6 reasons why Tarantino is a fucking genius
Miscellaneous / / April 03, 2023
It's not just the dialogue.
On March 27, Quentin Tarantino will celebrate his 60th birthday. For three decades, the American director shoots only what he likes, and does not focus on someone else's opinion. What is the nature of Quentin Tarantino's genius?
1. Learned to direct from the audience chair
The furor caused by "Reservoir Dogs" forced the young Tarantino to explain where he learned to direct. Journalists were surprised that a young man who went only to acting classes was able to make such a complex and sophisticated movie. Work at the box office and the richest spectator experience replaced his film school. And the constant talk about the cinema gave an idea of how he himself wants to shoot.
Perhaps Tarantino was even lucky that he taught himself. There were never any rules for him lawsto be followed.
2. Writes better dialogue
Tarantino's dialogue has long been one of the main movie memes in history. Quentin is able to write an interesting conversation regardless of the topic under discussion, from Madonna songs to burgers. Dialogue in Tarantino films serves several purposes: it reveals characters and moves the plot forward. At the same time, they are interesting in themselves, as a separate entertainment. Perhaps that is why they are constantly quoted.
Comic and hypertrophied violence, used by Tarantino in almost every one of his films, it would look ridiculous without good dialogue.
3. skillfully removes
Quentin Tarantino loves long dialogues and intimate settings, but he is not interested in shooting ordinary scenes. Instead of "eights", he uses panoramas, and close-ups often snatch out the faces of those who are silent. At its core, camera work in Tarantino films is counter-intuitive and goes against basic unwritten rules. The director complicates each scene, finding long-forgotten tricks and applying unpopular ideas.
Tarantino asks cameramen to use a variety of different techniques, from the Dutch angle (tilted shots typical of the German Expressionists) to quick camera pulls in style Asian fighters. The director creates scenes so memorable that some viewers credit him with inventing the techniques. For example, “look from the trunk” is considered such - shooting heroes looking into the trunk of a car, although it was used long before Tarantino.
The abundance of techniques in Tarantino's films is a direct consequence of his love for cinema. He is interested not only in classic and generally recognized cinema, but also in cheap and low-quality films. Drawing from various sources, Tarantino creates his own unique style. It's no secret that he doesn't mind standing in front of the camera himself - it's easier for him to explain to the operator what is required of him.
4. Constantly experimenting
In his first film, Tarantino began to experiment. IN "Reservoir DogsThere is no robbery scene, although the whole plot is built around it: Tarantino decided that the viewer should think it out himself. Subsequently, the director never stopped experimenting.
He is interested not only in different genres, but also in things that go beyond cinema, such as history. "Inglourious Basterds", "Django Unchained”, “The Hateful Eight” - for three films in a row, Tarantino talks about eras in which he did not live. At the same time, the director does not care about historical authenticity at all - he invents a story. In each such picture, Tarantino combines real events and absurd fiction.
5. Introduces the viewer to cinema
Quentin Tarantino is an avid movie buff. You can open little-known films simply from the director's interview. In addition, he constantly offers an interesting analysis of famous paintings. Tarantino's horizons are as wide as possible, so he easily talks about Hong Kong action films and Soviet science fiction - "Amphibian Man" is one of the director's favorite films.
Tarantino's films themselves can serve as a whole almanac of cinema because of the huge number of references. The dance in "Pulp Fiction" refers to Godard's "Gang of Outsiders" and Fellini's "8 1/2", nicknames for the characters in "Reservoir Dogs" - for the film "The Capture of the Pelham Train 1-2-3", the soundtrack in "The Hateful Eight" - for spaghetti-westerns. Each picture serves as a guide to the world of cinema.
6. Always be yourself
Quentin Tarantino became a star in the mid-90s. Since then, the cinema has changed a lot: film comics have become market leaders, only franchises and endless sequels oppose them. However, Quentin Tarantino continues to make films as if there were no changes. There is no doubt that he could make both a quality comic book film and some kind of remake - but he does not need it.
Read also🧐
- 10 films with outstanding dialogue
- What is the phenomenon of Tarantino and other geniuses of auteur cinema? We talk in the podcast "Watcher"
- QUIZ: How well do you know Tarantino's films?