Before presenting one of his favorite films at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, Quentin Tarantino had this instruction for the public.
“If you want to scream at a shotgun blast, shout at a shotgun blasthe said, imploring viewers to be as “un-French” as possible in their reactions. “Let’s bring some American grindhouse here to Cannes!”
That’s how he set up the 1977 revenge film ‘Rolling Thunder’ – a film so fundamental to Tarantino, with its third act of cathartic pistol-wielding violence, it’s said to have killed him. will somehow piece together for his next final film, ” The Film Critic. At least, that’s according to “Rolling Thunder” co-writer Paul Schrader, who revealed this mouth-watering treat in a recent interview with IndieWire.Although Tarantino himself said very little about “The Movie Critic”, his selection of films on Thursday may have confirmed Schrader’s tease.
In the hour-long conversation following the screening, Tarantino, 60, primarily discussed the titles mentioned in his recent book of essays, “Cinema Speculation.” (He was at the festival to give a talk but also wanted to present a film.)
He started with a long riff on “Rolling Thunder,” which stars William Devane as a Vietnam veteran pursuing the criminals who killed his family: Tarantino noted that while he liked the film, Schrader felt that strayed too far from its original script.
“He doesn’t recognize the movie any more than I recognize Oliver Stone’s version of ‘Natural Born Killers,'” Tarantino said, citing one of the few films he wrote but didn’t. made. Tarantino has disavowed Stone’s views on his material, but he said Johnny Cash once told him he was a huge fan of the 1994 film, which starred Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis.
“I didn’t tell him he was wrong,” Tarantino said.
What does he say about movies like “Rolling Thunder”? “Listen, I like violent movies,” Tarantino said. “Some people like musicals, some people like slapstick comedy, I like violent movies. I think it’s a very cinematic thing to do.
When asked if he’s ever watched a movie where the violence wasn’t justified, Tarantino at first seemed so puzzled that the audience laughed. Finally, he cited “Patriot Games,” the 1992 Harrison Ford thriller. Tarantino initially found the villain’s motivations so relatable, he said, that he rebelled when the character made a late turn into psychopathic violence: “Just the fact that the bad guy was This understandably, that was too much for the filmmakers. So they must have driven him crazy. This is what morally offended me.
When it comes to depictions of violence, Tarantino said there was only one line he was not ready to cross. “I have this big thing about killing animals in movies,” he said to applause. “But I am also talking about insects! Unless I’m paying to see a bizarre, weird documentary, I’m not paying to see the real death. Part of how it all works is that it’s imaginary – which is why I can handle the violent scenes.
Tarantino has said his upcoming 10th film will be his last (due to his belief that directors have a finite amount of good films and should stop while they’re ahead), and that he hopes more books like “Cinema Speculation” will follow once he hangs up his director’s cap. Is that why he made a film critic the main character of his latest feature film?
“Well, that’s a long story,” he said at the end of his conversation. “I can’t tell you until you see the movie!”
Still, he offered a tease: “I’m tempted to do some of the character monologues right now,” he said. “You would get a kick out of it. Maybe if there were fewer video cameras.
