Film Biography: Quentin Tarantino

An in-depth look at one of the most enigmatic and gifted directors ever to grace the film industry and the films that show just how good he is.

As you may now have realised, we at Scrambled Pixel rather admire Quentin Tarantino. Personally, I regard him as one of the most inventive and creative people in the film industry. He brings no-holds-barred, completely engaging and excellent cinematic experiences to our screens. Of the seven main feature films he has directed up to now not a single one of them could be considered below par. From Reservoir Dogs to Inglourious Basterds, he in my eyes has revolutionised the way films are made and seen in the current generation.

He creates believable characters using actors who slip into their roles like an old pair of shoes. Mixing brilliant characterisation with extraordinarily ordinary dialogue & sublime soundtracks he makes each one of his films a unique experience to watch. Today some people still regard Pulp Fiction as the best film ever made. Reservoir Dogs brought several actors together to create an adrenaline-fuelled crime thriller few can match. His non-linear approach to storytelling is a breath of fresh air and it works as it makes you put the pieces of the story together keeping you involved throughout.

Films these days in my opinion don’t use narrative to tell their tales as much as they used to. The use of special effects seems to be more of a necessity than a luxury, directors like Steven Soderbergh and Michael Bay seeing special effects as the key way of bringing their films to life as opposed to the story. The narrative is pretty much the only thing that every film needs and it’s being deprioritised in more and more films. You may not agree but you only have to watch films like 2012, Transformers 2 and Final Destination to see some directors now favouring modern technology. James Cameron is a shining exception: he incorporates special effects into his films quite religiously but he also takes into account the story, the subplots, the characters, the dialogue, the music, the camera angles and every other aspect you can think of. He is meticulous in his direction and creation and along with the likes of Hitchcock, Kubrick, Spielberg and of course Tarantino I rank him as one of the best directors around.

Note that this article isn’t about my favourite directors of all time and the way films are made. It’s about the enigmatic Quentin Tarantino and what he’s done with one of the most enviable jobs in the industry.

The magic began when Quentin was just 16 years old. Him and his friend would make small animated films and after he went to a theatre company for a spell he worked at a film rental shop. His passion for films and film-making alike drove him into the film industry and after meeting film producer Lawrence Bender and collaborating with him to write what eventually became True Romance, he went on to direct his first big feature film, Reservoir Dogs.

Released in 1992, Reservoir Dogs was a simplistic heist movie that first bore several of Tarantino’s trademarks. The dialogue-heavy, non-linear, darkly humorous and musically exceptional film was the first big step for Tarantino and it proved to be after a long time a cult classic (much like several other Tarantino projects). It’s controversiality and particular brutal scenes were quite sensational for audiences.

It was perhaps due to the uncensored gory nature of it. Tarantino made his film shocking and brutally honest: it was definitely not “kosher”…

Precluding his defining film, Tarantino’s screenplay for Tony Scott’s unconventional love story True Romance was envisioned. On the DVD extras Tarantino commented that he had a darker, more anti-happy ending but it didn’t feel right to use it. Still, both endings would have worked because everything in True Romance was excellent.

At its worst it was better than many films and whilst Tony Scott was directing the film those touches of Tarantino that made Reservoir Dogs so good shone through – particularly the penultimate scene.

The next year was to be Tarantino’s finest hour though, with Pulp Fiction. Released in 1994 from Tarantino and Bender’s production studio A Band Apart along with Miramax, Pulp Fiction was a slightly more complex crime film than Reservoir Dogs that featured several side-by-side narratives shown in a non-linear structure. Using dialogue as the epicentre of the film, Tarantino created an iconic film.

Again, he used subtle humor along with blunt and visually graphic violence and multiple references to several things to create a highly entertaining film. Lots of people have described the film in lots of ways (neo-noir, postmodern, american graffiti, dark comedy) but one description I feel fits more than most: Pulp Fiction’s intertextuality is where it really stands out: Tarantino “can’t help himself” (Gary Groth – The Comics Journal), and throughout the movie many references to pop culture, other genres of film, comics, cinema in general, television. It’s almost a case of “you name it, it’s probably in there somewhere” with Pulp Fiction: even for someone as young as me, they scream out to you at times but it never feels like it’s too much.

Add in the mysterious pieces of the film as additions, such as Butch’s gold watch, Jules’ now iconic Bible passage and Marsellus’s briefcase and plaster and you have the making of possibly the greatest cult classic ever made. Pulp Fiction is nothing short of incredible and even at its most tasteless (“get the gimp”) it never falters.

