis and using ecstasy while filming Kill Bill.[28]

He was thanked in the liner notes of Nirvana's final studio album In Utero although the spelling of his name is incorrect. Tarantino returned the favor by thanking Nirvana on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, along with the message "RIP Kurt". Is known that Cobain and his wife Courtney Love turned down an offer to act in Pulp Fiction as Lance & Jody.[29]

[edit] Filmography

Director
Feature films
Year Film Other notes
1984 My Best Friend's Birthday N/A
1992 Reservoir Dogs Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best Director
1994 Pulp Fiction Independent Spirit Award for Best Director
Nominated - Academy Award for Best Director
Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Direction
Nominated - Directors Guild of America Award
Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Director
1997 Jackie Brown
2003 Kill Bill Volume 1
2004 Kill Bill Volume 2
2007 Grindhouse: Death Proof
2009 Inglourious Basterds
Other projects
Year Title Notes
1987 My Best Friend's Birthday
1995 Four Rooms segment "The Man from Hollywood"
1995 ER Season 1; Episode 24: "Motherhood"
2004 Jimmy Kimmel Live April 20, 2004
2005 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Episodes "Grave Danger: Vols. I & II"
Nominated - Emmy Award for Best Directing - Drama
Sin City Special guest director
Writer
Year Film Other notes
1987 My Best Friend's Birthday unfinished first film
1992 Past Midnight uncredited re-write
Reservoir Dogs
1993 True Romance
1994 Pulp Fiction with Roger Avary
Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay
BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay
Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay
Natural Born Killers story credit, wrote original draft
1995 Crimson Tide uncredited re-write
Four Rooms segment "The Man from Hollywood"
1996 From Dusk Till Dawn
Curdled uncredited Gecko Brothers news report
1997 Jackie Brown adapted from Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch
2003 Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003), Vol. 2 (2004)
2005 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation "Grave Danger: Vols. I & II" story credit
Nominated - Writers Guild of America Award
2007 Grindhouse: Death Proof
2009 Inglourious Basterds Tarantino views that script as his masterpiece; "Some of the best writing [he's] ever done."[30]
Actor
Year Film Role Other notes
1987 My Best Friend's Birthday Clarence Pool
1992 Reservoir Dogs Mr. Brown
1994 Pulp Fiction Jimmie Dimmick
Sleep With Me Sid
1995 Destiny Turns On the Radio Johnny Destiny
Four Rooms Chester Rush segment "The Man from Hollywood"
Desperado Pick-up Guy
1996 From Dusk Till Dawn Richie Gecko Nominated - Golden Raspberry Award Worst Supporting Actor
Girl 6 Q.T.
1997 Jackie Brown Default Answering Machine voice
2000 Little Nicky Crazy Priest
2001 Alias McKenas Cole
2002 BaadAsssss Cinema Himself documentary
2003 Kill Bill Crazy 88 member
2004 Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession Himself documentary
2005 The Muppets' Wizard of Oz Himself as Kermit's director
2007 Grindhouse: Planet Terror Rapist #1
Grindhouse: Death Proof Warren the Bartender
Sukiyaki Western: Django Mystery Man Ringo
2008 Not Quite Hollywood Himself documentary
Producer/presenter
Year Film Other notes
1987 My Best Friend's Birthday
1992 Past Midnight
1993 Iron Monkey 2001 U.S. release
1994 Killing Zoe
1995 Four Rooms
1996 From Dusk Till Dawn
Curdled
1998 God Said, 'Ha!'
1999 From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money
2002 From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter
2002 Hero 2004 U.S. release
2005 Daltry Calhoun
Freedom's Fury
Hostel
The Protector 2006 U.S. release
2007 Grindhouse
Hostel: Part II
2008 Hell Ride
2009 Killshot
Machete
TBA Flanagan's Run

