Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Jerome Tarantino (Knoxville, Tennessee, March 27, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor, and actor.

His career began in the late 1980s, when he wrote and directed My Best Friend's Birthday —a short film whose script would form the basis of the plot of the film True Romance , by Tony Scott (1993) and which was partially destroyed during a fire. In 1992 he began his career as an independent filmmaker with the premiere of Reservoir Dogs, considered by Empire magazine as "the best independent film of all time".^{[ citation needed]} His popularity only grew with his second feature, Pulp Fiction (1994), an anthology black comedy that became a huge blockbuster hit. critical and public, as well as a fundamental piece of popular culture. The weekly Entertainment Weekly named it the best film released between 1983 and 2008, and some critics of the British Film Institute placed it at number 127 of the best films of all time. In Jackie Brown (1997), Tarantino paid homage to the blaxploitation genre.

Six years later, in the film divided into two parts, Kill Bill (2003-2004), Tarantino offered a tale of revenge that combines cinematographic traditions of kung-fu cinema, Japanese martial arts, spaghetti western and Italian horror (giallo). In 2007 he directed Death Proof, together with his friend Robert Rodriguez, and two years later he premiered a long-postponed and critically acclaimed project, Inglourious Basterds, which recounts a uchronia about two separate plans to assassinate the political leaders of Nazi Germany. of the Civil War, and with a collection of 425 million dollars it rose as his highest-grossing film at the box office. In his eighth feature, The Hateful Eight (2015), he pays homage to the big-budget westerns of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as being shot on 70mm. Four years later, Tarantino would make a big comeback with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). The story centers on the life of down-on Hollywood actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his friend and stunt double, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Parallel to the main plot, fragments of the life of actress Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and members of the Manson Family cult, led by Charles Manson, are narrated.

Tarantino's cinema has been praised by critics and has enjoyed the favor of the general public, which has made it a commercial success. For this reason, he has received numerous awards, such as two Oscars, two Globes of Gold, two BAFTA awards and the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2005 Time magazine included him in its list of the 100 most influential people and filmmaker and historian Peter Bogdanovich also stated that he is "the most influential director of his generation". In December 2015, Tarantino received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the film industry.

Early Years

He was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1963, the son of Tony Tarantino, a Queens-born amateur actor and musician, and Connie McHugh, a nurse. His father is of Italian descent (his great-grandfather was originally from Palermo) and his His mother is of English, Irish, and German descent; Tarantino has claimed he is of Cherokee ancestry on his mother's side, although this has not been verified. Tarantino's name refers to a character in a television series, the blacksmith half-blood Quint played by Burt Reynolds in Gunsmoke. He was raised by his mother, as his parents separated before he was born. When he was two years old, they moved to Torrance, south of Los Angeles, and later to the Harbor City neighborhood, where he attended Fleming Junior High School. in Lomita, and took drama classes. His neighborhood was a mix of people of different races, so he was exposed to a wide variety of cinematographic and popular culture influences, such as martial arts films, which followed putting on black neighborhoods after kung-fu fever moved elsewhere. Tarantino managed to continue seeing them well into the 1970s. He attended Narbonne High School in Harbor City for a year before dropping out at age 15 to devote himself full-time to acting classes at the James Best Theater Company. in Toluca Lake.

He went to work at the Video Archives video store in Manhattan Beach with other movie enthusiasts, including Roger Avary, where they discussed movies and customer recommendations. He paid close attention to the types of movies people liked to rent and has cited the experience as inspiration for his directing career. Tarantino himself has said, "When people ask me if I went to the film school I tell them: no, I went to the movies'".

Film career

Beginning to write with Avary and other friends, he spent several frustrating years writing and trying to get off the ground on two scripts that were intended to be his directorial debut. Partly as a result of how difficult it was to make a "real movie" for an unknown writer as director, he wrote Reservoir Dogs in 1991, intending it to be the most minimalist project imaginable: the story of an armed robbery in which the robbery takes place off screen, pages and pages of dialogue that need a single set. It was intended to be an extremely cheap 16mm film with Tarantino and his friends at Video Archives playing all the roles. Fortunately, ambitious producer Lawrence Bender read the script for Reservoir Dogs, was fascinated by it, and asked Tarantino to give him a month to try and turn it into that "real movie". It was Bender who pitched the script to actor Harvey Keitel, and it was his enthusiasm that attracted several good actors and, ultimately, a decent budget for the production. Shot in less than a month in Los Angeles, with an exceptional cast that included Keitel himself (who also co-produced it), Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Lawrence Tierney, Chris Penn and Tarantino himself. Reservoir Dogs was a huge success, first at the Sundance Film Festival and then around the world.