The next year saw Tarantino get his first real big thirst for acting, starring as Johnny Destiny in the 1995 film Destiny Turns on the Radio. Having not seen this film I cannot comment on its quality but looking at how it was received I’d say it was probably a coffee stain on Tarantino’s career.

Tarantino thankfully did have one thing to take away from 1995: he played a part in the direction of the quirky comedy Four Rooms. Tim Roth (from Reservoir Dogs might I add) leads the way in the film as a bellboy working in a classy hotel on New Year’s Eve. He has to deal with four different rooms with four different dilemmas. The film as a product flopped and that probably comes as no surprise since I’m betting very few nowadays will know of this film’s existence.

It’s a shame it flopped because Tarantino and his film-making friend Robert Rodriguez show their capabilities as screenwriters & directors with two very well orchestrated sequences. The film is very much a package film and its these two that make the best part of it. Two other small time directors created their own rooms but saving the best until last is highly applicable here, because The Misbehavers and The Man From Hollywood are far and away the best parts. They give the film strength and if you have the perserverance to sit through the first half which is what many would probably describe as “awful” then your patience will be rewarded.

Antonio Banderas, Bruce Willis and Quentin Tarantino himself star in the latter half and all of them give excellent performances. Even Salma Hayek (who the next year partnered up with Banderas for Desperado) cameos along with Marisa Tomei, Kathy Griffin, producer Lawrence Bender and Madonna (her individual performance won herself a Razzie (and perhaps rightly so…)). Four Rooms was distributed by Miramax and the studio behind it was A Band Apart, so in some respect Quentin Tarantino had an even bigger part behind the camera as he did in front of it.

Tarantino showed that his acting roles in Four Rooms and Destiny Turns on the Radio weren’t going to be his last, having a sizeable cameo in Robert Rodriguez’ second Mariachi film in the Pulp Western trilogy, Desperado before going on to play criminal Richie Gecko in the vampire action horror From Dusk Till Dawn, also directed by Rodriguez.

From Dusk Till Dawn was probably a bigger film for Tarantino, as he not only starred as one of the main characters but also wrote the screenplay (his film studio A Band Apart were behind it too). Some definitely didn’t like the film but fans of Rodriguez almost certainly will regard this as one of his best pieces of work. Playing by the rules of Academy Award-winning film making is not something that Rodriguez necessarily considers when he makes his films – he takes the “Making an Award-Winning Film for Dummies” book and burns it in front of anyone who thinks that films have to have the “formula” to be classed as a success.

I’m not saying that Rodriguez definitely thinks that way (everyone loves to be loved) but earning recognition from an Oscar perspective much like I’d expect Tarantino to feel, isn’t high up on his list of things to accomplish. This I think is the biggest benefactor to the success of films from Rodriguez and Tarantino – breaking away from the archetypes and making films the way they want to opens the door for them to put their heart and soul into everything they make. From Dusk Till Dawn doesn’t fit the mould of a Best Picture winner but it’s entertaining, it’s riotous fun and the acting is excellent albeit ridiculous.

Tarantino went back to film making after his acting spell to create what many would consider his most under-rated directorial film, the 1997 crime thriller Jackie Brown. Hidden in his history but undeservedly so, Jackie Brown displayed traces of Tarantino’s finest work as well an incredibly powerful performance from Pam Grier. She makes the film what it is, a showcase of blaxpoitation and female empowerment that uses incredibly good cinematography to give the themes a greater effect. Don’t think of Jackie Brown as a film with hidden motives though: it’s nothing of the sort.

Lending a gun-toting hand to the proceedings is Samuel L Jackson, fresh from Pulp Fiction and ready to make another role his own only this time as gun launderer Ordell Robbie. He gets caught up in another crime story although the premise is wildly different from Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs.

Ordell uses Jackie, a middle-aged air hostess on a small, Mexican airline, to smuggle in money to the USA for him. When Jackie gets arrested by the ATF who are tracking down Ordell, ATF agent Ray (Michael Keaton) gets Jackie to work undercover and help them catch & convict Ordell by handing him the money she most recently smuggled to him as evidence in a case against Ordell.

