Many, pronouncing the word «America», immediately recall hamburgers, girls in flag-colored swimsuits who picturesquely drink Coca-Cola from designer glass bottles, and, of course, Tarantino films. Quentin has become not only one of the favorite directors of Americans, he has created his own iconic style. Most of you have seen or at least heard of them. This top directorial work will help you to add to your playlist of the best films.
The story of Quentin Tarantino
Quentin’s mother, when she carried a child under her heart, was furiously delighted with William Faulkner, in one of whose novels there was a heroine named Quentin. She decided that it doesn’t matter if a son or a daughter is born — she will name him that way. And so it happened: the boy who received this strange name, got 37 awards, and was nominated for 47 more. His life was not easy, and as he himself later noted: “I gave up too many things in life for that to make movies. I have no wife, no children. I made these sacrifices with a clear goal in mind. And I’m happy.»
Tarantino still writes all scripts by hand, using only black and red pens to underline storyboards and dialogue, so before starting to write a script, he worries about making sure he has enough writing utensils so he doesn’t have to buy them later. He also still uses the «Bad Motherfucker» wallet that his character had in Pulp Fiction, believing it to be his personal talisman. Quentin also loves his mother very much, film effects, spaghetti westerns, unexpected endings, caricature violence, comics, cowboy charm and racism.
Someone can throw a stone at Quentin, they say, his films are absurd, the concentration of swearing per square centimeter exceeds the maximum allowable for the average listener. Mr. Tarantino builds skirmishes between the characters in such a way that each phrase in them can put the enemy on the shoulder blades, and the dialogues between the characters convey the details of the relationship without unnecessary metaphors and are saturated with an atmosphere reminiscent of Friday evening in a small bar, where a company of men gathered who are simply without officialdom, and with a bold word discuss what happened during the week. This man definitely knows how to make films about tough guys who know how to kick ass, besides embellishing it with cool music. Ennio Morricone, White Stripes and Iggy Pop, Roy Orbison (with whom even David Gilmour from The Pink Floyd did not disdain to record a separate single of his time!) — these are not all the mastodons of tube tracks that can be heard in the films of the famous director.
Best Quentin Tarantino Movies in 2022
There are three things by which «Tarantin’s» handwriting is recognizable in films: these are shots from the trunk (something like a signature signature), an episodic role of his own performance (in particular, Quentin likes to play some nervous neurotic in his films, who is 7 cases out of 10 will be killed before the denouement), and also loves beautiful legs. Tarantino is still that foot fetishist, and as you can see in his work, he likes to shoot delicate female feet and focus on them. Do not look for words to speak about this person: nevertheless, his films tell more about the film director.
7. Jackie Brown
The film is based on the novel «Rum Punch» by Elmore Leonard, was nominated several times, and also won the Silver Bear for Best Actor.
When viewing, you will certainly think about why Tarantino chose this novel for film adaptation. The answer is to be found in the details of the novel itself: the protagonist, Jackie, works as a flight attendant and helps smugglers smuggle cash to trade weapons, alcohol, tobacco, and explosives, and then steals some of the money, tempted by conversations with agents who try to get her to give up the smugglers. Just the same explosive k-k-k-combo just in the style of Tarantino! Although it feels like the director was trying to be serious, you subtly notice the psychology of all the dialogues between people connected with a business that is not so easy to get out of, as well as a liter of blood, murder, deceit and theft.
Despite all the action, you languish a little, because over time you stop believing in the characters, and skepticism wakes up somewhere inside. Samuel L. Jackson, unfortunately, still cannot pull out the whole film with his one look and sarcasm. No matter how hard you try to analyze the previous plot twists, you will still get lost in what is happening in Jackie Brown. The film is really serious, but not suitable for every viewer.
Jackie Brown
6. Inglourious Basterds
The film has eight Oscar nominations and only one for Best Supporting Actor. By the way, the title of this film in English is spelled incorrectly. Tarantino noted that the name should be written exactly as «Inglourious Basterds», although it is correct to write «Inglorious bastards». Journalists questioned Tarantino for a long time and almost guarded at his door with this question on their lips, until he broke loose and blurted out at one of the press conferences, «bastards» sound like «bastards», so that’s how he called his film, replenishing the history of cinema as a tape, to which the saying “as I speak, so I write” fully applies. But one should not be prejudiced about the film: it tells a non-banal story of the resistance of American Jews at the height of the German SS and a little about the then film production of propaganda films.