Tarantino was suddenly all the rage, and the two scripts he had been working on before Reservoir Dogs sold out quickly: True Romance. point blank range, 1992, directed by Tony Scott) and Natural Born Killers (Born Killers, rewritten and directed by Oliver Stone in 1993). He was also offered some projects, such as Speed and Men in Black, but he preferred to retire to Amsterdam to work on his script for Pulp Fiction, a fictional collage performed by John Travolta and Uma Thurman released in 1994, which meant another success for Tarantino and several award nominations, including the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and the Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA at the best original screenplay

Following this he directed the fourth episode of Four Rooms, The Man From Hollywood, a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. The rest of the episodes of the film were directed by Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell and Robert Rodriguez. He acted in and wrote the screenplay for From Dusk Till Dawn , a feature film directed by his friend Robert Rodriguez, which spawned two sequels, in which Tarantino and Rodríguez only served as executive producers.

His third film was Jackie Brown, in 1997, which he wrote and directed. It was an adaptation of Rum Punch, a novel by Elmore Leonard. An homage to blaxploitation movies, starring Pam Grier, who starred in many of the genre's films in the '70s, earning her both Golden Globe and SAG Award nominations for her role, and the Co-star Robert Foster was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category. This unique cast was completed by Samuel L. Jackson (also nominated for a Golden Globe), Robert De Niro, Bridget Fonda and Michael Keaton.

Quentin Tarantino and Diane Kruger at the Oscars ceremony 2010.

He had planned to follow up with a war movie tentatively titled Inglourious Basterds, but put it off to write and direct Kill Bill (released in two parts, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2), a revenge film that drew elements from Wuxia (Chinese martial art), Jidaigeki (Japanese film genre), and spaghetti westerns. The protagonist of the film was based on the character (the Bride) and the plot that Uma Thurman and he had developed during the filming of Pulp Fiction. In 2005 Tarantino was a guest director in Sin City, a film directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez. In it he directs the car scene starring Clive Owen and Benicio del Toro.

His next project was Grindhouse, co-directed with Robert Rodriguez and released in 2007. Tarantino directed the segment titled Death Proof. His performance in theaters was not as expected despite having a favorable review.

This was followed by the film Inglourious Basterds, a story about a group of American soldiers in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Filming began in October 2008. The film was released on August 21, 2009 (in the United States), garnering very positive reviews and reaching the number one worldwide grossing position. It is Tarantino's highest grossing film ever. both in the United States and globally.

In 2011 production began on Django Unchained, a film about Django, an ex-slave who is rescued by a bounty hunter with whom he goes to rescue his wife from the owner of a large plantation. The film arose from Tarantino's desire to make a spaghetti western set in the American Deep South, which Tarantino has called a "southern," stating: "I wanted to make films that dealt with the horrible past of America with slavery and stuff, but like spaghetti westerns do, not like movies about a big problem. I want to do it like they're genre movies, but they deal with everything that America has never dealt with because they're ashamed of it, and other countries don't deal with it because they don't feel they have the right to." Tarantino finished the script on April 26, 2011, and turned it over to The Weinstein Company. Christoph Waltz was cast as a German bounty hunter. Will Smith and Idris Elba were rumored for the title role, but Jamie was eventually cast. Foxx was chosen to play Django. Also in the cast was Samuel L. Jackson, as Stephen, a faithful slave; and Leonardo DiCaprio in the role of Calvin Candy, the owner of the Candyland plantation, the main antagonist in the film. It premiered on December 25, 2012.

In November 2013 Tarantino commented that he was working on a new film, another western, and that it would not be a sequel to Django. On January 12, 2014, its title was revealed to be The Hateful Eight. Its production should have started in the summer of 2014, but after the script was leaked, Tarantino considered not making the film and publishing a novel instead. He commented that the script had only been left to a few people, including Bruce Dern, Tim Roth and Michael Madsen, actors who would be in the film. It premiered in the United States on December 25, 2015, and it did so in Spain on January 15, 2016. The story revolves around a blizzard in the Wyoming mountains and how, fleeing from it, they find themselves in the same stagecoach a bounty hunter, John Ruth "the gallows" (Kurt Russell), with his prisoner Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Oscar nominee for this role); an Afro-descendant bounty hunter, Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) and the supposed sheriff of the town where they are going, Red Rock, named Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins). Subsequently, the four passengers and the coachman O.B. Jackson (James Parks) arrive at Minnie's Haberdashery. The Mexican Bob (Demian Bichir) comments that the owner of the place is absent and he runs the business in the meantime. So they shelter in place along with the aforementioned Bob; a British man named Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), who is the town's executioner; cowboy Joe Gage (Michael Madsen) and a Confederate general, the elderly Sanford Smithers (Bruce Dern). The tensions between the characters and their different interests and ideologies will cause an icy, bloodthirsty and aesthetically Tarantinian, albeit progressive, chain reaction. Among the actors that make up the cast, we should also mention Channing Tatum.