This being a Tarantino film thankfully there are multiple intertwining narratives twisting around one another. Ordell uses bail bondsman Max (Robert Forster) to help bail out from jail an old “associate” named Beaumont (Chris Tucker) so that Ordell can make sure Beaumont doesn’t give the police any information in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Ordell has even more on his plate in the form of his friend and former prison mate Louis (Robert De Niro) coming to stay with him. They together along with Ordell’s girl Melanie (Bridget Fonda) plan to go to the exchange with Jackie. You know that everything won’t go to plan but you don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s the element of expecting the unexpected that gives Jackie Brown strength from an enjoyment perspective. When combined with Tarantino’s film-making style and masterful cinematic touches? The end result is a delight. Jackie Brown is firmly rooted to its cult classic status but its status is nothing but positive.

For the next six years after Jackie Brown, Tarantino did very little. He stood as producer for some films, including the sequels to From Dusk Till Dawn. He also had a part in Adam Sandler’s film Little Nicky as Deacon and a small role in a few episodes of the TV show Alias.

It wasn’t until 2002 when Tarantino returned to directing with aplomb – 2003 saw the release of Kill Bill Vol. 1, a crime thriller starring Uma Thurman as a former deadly assassin known primarily as The Bride, who is on a revenge mission to kill her former mentor Bill and his Deadly Viper Assassination Squad after they killed whatever family she had just as she was about to get married. Volume 1 shows The Bride facing two of the squad, O-ren Ishii and Vermita Green (Lucy Liu and Vivica Fox respectively).

Kill Bill Volume 1 was a huge success and it showed that Tarantino’s break from film making had given him the time to create such a fantastic film. The film boasts one of the best soundtracks of any film, some incredible cinematography, profound acting and a strong script amongst other things – the film is without question a modern-day classic. Watch for the highly memorable fight scene… in fact, watch for the entire scene that builds up to the fight -  it’s the piéce de resistance.

Kill Bill Volume 2 followed remarkably quickly and while it didn’t hit as many of the right spots as Volume 1 did it still displayed some fantastic moments. It continues where Volume 1 left off, taking you through the rest of The Bride’s journey to find Bill – the culmination of which is perhaps as impactual and riveting as the fight scene from Volume 1. A few new characters are introduced which help spice things up and there’s a distinct change of pace: there’s a wider focus on a “slow and steady” approach to an emphatic end. Volume 1 made sure the audience were constantly blown away whilst Volume 2 plays it cool, calm and collected making sure that the attentive of us were justly rewarded.

I’m not saying that Volume 2 was boring – not by a long, long way – but the pacing was different. Kill Bill Volume 2 is a great film regardless of whether you compare it to Volume 1 or not.

People asked what would be next for Tarantino. The year after Kill Bill Volume 2 was released, he turned his attention to television but not for acting. He took on the task of directing and writing the series finale to the 5th season of CSI: Las Vegas. The end product was everything you could’ve hoped for.

It was a salivating prospect having Mr Violent (as he is sometimes known as in the film world) direct what had to be an explosive and powerful end to what I regard as the best series of CSI: Las Vegas. Tarantino didn’t seem to see it as a daunting task and the two-part finale is firmly rooted as a big winner. Being a big fan of CSI and having watched every episode of CSI: Las Vegas right up to season 9 I think that both parts of “Grave Danger” are my favourite episodes of the entire show.

It’s now a standalone feature which retails as a film and this is probably justified because not only does the running time of the two episodes match the length of a film but the aesthetic and the feel of the feature fits perfectly as a crime/thriller/suspense movie. It’s a perfect popcorn flick that also comfortably performs as an ‘after-the-watershed’ television spectacle.

The same year Tarantino played a part in Rodriguez’ “translation” of Frank Miller’s Sin City. Tarantino was guest director for the film, taking charge of the scene involving Clive Owen and Benicio Del Toro in a car. Fans of film trivia will be interested to know that the character Miho uses swords used in Kill Bill Volume 1 by some of the Crazy 88, which Tarantino supposedly had been keeping in his garage.

Two years later, Tarantino went back to film and released Death Proof as part of the double feature Grindhouse which saw him partner up with Rodriguez to fulfil what may have been a secret life-long ambition but was more likely just a spur-of-the-moment “this could work” idea.

Whilst Rodriguez tackled making Planet Terror (which Tarantino produced and starred in), Tarantino worked on Death Proof: a twisted tribute to the grindhouse genre that saw Kurt Russell star as a stunt driver who picks up women in his stunt car and kills them using it. Similar to the likes of From Dusk Till Dawn, very little attention is given to making Death Proof an approachable film for the people who hand out awards. It’s very much fucked-up in its narrative: Stuntman Mike doesn’t seem to have much motive to kill innocent women other than the fact that he’s maniacal.