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hicks, Chris (2007-08-20). "Greatest Directors Ever - Part 2". Totalfilm.com. http://www.totalfilm.com/features/greatest-directors-ever-part-2. Retrieved on 2008-10-23. 
  2. ^ "Inglorious Basterds Begins". IGN Entertainment. 2008-10-14. http://movies.ign.com/articles/919/919660p1.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-14. 
  3. ^ "Quentin Tarantino Biography (1963-)". filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/96/Quentin-Tarantino.html. Retrieved on 2008-01-09. 
  4. ^ a b "Faces of the week". BBC. 2004-05-14. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3712013.stm. Retrieved on 2008-10-17. 
  5. ^ "3 Quentin Tarantino". Entertainment Weekly. 1994-12-30. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,305084,00.html. 
  6. ^ "The Man and His Movies". New York: Harper Perennial. pp. pg. 12. ISBN 978-006095161-0. 
  7. ^ Strong, Danny (2003-05-19). "An Interview with Danny Strong". IGN.com. http://movies.ign.com/articles/403/403660p1.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-23. 
  8. ^ Keitel heard of the script through his wife, who attended a class with Lawrence Bender (see Reservoir Dogs special edition DVD commentary)
  9. ^ a b Quentin Tarantino at the Internet Movie Database
  10. ^ Fuller, Graham (1998). "Graham Fuller/1993". in Peary, Gerald. Quentin Tarantino: Interviews. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 57–59. ISBN 1578060516. 
  11. ^ Lauchlan, Grant (2007-09-03). "Quentin Tarantino: defending Death Proof". Grant's Film Club (stv.tv). http://www.stv.tv/content/out/film/displayHotnow.html?id=opencms:/out/hotnow/films/Quentin_Tarantinox_defending_Deat_200709. Retrieved on 2008-10-23. 
  12. ^ "Killshot riding back on Rourke's Oscar vehicle?". The Quentin Tarantino Archives. 2008-11-17. http://www.tarantino.info/2008/11/17/killshot-riding-back-on-rourkes-oscar-vehicle/. 
  13. ^ "Tarantino rides pedicab to escape traffic to Philippine presidential palace". International Herald Tribune. 2007-08-15. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/15/arts/AS-A-E-Philippines-Tarantino.php. 
  14. ^ Stephenson, Hunter (2008-07-09). ""Masterpiece" is the Buzz Word". Slashfilm. http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/07/09/script-reviews-for-quentin-tarantinos-inglorious-bastards-hit-web/. 
  15. ^ Sciretta, Peter (2007-04-07). "Quentin Tarantino talks Vega Brothers, the Pulp Fiction & Reservoir Dogs sequel/prequel". Slashfilm. http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/04/07/quentin-tarantino-talks-vega-brothers-the-pulp-fiction-reservoir-dogs-sequelprequel/. 
  16. ^ a b Hiscock, John (2007-04-27). "Quentin Tarantino: I'm proud of my flop". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/04/27/bfquentin27.xml&page=1. 
  17. ^ The Golden Girls: Season Four (1988-89)
  18. ^ "Everything Tarantino Election DVD". Everythingtarantino.com. 2007-11-11. http://www.everythingtarantino.com/data/2007/1111-203539.shtml. Retrieved on 2008-10-23. 
  19. ^ How the directors and critics voted
  20. ^ Tarantino "On His Favorite Flick - 1997." ViewAskew.com.
  21. ^ a b Constantino Tejero (2007-08-12). "Tarantino raves over Pinoy B-movies". Philippine Daily Inquirer. http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/breakingnews/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=82114. 
  22. ^ Allen-Taylor, J. Douglas (1998-04-09). "New Word Order". Metroactive.com. http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/04.09.98/cover/nigger-9814.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-23. 
  23. ^ "Samuel L. Jackson blasts Spike Lee for criticizing him for using 'n-word' in 'Jackie Brown.'work=Jet". Findarticles.com. 1998-03-09. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_n15_v93/ai_21250148. Retrieved on 2008-10-23. 
  24. ^ "Quentin Tarantino interview (III) with Pam Grier, Robert Forster and Lawrence Bender". The Guardian. 1998-01-05. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/1998/jan/05/quentintarantino.guardianinterviewsatbfisouthbank. 
  25. ^ Quentin Tarantino and Mira Sorvino are history
  26. ^ Coppola and Tarantino Share Suite
  27. ^ I'm the One That I Want
  28. ^ The Playboy Interview - November 2003
  29. ^ [1]
  30. ^ Bowles, Scott (2003-10-06). "Tarantino goes for the 'Kill'", USA Today, Gannett Company.

[edit] Further reading

  • Greene, Richard and K. Silem Mohammad, editors. Quentin Tarantino and Philosophy. Chicago: Open Court Books, 2007. ISBN 0812696344.

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Tarantino, Quentin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tarantino, Quentin Jerome
SHORT DESCRIPTION American film director, actor, and Academy Award-winning screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH March 27, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Knoxville, Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

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