In the summer of 2018, he began filming his ninth film. It was scheduled to be released on August 9, 2019 (the 50th anniversary of the Charles Manson murders), but it was finally released on July 26, 2019 and August 15, 2019 in Spain. The story takes place in Los Angeles in 1969, at the height of the hippie counterculture and transition period between the golden Hollywood of the 50s and 60s to the New Hollywood of the late 60s and early 70s. The two characters The main characters are Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), former television star of the western series Bounty Law, and his stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), a war veteran. Both struggle to make it in a Hollywood they no longer recognize, but Rick has a very famous neighbor... Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie). With Miramax and The Weinstein Company off the map over dozens of sexual abuse and assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein, every production company wanted in on the project and after a fight between Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures, finally Sony was the lucky one. The film shows three different social strata in the Hollywood industry. Sharon Tate is not yet a movie star but she is emerging as such, she is a rising star and at the same time she is married to Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha), one of the most sought-after New Hollywood directors in the world and is surrounded by big stars like Steve McQueen (Damian Lewis). On the other hand, Rick Dalton was a television star with the western series Bounty Law, as well as starring in the war film The 14 Fists of McCluskey and participating in other westerns and series. Although he continues to act, participating as a villain in episodes of television series such as The Green Hornet , starring Bruce Lee (Mike Moh) or FBI . He is currently working on Lancer, directed by Sam Wanamaker (Nicholas Hammond) and starring Wayne Maunder (Luke Perry) as Scott Lancer and James Stacy (Timothy Olyphant) as Johnny Madrid. Also involved is child actress Trudi Fraser (Julia Butters). Although his career is at a standstill, he continues to live in his Beverly Hills mansion. Finally, Cliff Booth represents that group of people who work in Hollywood but are not stars and do not live in Los Angeles, he lives in the suburbs in a trailer with his dog Brandy. Another very important element of the film is The Manson Family that on August 9, 1969 murdered Sharon Tate, as well as her friend Jay Sebring (Emile Hirsch), Abigail Folger and Wojciech Frykowski. The film has been described as a love letter to the cinema and to the city of Los Angeles and as a game of mirrors within the film industry itself at the time. Furthermore, the film dances between comedy and drama, as well as featuring many elements of spaghetti western and horror movies. Other actors in the film include: Al Pacino as Marvin Schwarz, Rick Dalton's agent; Bruce Dern as George Spahn, owner of the ranch where the Manson Family lived (this role was to be played before Burt Reynolds passed away); Kurt Russell as Randy Brooks, the stunt coordinator for The Green Hornet; Zoe Bell as Janet, Randy's wife; Austin Butler, Mikey Madison, and Madisen Beaty as the assassins Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel, respectively; Damon Herriman as Charles Manson; Margaret Qualley as Pussycat and Dakota Fanning as Squeaky Fromme, among others.

Producer

In recent years, Tarantino has used his power in Hollywood to give small and foreign films more attention than they would otherwise receive. These films are usually labeled "Presented by Quentin Tarantino" or "Quentin Tarantino Presents". The first of these productions was the 2001 Hong Kong martial arts film Iron Monkey, which grossed over $14 million in the United States, seven times its budget. In 2004 he brought the Chinese martial arts film Hero to the United States. It went on to reach #1 grossing in its opening at the box office earning $53.5 million. In 2006, the last production "Quentin Tarantino Presents", Hostel, reached #1 at the box office on its opening weekend with an initial gross of $20.1 million. In 2006 he presented Thai Dragon, and is also a producer of the movie Hostel: Part II (2007). In 2008 he produced Hell Ride (written and directed by Larry Bishop, who appeared in Kill Bill Vol. 2 ). He was also a producer on the adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel, Killshot (where he is credited as executive producer, although Tarantino was not associated with the film as of its 2009 release). to the film The Man with the Iron Fists, RZA's directorial debut, which was released on November 2, 2012 in the United States

In addition, in 1995 Tarantino created Rolling Thunder Pictures along with Miramax as a vehicle to release or re-release various independent and foreign films. In 1997, Miramax closed the company due to "lack of interest" in published films. The following films were published 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), The Mighty Peking Man (1977, dir. Ho Meng-Hua), Detroit 9000 (1973, dir. Arthur Marks), The Beyond (1981, dir. Lucio Fulci) and Curdled (1996, dir. Reb Braddock).

