Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Tarantino: The Man behind the Camera


Quentin Tarantino was born March 27, 1963 in Knoxville, Texas to his single mother, Connie Tarantino. Even as a young boy, Tarantino seemed to have a love and passion for movies. He spent all his time watching movies and reading comics. He hated school and would often watch movies instead of doing his homework. (Wild) Unsurprisingly, he dropped out of ninth grade and took on a series of odd jobs to fill his time. His passions for film drove him to work film-related jobs. One in particular was an usher at an adult film theatre. He also took acting lessons. (Quentin Tarantino Bio) Eventually he ended up at Video Archives, a video store in Manhattan Beach. He worked there for five years, feeding his love for watching and talking about movies. Tarantino paid attention to films people liked to watch and what they thought of them. He soaked himself in pop culture, and his extensive pop culture knowledge would later be used to make obscure references of other films, people, and events in his own movies. Tarantino once said “’People ask me if I went to film school, and I tell them, 'No, I went to films.'" He also met Roger Avary at Video Archives and they bonded over their mutual love for film. (Wild) They partnered together to produce several films including My Best Friend’s Birthday, Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.
After his days at Video Archives, Tarantino set out to turn his love for watching and talking about films into actually making them. In 1984 he co-directed My Best Friend's Birthday. (Wild) It was ignored until years later after Tarantino had become a successful director, where the surviving 36 out of 70 minutes were shown at film festivals. Although the film was his first, it demonstrated both his signature style and passion for acting (as he played the leading role). (Quentin Tarantino Bio)
 His first official film was Reservoir Dogs in 1992. It incorporated Tarantino’s flair for violence, gore, harsh language, and cultural references into a suspenseful heist movie. It set the tone for his later films as well. He used many themes in several of his movies, of which begin in Reservoir Dogs, such as briefcases and suitcases, trunk shots, long unbroken takes, a restaurant scene, dark humor, nonlinear storylines, and actors to be featured in multiple films such as Tim Roth, and Harvey Keitel. It grossed only $2.8 million at the box office in 61 theatres. (Reservoir Dogs)
His next major film, Pulp Fiction, in 1994 premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May and was an immediate hit. It played in small film festivals until October when it went into general release. With a budget of $18.5 million, it grossed $107 million in the U.S. making it the first independent film to do so. (Pulp Fiction, Erlewine) It was similar to Reservoir Dogs in that it was just as shocking, gory, and well received by the general public. In addition, both of these movies spawned a conversation about violence in movies, particularly in Tarantino’s where it seems to run as a general theme. Many critics claimed Tarantino’s violence and racism could not be taken seriously as the entire movie takes on a mocking tone. It is not meant to be offensive by means of absurdity and humor. While others believed that strong movie violence is linked to violence in real life. Tarantino’s later films, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill (Vols. 1 & 2), Grindhouse, Inglourious Basterds, and Django Unchained each follow the in the same path that is Tarantino’s style. They are all iconic, violent, vulgar, and gory. Between all eight of his films, an estimated 560 people have died on screen. (Erlewine)
Tarantino is often asked what influenced him when he writes and directs films. In December of 2012, Tarantino claimed that his writing has been most influenced by "a combination of Elmore Leonard, David Mamet, and Richard Pryor". He went on to say that these men all helped him "find his voice, dialogue, and character voices". (Tarantino) In 1997, Tarantino adapted Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch into his film Jackie Brown, which was strongly influenced by blaxploitation. (Steritt) Apart from writing, Tarantino also derives inspiration from films. In 2012, Tarantino revealed his top 12 films to be Apocalypse Now, The Bad News Bears, Carrie, Dazed and Confused, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Great Escape, His Girl Friday, Jaws, Pretty Maids All in a Row, Rolling Thunder, Sorcerer, and Taxi Driver. (Greatest Films Poll)
Tarantino is famous for both his passion and ability to make movies. From the year 1994 to 2013, he has been nominated for thirty-four awards and won eleven of them including the Palme d'Or of the Cannes Film Festival and Best Screenplay from the Golden Globes, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, BAFTA, and the Academy Awards. He has made many great movies in his twenty-year career, most of them showcasing Tarantino's expression of violence through some medium. In 2013 in an interview with Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Tarantino explains why he puts violence in his films saying its “just good cinema” and many of his fans and critics agree with him.



Works Cited
Beggs, Alexandra. “Down for the Count.” Vanity Fair. 13 Feb. 2013. Web.  10 Jun. 2013. http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/02/quentin-tarantino-deaths-movies
Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. “Quentin Tarontino.” The New York Times. All Media Guide n.d. Web. 11 Jun. 2013. <http://movies.nytimes.com/person/113658/Quentin-Tarantino/biography>
“The Greatest Films Poll: Quentin Tarantino.” British Film Institute. n.d. Web. 12 Jun. 2013. <http://explore.bfi.org.uk/sightandsoundpolls/2012/voter/1134>
“Pulp Fiction.” Box Office Mojo. n.p. n.d. Web 12 Jun 2013. <http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=pulpfiction.htm>
“Reservoir Dogs.” Box Office Mojo. n.p. n.d. Web 12 Jun 2013. <http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=reservoirdogs.htm>
Tarantino, Quentin. “Quentin Tarantino's 3 Writers That Influenced His Personal "Voice." SiriusXM Radio SiriusXM, 10 Dec, 2013. Web. 12 Jun. 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFlX-fsPWwQ>
Tarantino, Quentin. “Quentin Tarantino: 'I'm shutting your butt down!'” Channel 4 News. Channel 4. 10 Jan. 2013. Web. 13 Jun. 2013. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrsJDy8VjZk>
Thompson, Anne, and Kate Meyers. "`I'm As Serious As A Heart Attack'." Entertainment Weekly 247 (1994): 36. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 June 2013.
"Quentin Tarantino." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Web. 11 Jun. 2013. <http://www.biography.com/people/quentin-tarantino-9502086>
 “Quenton Tarantino Biography”. StarPulse n.d. Web. 11 Jun. 2013. <http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Tarantino,_Quentin/Biography/>
"QUENTIN TARANTINO: The Man, The Myths And His Movies." Kirkus Reviews 75.22 (2007): 1186-1187. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 June 2013.
Sterritt, David. "`Jackie Brown' Reveals A Different Quentin Tarantino." Christian Science Monitor 90.27 (1998): 10. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 June 2013.
Wild, David. "Quentin Tarantino." Rolling Stone 694 (1994): 76. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 June 2013.

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