Tarantino’s script was mercilessly cut and refined, as he really wanted to write a military tape in order to take military heroism at face value. Needless to say, this is another characteristic of the director: to start a film, write scripts for a mini-series, shorten it, and then, in which case, plan the next film as a continuation of the universe of the previous one, and in the course of work reshape it into an independent one.
Although the film tells us about the film industry of those times, about the structure of the SS and works in the genre of alternative history (in this film there is a funny Hitler who was eventually killed), and the picture on the screen, along with the tube soundtrack, pleases our already cracked heart, the story is perceived very pop. The escape of a little girl from death, who then decides to become a bloody avenger and take revenge on the whole regime that forced people to kill others, including her parents — I think most viewers already turn back from the mainstream and the marshmallow aftertaste of such stories. However, even such a thing, if seasoned with branded raisins in the form of a foot fetish and tense dialogues between “us” and “strangers” about different things at the table, looks decent. However, despite the fact that the Nazis were punished, and the work of the cameraman and set designers was impeccable, the film does not want to be reviewed a second time.
Inglourious Basterds
5. Kill Bill
It’s hard to believe that this original film has not been seen yet. Yakuza, heavy-duty katanas from Hattori Hanzo, revenge for the death of parents, murderous children, a life hack for surviving in a coffin, gouging out eyes, rehabilitation after a coma and the Bride character, which was invented specifically for Uma Thurman — this is already such a nuclear postmodern explosion, which will certainly undermine the brain, like Chernobyl. Uma Thurman, like a white angel, brandishes a katana of justice, not holding back her despondency towards a life that has suddenly deprived her of any hope for happiness. Tarantino thought out this film, flavoring it with details, like a caring hostess of borscht with sour cream.
The film, like most of the director’s works, is designed for a wide audience, but shows some of the values of the Japanese inside out. Therefore, the shah in response to Japanese-American relations nevertheless took place, and this film died down with its originality and left a powerful mark on culture. This is a great movie to watch at a friendly party, or to cheer up, but to call it the best in the history of cinema or in the work of Tarantino simply does not turn the tongue. Although again to revise it really sometimes want.
Kill Bill
4. Django Unchained
What to add: Tarantino is beautiful even when he makes films moving away from his traditional style and writes something new on the board next to his stereotyped techniques. This is exactly what happened with Django Unchained, where Quentin decided to finally satisfy his long-standing desire and make a spaghetti western on his own. True, it would not be Tarantino if there was no racism in the picture, phenomenally violent fights and a sea of blood whipping just like a hose.
It is very surprising that over time Tarantino began to pay special attention to outfits, so Django appears before us in a striking light green frock coat and blue caftan (inspired by Thomas Gainsborough’s The Boy in Blue). This film also has Leonardo DiCaprio, who at that time was still trying to win an Oscar with his acting, so the moment when DiCaprio breaks a glass on the table was absolutely not planned, and the entire film crew simply froze in shock, and Leo played the whole scene without even grimacing in pain. Brunhilde and her hardships, the true experiences of Dr. Schulz and dialogues full of reflections on the nature of freedom and the injustice of the world are touching. The director also decided to even indulge the memes a little, and so his film ends with an epic explosion, against which Django walks with a confident and free gait.
Thanks to the fact that Quentin has already taught us that the bad guys get what they deserve (as well as the good guys), you are imbued with confidence in what is happening on the screen and you can’t help but appropriate something of Dr. Schultz’s charm, or prowess Django, you want to learn from such films, and Tarantino — to applaud.
Django Unchained
3 The Hateful Eight
The great merit of this film and Tarantino in particular is that in this case he clearly knew what to choose for his particular plot. This film begins with simply gorgeous shooting in all the rules of composition and color in the winter forests of Wyoming, where a captive is being taken in order to be executed. Once in the middle of a snowstorm, travelers have to stop at the house of Mrs. Minnie, where a company of Confederate, Yankee, sheriff, Mexican, thug and cowboy begin to have their own dialogues, and each has different goals. However, everyone should clearly understand who is telling the truth and who is lying, and this tension, when your guesses fail in minutes, chains you to the screen, as if hypnotized. How unique is Daisy the runaway game, which is poured with blood and verbal dirt every second, but she still continues to let her female eyes and look sexy.
