- This can be broken down into three distinct phases: ’90s crime films, homages to the past, and historical revisionism.
Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, and Jamie Foxx in Django Unchained split images.
Tarantino has stated for years that he intends to retire from filmmaking after directing ten films.’ Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was his tenth feature as a writer and director (assuming Kill Bill is counted as a single picture). Some fans are confused by this move, given how consistently entertaining and lucrative his films have been. However, Tarantino is keen to avoid the blunder made by the majority of well-known directors. The fact that studios will continue to fund their films does not imply that they have anything more to say. As their careers wind down, most filmmakers leave their mark with a string of forgettable films. It’s possible for Tarantino to avoid that fate by making Only God Forgives and whatever other masterpiece he comes up with his last two films. Q.T.’s entire discography, from his groundbreaking debut to the impending farewell feature, can be collected in a single definitive Blu-ray box set, making it an ideal number to end on.
Before He Became a Director, Quentin Tarantino Sold Two Screenplays.
On every chat programme or podcast, Tarantino will say that his next film will be his last as a director, but he confesses that he doesn’t know what form it will take (although Kill Bill: Volume 3 is on the table as a possibility). To sum up his 30-year career thus far, Tarantino’s films fall into three distinct categories: hip-’90s crime flicks, film homages to exploitation films, and historical revisionism.
Harvey Keitel in Reservoir Dogs, shooting two pistols
Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino’s revolutionary debut feature, first established his unique take on genre filmmaking. Resurrecting American independent cinema in the early 1990s, Reservoir Dogs was a part of the wave. Filmgoers couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw a theft off-screen and Seinfeldian discussion about tipping in this amusing, elegant, and exhilarating crime film that defied expectations at every step. Film director Quentin Tarantino combined the slick Parisian flair of a Jean-Pierre Melville cinema with the ferocity of a Sergio Corbucci neo-noir to revive the dying American crime film.
After Reservoir Dogs was a critical and commercial success.
Quentin Tarantino was determined to surpass himself with his next film. Pitch-black comedy, pop culture references, and a realistic take on genre settings are just some of the aesthetic markers of Pulp Fiction, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. There are some traditional noir-y situations like a mob boss offering to pay a boxer to go down, but the anthology format takes a dramatic turn into the sex-dungeon of an underworld pawn shop. Tarantino’s cinematic approach was first introduced to audiences in Reservoir Dogs, but it was cemented in Pulp Fiction. Despite the fact that Pulp Fiction was a massive success, Tarantino avoided the pressure to go even bigger by making a smaller, more character-driven film for his third film. Jackie Brown, Tarantino’s first film adaptation of another author’s work, was based on Elmore Leonard’s Rum Punch (and remains his only adaptation to date). Between the major plot events, the individuals and their relationships have a lot of room for growth and development. Even though Tarantino’s most mature and neglected film, Jackie Brown, was too subtle and muted to match Pulp Fiction’s box-office success, it has since been given a fresh look.
Kill Bill’s assassins look down on the Bride.
It was with his fourth picture that Tarantino decided to abandon the crime genre in favour of a straight-forward action feature. Kill Bill started out as a simple revenge thriller, but ended up being so massive that it had to be broken up into two separate films because of its scope. When an assassination squad leaves an antihero for dead, she swears retribution on them and the film begins with the standard exploitation premise. It’s safe to say that Kill Bill is Tarantino’s most daring concoction of genre allusions yet. Film noir, spaghetti westerns, and spy thrillers are all featured in the two portions of the movie. For example, Vernita Green, O-Ren Ishii, and the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad are all blaxploitation characters. Death Proof, Tarantino’s contribution to the Grindhouse double feature, was released in the wake of Tarantino’s last film, Kill Bill. Death Proof is a must-see for exploitation film enthusiasts, despite the fact that it is usually considered Tarantino’s weakest film, including by the director himself. One of the most popular exploitation subgenres, slashers, meets carsploitation in this high-concept plot, in which a killer stunt driver targets young women in his “death-proof” stunt car.
From Inglourious Basterds to Django Unchained to The Hateful Eight: Historical Reinterpretations
A World War II movie had been in the works for years before Inglourious Basterds was released in 2009. A multitude of variables have led critics to hail this film as one of Tarantino’s finest. And Christoph Waltz’s Academy Award-winning performance as SS colonel Hans Landa has been lauded as one of the most scary cinematic baddies of all time. In addition, the film was renowned for the way it depicted the death of Adolf Hitler. Hitler’s henchmen were roasted alive by a Jewish refugee in Tarantino’s version of history, while the Führer was gunned down by Jewish American soldiers. When Quentin Tarantino followed up Inglourious Basterds with Django Unchained, a spaghetti western set in the Deep South during the antebellum era, he created another cultural phenomenon. This film is frank about the horrors of American slavery, but it also gives the audience the joy of watching an ex-slave move from plantation to plantation slaying brutal white slavers. It’s a win-win situation. The Hateful Eight, Tarantino’s follow-up to Django, is a horrific revisionist western that explores some of the same themes as Django. Django was a huge epic set across the Deep South, but The Hateful Eight is a character-driven chamber piece focused almost entirely on Miss Minnie’s Haberdashery, continuing Tarantino’s stateside adaptation of the Italian spaghetti western style. Like Django, it examines current sociopolitical issues via a historical prism by reversing the roles of the oppressors of the past. Bruce Dern’s vicious Confederate commander is goaded by Samuel L. Jackson’s Major Warren into drawing his pistol so he can kill him dead.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s Rick Dalton with a flamethrower.
Tarantino played with the audience’s familiarity with his approach in his most recent feature, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Tarantino’s Manson-era film was anticipated by Tarantino fans after the success of Basterds and Django. Finally, despite what the trailers implied, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood isn’t entirely about the Manson family. When it comes to the Manson murders, Tarantino focuses on the bond between a former TV cowboy and his unemployed stunt double, which he analyses as a metaphor for the demise of Old Hollywood. It’s a gruesomely satisfying conclusion to the Manson saga, nevertheless. Any of these categories could apply to Tarantino’s upcoming tenth and final film, or it could create a new category of its own. The Hateful Eight and Death Proof both have elements of horror, but Tarantino has yet to make a true horror film. Tarantino could use a third Kill Bill film to experiment with every genre he’s ever wanted to but never got around to. Whatever Tarantino has planned for his final film, based on his desire to maintain a spotless record, is almost certainly going to be fantastic.