Other potential projects

Prior to Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino had thought about making a film about the Vega brothers, which would feature Michael Madsen and John Travolta reprising their roles as Vic Vega (Mr. Rubio) from Reservoir Dogs and Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction. However, in 2007, due to the age of the actors and the deaths of both on-screen characters, he stated that the project (which he had intended to call it Double V Vega) "is very unlikely now".

In 2009, in an interview for Italian television, after being asked about the success of the two Kill Bill films, Tarantino said: "I have not been asked about the third one& #34;, and hinted that he was going to make a third Kill Bill film with the words "The Bride will fight again!". Later that year, at the Festival International Film Festival of Morelia, Tarantino announced that he would like to make the film Kill Bill: Vol. 3. He explained that he wanted to let ten years pass between her girlfriend's last conflict, in order to give her and her daughter a period of peace.

Personal life

Tarantino has been romantically linked to American actress Mira Sorvino, film directors Allison Ander and Sofia Coppola, actress Julie Dreyfus, and comedians Kathy Griffin and Margaret Cho. He was in a four-year relationship with Australian actress of Turkish origin Didem Erol. There have also been rumors about his relationship with Uma Thurman, whom he referred to as “his muse.” However, Tarantino has claimed that their relationship is strictly platonic.

Tarantino stated: "I'm not saying I'm never going to get married or have a kid before I'm 60. But I have made the decision, for now, to go this way alone. This is my time to make movies.” He has also stated that he plans to retire from the world of cinema at the age of 60, to focus on writing novels and film literature. He also opposes the move towards digital in the film industry, saying, "If there comes a day where you can't see 35mm movies in theaters and it's all digital projection, I'm not even going to make it to 60.".

On February 18, 2010, Tarantino purchased the New Beverly Cinema, an old repertory theater dating from the 1920s. Tarantino allowed the current owners to continue to run the theater, but will occasionally make programming suggestions. Tarantino said, "As long as I'm alive, and as long as I'm rich, the New Beverly will be there, showing movies shot on 35mm."

On June 30, 2017, Tarantino became engaged to Israeli singer Daniella Pick. They met when Tarantino was in Israel promoting Inglourious Basterds in 2009. They married on November 28, 2018 in a Jewish ceremony. In August 2019, he announced that he would be a father for the first time. son was born on February 22, 2020. In February 2022 it was made public that his wife was pregnant for the second time. His daughter was born on July 2, 2022. The couple resides in Ramat Aviv Gimel, Tel Aviv.

Disputes

Harvey Weinstein

In October 2017, Tarantino spoke in an interview for The New York Times about sexual harassment allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein, with whom Tarantino had worked on most of his films. Tarantino admitted that he had known about Weinstein's conduct since at least the mid-1990s, when his girlfriend at the time, Mira Sorvino, told him about her experience with Weinstein. Tarantino criticized his own lack of action regarding the Weinstein's conduct and admitted that he "knew enough to do more than I did". American author Anthony Bourdain accused Tarantino of being complicit in the Weinstein sexual abuse scandals.

Roman Polanski

In February 2018, audio was rebroadcast of a 2003 interview on The Howard Stern Show during which Tarantino defended Roman Polański regarding his 1977 sexual assault case. Tarantino stated: "He did not rape a 13-year-old girl. It was rape. For me, when the word rape is used, it refers to violence". He said the victim, Samantha Geimer, was "willing to party with Roman"; and & # 34; she wanted to do it & # 34;.

After these statements were widely circulated, Tarantino apologized, stating: 'Ms. Geimer was raped by Roman Polański. When Howard mentioned Polański I incorrectly played devil's advocate in the debate just to be provocative... So, Ms. Geimer, I was ignorant, insensitive, and above all, incorrect.

Racial Epithets

Spike Lee questioned Tarantino's use of racial epithets in his films, most notably the offensive racial epithet "nigger". In an interview with Variety about Jackie Brown, Lee said: 'I'm not against the word, and I do use it, but not excessively. And some people talk like that, but Quentin is in love with the word. What is it that he wants? Make him an honorary black?" Tarantino responded on the Charlie Rose talk-show by stating:

As a writer, I demand the right to write anything in the world I want to write. I demand the right to be them, I demand the right to think of them and demand the right to tell the truth of how I see them, okay? And saying I can't do that because I'm white, but Hughes brothers can do it because they're black, that's racist. That's the heart of racism. And I don't accept that... It's like a segment of the black community that lives in Compton, which lives in Inglewood, where the action takes place Jackie BrownThat's how they talk. I'm telling the truth. He didn't question whether I was black, and it bothers me to be asked because I'm white. I have a right to tell the truth. I have no right to lie.

