Main pic, right:
Robert Rodriguez
and Quentin
Tarantino at the
Grindhouse premiere
after-party in LA
on 26 March 2007.
Below: On set of
From Dusk Till Dawn
in 1995.It turned out when we went
back to work on our movies, we had
adjacent offices at the Sony lot! Totally
by coincidence.
I was writing Desperado for
Columbia and he was writing Pulp
Fiction originally for TriStar and Danny
DeVito’s company [Jersey Films].
So we’d read each other scenes from
our scripts as we wrote, talked about
movies, watched movies at his apartment
on his 16mm projector that he’d aim at
a wall, we’d get lunch together often at
the studio and off the lot. And he was
such a cool and hilarious guy, I ended up
writing him into my Desperado script.
A week after I shot Desperado I was
shooting Four Rooms with him and it
was on that set that he approached me
with the idea for us to team up for From
Dusk Till Dawn.
That’s how all that happened. It was
a great time.THE BROTHERHOOD
I loved all of our collaborations — and
having him show up in Mexico to shootTHE FIRST ENCOUNTER
I met him during the Toronto Film
Festival at a panel we were on together
about violence in the movies of the ’90s,
(even though it was only 1992) where
we defended our films Reservoir Dogs
and El Mariachi.
Looking back, I can see that
Quentin was always Quentin. He was
hilarious and raw and super-confident
on the panel and yet incredibly gracious
and friendly and supportive to all the
other filmmakers who already looked
up to him. He was making kick-ass vital
work, and we all knew Reservoir Dogs
already showed the force that he
would become.
He and I hung out afterwards
and he attended my screening of El
Mariachi and I attended Reservoir
Dogs. He laughed so much during El
Mariachi, that during the video I got
of the screening and audience reaction,
all you hear is him because he sat
next to me. He was so gracious
and complimentary.
After that we talked about the
next project he was writing called Pulp
Fiction. He said, “You’re gonna dig it!”
THE CONNECTION
I was from Texas, and until I went to
film school I literally had never met
anyone else who made movies. No-one
really did it back then — that indie
explosion happened right after 1992.
I had been making movies since
I was 12, and when we met on the festival
circuit, it was like finding a lost brother.
You finally met your peers there.
You see someone at a festival and
that’s usually it, I probably would have
never seen him again because I lived so
far away. But what sealed our friendship
was what came after.
ROBERT RODRIGUEZ AND QUENTIN TARANTINO HAVE BEEN THE CLOSEST OF COMPADRES FOR
27 YEARS, COLLABORATING AND HELPING OUT ON EACH OTHER’S MOVIES. RODRIGUEZ WRITES
EXCLUSIVELY FOR EMPIRE ON A FILMMAKING FRIENDSHIP LIKE NO OTHER
ON THE QT / VOLUME 1
Desperado was just amazing.
You’re tired, it’s hot as hell, you’re
racing to get all your shots, and then
your big brother walks in and kicks
ass in his scene and it’s like everything
seems to click into place all of a sudden.
Four Rooms was really fun to work
on, too. It was a very fast shoot and we
laughed so much I think that’s probably
why he handed me his Dusk script.
He knew we’d have a blast making
that movie, and we did.THE CHARISMA OF QT
He’s truly like the coolest big brother
you could ever have. He shares his
knowledge, shares his advice, shares
the coolest movies and music... you can’t
help but want to hang out with him.
He’s also funny as hell, and is
the dearest friend you could have
because he truly values and cherishes
his friendships.
Watching any movie with Quentin
makes that movie instantly fly up several
notches on your personal rating of it.
The whole experience is enriched. He
does a pre show where he talks about
the film, cast and filmmakers, he’ll point
out trivia as we watch, then we talk about
the film afterwards.
So many movies, so many great
memories, but if I had to pick one, then
my favourite is one of the earliest, when
we were watching a double-feature in
his tiny apartment and he was stringing
up the next reel of [1973 action comedy
classic] White Lightning with Burt
Reynolds. He stopped, looked at me
and said, “Isn’t this the life? We get to
project our own film prints... of our
favourite movies, we get to make our
own movies....”
He was so appreciative of the life
he had. And he’s never lost that.