Quentin Tarantino: A Retrospective
Quentin Tarantino is truly the ultimate film fan turned director. His love for movies is palpable. Whether it be his countless references to classic cinema or his creation of extremely memorable characters, Tarantino’s passion for the medium is undeniable.
This is especially evident in his dialogue. The strongest element of any Tarantino film is the banter between the characters. It’s what drives the story and what provides the audience with the rich character backgrounds that we come to know and love.
Getting into a conversation about this recently, I came to the conclusion that Tarantino’s writing especially stands out as a result of two main factors. First, it comes off as extremely natural. Vincent and Jules' conversation at the opening of Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of this idea. The audience is presented with two hitman, casually going about their day, passing the time talking about cheeseburgers and foot massages. Their back and forth is completely believable. The second factor is how he uses dialogue so seamlessly as a way to explain and set up important plot points throughout the course of his films. Most scripts do this in a much more overt fashion. Looking again at the beginning of Pulp Fiction, Vincent and Jules conversation about Marsellus Wallace throwing a man off a balcony for giving his wife a foot massage sets up the menace of the character as well as the uneasy dynamics in the later interaction between Vincent and Mia.
Another thing that seems to constantly follow the director with whatever he does is his offensive nature. He’s been heavily criticized for his constant use of the n word in his scripts and many think his female characters are often underdeveloped or misrepresented. While I understand these viewpoints, I mostly disagree with them, especially in terms of Tarantino’s use of the n word. He never does it in a malicious way. His characters may use the word in a very derogatory manner but Tarantino himself doesn’t. It’s always authentic to the characters he creates and censoring that would be altering the nature of the stories he’s trying to tell. In Django Unchained, it helps convey the bigotry of America during the 19th century. Aside from some real-life circumstances which I feel Tarantino handled poorly, I don’t see his movies as things that are meant to offend. He wants you to be shocked, disgusted, and entertained all at the same time. That’s what helps give him his own voice.
If you want unique than Tarantino is the director for you and in an age when quality original film seems to be getting overshadowed by the big-budget blockbusters, I welcome the artistic risks he is willing to take.They may not always land but his films are always something to look forward to and it’s refreshing to see someone that loves the art so much that can contribute to it with the bold and daring projects that he releases.