One has only to warn that the blood of the heroes in this film is too much, and sometimes this cruelty really touches some string in the soul. And remember that only Tarantino can always imagine blood as cherry jam or borscht — then the final scenes with fountains of blood turn into gastronomic adventures. In this film, it is pleasant to watch not only the picture, in which the camera work and frame construction have “grown up”, but also the logic of each of the characters, which are played with love and skill. Quentin’s desire to make a product with a separate heart, to show it in all its glory, is the rehabilitation of the widescreen cinema format, which today has begun to pay attention again. That is why it is impossible not to give third place to this film, which divided many critics into two camps: some shouted that Tarantino had departed from his standards, while others shouted that, on the contrary, Quentin showed that there are still hidden talents in Tarantino.
Hateful Eight
2 Pulp Fiction
A non-linear plot, a large amount of drugs, Uma Thurman’s beautiful feet, a twist in a cafe under rock and roll, resuscitation with a syringe (by the way, in fact, the syringe was taken out of Uma’s chest, and only then during editing this scene was «turned» backwards ), psychopathy, Tarantino in a minor but prominent role, a confused Travolta, and many references in cowboy films. And all this under a name that means literature, which is similar in quality to toilet paper.
I’m sure most of you understand Tarantino as a daredevil who knows how to put up fights, have long dialogues and change the plot abruptly. In Pulp Fiction, he talks about the everyday life of American gangsters, with all their pluses and minuses, and puts everything in such a way that you begin to clearly understand: the labels that we hang are far from always our objective assessment of a person. Among the hundreds of epic phrases that this film is full of, it is worth considering this lightness and naturalness of the emotions of the characters, which we perceive at first exclusively as negative.
Pulp Fiction is worth watching because, in fact, Uma Thurman, who is as tall as the Eiffel Tower and, accordingly, wears size forty-one shoes, was very shy of the frame in which she danced barefoot. Tarantino persuaded her for this frame for a very long time, persuading her that it would be very seductive and aesthetically pleasing. Everyone benefited from this: Uma overcame her complex about the fear of her legs, Tarantino clapped their hands with pleasure at the picture. Also, Mickey Rourke and Kurt Cobain with his wife were supposed to star in the film, but they refused, explaining this by being busy in their projects.
Crime novel
1. Reservoir dogs
It rarely happens that the very first serious work receives one of the highest ratings from critics. This is a huge advantage and a huge test, because all life passes in pursuit of success.
Tarantino coped with this — he really tries, improving his shooting style and screenwriting skills. Amazingly well-coordinated cast, manner of narration and fights with a sea of blood and an atmosphere of persecution. Tarantino led everyone by the nose, telling tales that «reservoir dogs» is jargon, or that he meant the French «goodbye», it is still not clear what we, inquisitive viewers, should stop at. Quentin put a lot of energy into the film, it is impossible not to notice how he builds communication between the characters who have “colored” nicknames, and that he allows one of the characters to escape, although he does not lose the realism of the whole situation, because the rest of the characters are dying.
The beginning of the film started out of sheer luck, and it’s hard to see how anyone could have agreed to shoot almost enthusiastically, using their own costumes, but in order to play gangsters who love their job and do it flawlessly. When you begin to realize, everything that happens on the screen takes on a new shape, and even the scene with mockery of a policeman at one time raised entire groups of spectators in cinema halls, it does not look so cruel. Tarantino is trying to present violence, which is the main means to an end for these «colored» gentlemen, as an ordinary job. In addition, he clearly emphasizes that this gang is trying to “survive” rather than “humiliate” someone for the sake of purely emotional satisfaction.
There is a lot of understatement in this film, which allows everyone to understand these simple guys who steal a million from the bank in completely different ways. They gather for coffee, shout fuck to each other through the word, but it is precisely this coherence that reigns in their team next to the love for elaborate details and history that opens our eyes to the fact that it doesn’t matter what goal you set for yourself, and you yourself You are perfect for yourself to achieve it. But you can choose the people with whom you will achieve this goal and gain invaluable experience.
Mad Dogs
And let Tarantino continue to shoot, while constantly improving, and give us more than one shot of bloodshed, unexpected twists and fights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JhqaOTAju4
What do you think is Quentin Tarantino’s best film?