Director Series Review: Quentin Tarantino

By far one of my favorite directors of the modern day is Quentin Tarantino.  I first discovered his cinematic genius back when I accidently ended up at a showing of Pulp Fiction.  That movie has remained my favorite of all of his and it was fortunate that it was my introduction to the man, as he has not always proven to be the amazing director that his certainly is.  Here, I will attempt to look at Tarantino’s career and explain why he makes some of the greatest films ever yet still manages to fall short of perfection on many occasions due to his lack of foresight.

Tarantino’s first classic flick was Reservoir Dogs.  This brutal journey brought us through the lives of a half-dozen thieves as they attempted to deal with a heist gone bad.  This is where Tarantino proved to the world that he has a certain talent for all things violent as well as a natural aptitude for creating smooth and believable dialogue and characters.  From there he went on to write True Romance, one of my favorite Tarantino-oriented flicks.  He did not direct, but you can still feel his presence in the movie in the way the story pans out and in each scene where the characters interact.  Despite not taking the helm, this is very much a Tarantino project.

And then came Pulp Fiction.  Using a style that many found to be revolutionary, Tarantino tells many separate stories, all interconnecting in one way or another, at the same time and in a seemingly random order.  The characters are great, the casting just as good and, brought together under Tarantino’s capable vision, this movie is a true masterpiece.  It also happens to be one of the most quotable films of all time.  Anyone who has seen it and has friends who have too will know that to be fact.

After Pulp Fiction, Tarantino moved on to what I consider to be probably his worst film, Jackie Brown.  Here, the director switched from the eclectic style that was Pulp Fiction to a more straightforward narrative.  Despite a good cast, the characters feel bland in the way their story is executed.  It was the first sign of what I consider to be Tarantino’s greatest weakness, something that would plague almost all his films afterwards - the fact that he likes to ramble on a bit.

Kill Bill (vol. 1 and 2) were the next Tarantino projects.  These two movies, while they featured some great scenes and, and always, a great cast playing interesting characters, should have been cut down by at least an hour total.  The movie loses its momentum on many occasions and I found myself bored more than once.  The action sequences were often overflowing and, while I can understand Tarantino’s desire to mimic the marital arts movie source material, it’s simply too much all at once.

The next big one was Death Proof, a piece of a larger project known as Grindhouse.  I regret to say that I still have yet to see this movie, so I can offer no opinions.  After Grindhouse, however, he went on to make Inglourious Basterds, a return to the well-directed and well-edited expertise that characterized Pulp Fiction.  In this flick, Tarantino knows where to stop.  It never feels like he’s gone on for too long and each scene is beautifully done and relevant.  It’s probably my second favorite of his films.

Which brings us to his latest, Django Unchained.  This movie received a lot of critical acclaim and this praise was well-deserved.  I loved almost every minute of it, up until the last climactic scene.  At this point, Tarantino returns to what ruined Kill Bill - a long, drawn-out action scene that makes all the subtle genius (both acting and directing) before it feel wasted.  Personally, I could have fast forwarded through the last part and enjoyed the movie just as much.

Not everyone agrees with me, of course.  The ratings at Rotten Tomatoes, while they do put Pulp Fiction well in the lead with a 94/95%, differ when it comes to Django Unchained (at 88/92%) versus Inglourious Basterds (at 88/86%).  Whether that’s because the former had some of the best scenes of any of Tarantino’s films ever or not, I could not say.  As a whole, however, I cannot agree.

Still, regardless of how you feel about any single one of his films, its hard to argue against the fact that Quentin Tarantino is indeed one of the most talented directors out there.  His next project looks to be yet a third installment of the Kill Bill franchise and, as long as he doesn’t try to make it into two movies again, I think it may turn out as good as anything.  I’ll be crossing my fingers in the meantime.

Photo Credits -           

Quentin Tarantino courtesy of digitalspy.com

Pulp Fiction courtesy of screenmusings.org