Also, the tribute to grindhouse goes as far as the use of over-the-top violence, a stunning soundtrack and darkly peppy dialogue along with less than subtle exploitation references to give the film meaning. It works to a certain extent but for some the film’s message may be masked by the crude nature that comes hand-in-hand with the intended fun.

Tarantino doesn’t mean to make you feel sick but a few moments may do just that: it’s not for the faint-hearted. Similar to the uncensored nature of Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, Death Proof doesn’t hold back and if you’re willing to accept this you’ll be taken for one hell of a ride. Death Proof displays some Tarantino trademarks but take note that this also includes lengthy dialogue.

2007 was quite a busy year for Tarantino and probably one of his most rewarding in terms of what he accomplished. Along with Death Proof and Planet Terror, he had a part in the unusual Japanese western Sukiyaki Western Django, directed by Takashi Miike. Tarantino plays a wise cowboy who acts a spiritual guide to both the film and one of the characters – the opening scene is a deliberately bare-bones flashback that fully focuses on his character.

It’s a strange film which is given a wide element of intrigue by having Tarantino in it (just to act, mind you) as one of the bigger characters. Tarantino had said that he had always wanted to be in a Japanese film so he got the chance he had been waiting for and he gave the film something great.

The film itself is highly intriguing as it combines elements of old westerns with Japanese martial arts flair and brutal violence. It’s worth watching.

After this another gap in Tarantino’s career emerged but this one was thankfully not very big. Few would have expected what Tarantino was up to next: he revealed his next project in 2008: an adaptation of the 1978 war film Inglorious Bastards.

Inglourious Basterds was released in 2009 to perhaps surprising critical acclaim. It may not have been regarded as the film of the year with the likes of Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Up, Precious and An Education to contend with mainly but the fact that it was nominated for a Best Picture award was something.

As mentioned earlier, Tarantino doesn’t strike me as a character who makes films to be recognised and Inglourious Basterds is certainly not one of those films: it’s a testament to the quality of the film that it is well-regarded without actually intending to be.

In typical fashion, World War II film Inglourious Basterds has multiple narratives that weave around each other. One looks at Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) and his gang of Jewish-American soldiers known as the “Basterds” who like nothing better to do than kill Nazis. Another focuses on Hans Landa (Christopher Waltz) and his Nazi soldiers trying to track down any Jews in hiding. A third narrative looks at a secret British operation to take down the Nazi regime with the help of German actress Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger) with another focused on Shosanna Dreyfus, a French-Jewish woman who is using an alias and runs a cinema in a small French town.

These are the four big narrative plots and they all collide and interweave right from the very start. Speaking of which, the opening scene alone is probably paramount to Christopher Waltz winning Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars. His performance is Hans down the best part of the film: he commands his role with an incredible conviction and poise. He makes you fear milk, he’s that good.

Credit to the other actors though: there’s rarely a bad performance if at all in Inglourious Basterds. Brad Pitt and Eli Roth are excellent, as are the likes of Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent and Michael Fassbender. Tarantino brings out the best in actors and Inglourious Basterds is no exemption. (It’s worth noting I think that Eli Roth & Tarantino have worked together before – Tarantino was producer for both Hostel & Hostel: Part 2, which Eli Roth wrote & directed and Roth has a small part in Death Proof.)

Even the music is still top dollar – Inglourious Basterds gave Tarantino a chance to explore new genres of music and the soundtrack shows this: it’s laced with German oldies and a slice of Italia.

What about Tarantino’s future then? Well, he has confirmed a third Kill Bill volume but it won’t be his next film. His 8th main film could very well be a rom-com which Tarantino has shown interest in doing. He is due to provide his voice for the upcoming CGI Smurfs adaptation which is due for release in 2011. Recently, he lent the Pussy Wagon from Kill Bill Volume 1 to Lady Gaga for her collaboration with Beyoncé so while it could be conceived as a strained possibility, he may be interested in expanding his visual media skills to other areas.

Final Thoughts:

Quentin Tarantino has provided us with some of the greatest films 0f the last twenty years and his extraordinary mind almost certainly has much more to give.

His talent for film making is a sight to behold and he’s an aspirational person for anyone, regardless of what you think of his work. He certainly doesn’t cater to everyone with his ideas – he doesn’t hold back when it comes to making films the way he wants them to be – but it’s a testament to his talent and expertise that he is still regarded as a highly influential and ambitious film maker.

He still can give the world more and whilst you could say he might never reach the height of Pulp Fiction again it doesn’t mean he can’t make cinematic magic anymore. I eagerly await his next endeavour as I’m sure thousands and thousands of other people around the world do too.