Samuel L. Jackson, who has appeared in films by both directors, defended Tarantino's use of the floor, also saying he was tired of Lee acting like he was an elected official and could speak for everyone. Black people. At the Berlin Film Festival, where Jackie Brown was being shown, Jackson responded to Lee's criticism, saying:

I don't think the word is offensive in the context of this film... Black artists think they're the only ones allowed to use the word. Well, that's nonsense. Jackie Brown It's a wonderful homage to movies. blaxploitation. It's a good movie, and Spike hasn't made a good movie for years. If I say the word, it's okay, but because Tarantino has written it, isn't it okay?

Tarantino has defended his use of the word, arguing that black audiences have an appreciation of blaxploitation films, which influenced him so much, that escapes some of his critics, and, in fact, that Jackie Brown, was made primarily for "black audiences".

According to a 1995 Premiere magazine article, actor Denzel Washington also clashed with Tarantino over his use of racial slurs in his films, though he added that he considered him a "great man. artist".

Influences and style

Robert Rodriguez and Tarantino in 2007. Both have collaborated in several films

Tarantino has created his own unique style, which combines the styles of his favorite genres, making him one of the purest recent Auteurs.^{[citation required]} He expresses his films exactly from his point of view: for example, in Kill Bill, he combined the style of Sonny Chiba's kung fu movies and Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns. Tarantino is the first to say that he is heavily inspired in plot and style by his favorite movies; and he manages to pay homage to them, but even so his films have their own unique touch.^{[citation needed]} Music is also a very important part of his filming style, and has been recognized for this with the Music and Film award at the Critics' Choice Awards in 2011.

In 2002, in Sight & Sound, Tarantino revealed his twelve favorite films: The good, the bad and the ugly ; Rio Bravo; Taxi Driver; His Girl Friday; The Korean Express; Everyone laughed; The Great Escape; Carrie; Coffy; Dazed and Confused; Five Fingers of Death; and Homeless Married.In 2009 he stated that Kinji Fukasaku's action film Battle Royale was his favorite movie released since he became a director at 1992.

Tarantino's first feature film, Reservoir Dogs, was influenced by the Coen brothers' Blood Simple both in the idea of crowdfunding the project and in its genre: "I wanted it to be an art film based on genre films, like Blood Simple", Tarantino explained.

In August 2007, while teaching a four-hour filmmaking course during the 9th Cinemaila International Film Festival in Manila, Tarantino cited Filipino directors Cirio Santiago, Eddie Romero and Gerardo de León as personal icons of the decade from the 1970s, citing De León's vampire and women's slavery films, especially the film Woman in cages, and described the final scene as "devastating despair".

Actor Steve Buscemi has described Tarantino's style of filmmaking as "full of energy" and "concentrated," a style that has garnered him much acclaim around the world. On humor, Tarantino has said: 'One of the things I try to do [in my movies] is get people to laugh at things that aren't funny. I'm not saying I write it as a comedy, but there are laughs there.

When asked if it is possible to learn filmmaking and directing movies simply by watching movies and without formal studies, he replied:

You know, it's funny, for me most film schools don't teach you what you need to create your own aesthetic, your own style. And actually part of becoming an artist is discovering your style. They can teach you to synchronize the soundtrack with the images, or they might teach you some different editing tricks or "Oh, you can do this with a camera" and they'll show you some movies. But part of becoming an artist is to discover your style, when you start "I like this, but I don't like this another...". But then you start to realize the difference between a good job and a bad job, not just "I like this, but I don't like this another...". And then you begin to refine your style, and it's just putting it into practice.

Filmography

Manager

Actor

Short Films

Recurring collaborators

Awards and nominations

Oscars

Tarantino in the 2014 César Awards.

Golden Globes

BAFTA Awards

Emmy Awards

Cannes Film Festival

Sitges Film Festival

Grammy Awards

Golden Raspberry Awards

Other

• Reservoir Dogs won. Critics Award at the 4th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in 1993.
• In 2005, Quentin Tarantino won the award Icon of the Decade in the 10th edition of the Empire Awards.
• On 15 August 2007, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gave Tarantino a prize for her career at the Palace of Malacañán in Manila.
• In March 2010, Tarantino was awarded with the Order of the Merit of the Republic of Hungary together with Lucy Liu and Andy Vajna for the production of the 2006 documentary Freedom's Fury.
• In February 2011, Tarantino received an Honorary Caesar from the French Film Academy.
• In 2011 he received the award Music and Film (music and cinema) at the Critics' Choice Awards.

Reception and criticism