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La personnalité de la quinzaine à la loupe(^28) • VOCABLE Du 11 juillet au 4 septembre 2019
1
Reservoir Dogs
(19 9 2)
With Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino began his
career as an independent filmmaker. The
aestheticisation of violence, central to this neo-noir
crime thriller, and the nonlinear structure of the
story, became one of Tarantino’s trademarks.
Screened at the Sundance Film Festival, the movie
created quite a controversy over its depiction of
torture and became an immediate hit.
The story: Six men are hired to take part in a jewel
heist and are given colours as names to protect their
identities. But the heist goes terribly wrong.
aestheticisation making something visually acceptable or
intriguing / trademark here, characteristic / to screen to
be broadcast (on the screen) / depiction representation /
to hire to employ / jewel precious stone / heist (originally
American slang) burglary, robbery, hold-up / to go, went,
gone wrong not to go as expected.
2
Pulp Fiction (1 9 9 4)
Quentin Tarantino’s second movie, often
described as a touchstone of postmodern
filmmaking, is considered his masterpiece. It is the
first of his movies starring Uma Thurman, who he
described as his “muse.” It was awarded the Palme
d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
The story: Pulp Fiction follows three main
interrelated stories respectively centred on two mob
hit men (John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson) and
a gangster’s wife (Uma Thurman), a boxer (Bruce
Willis), and a pair of diner bandits (Tim Roth and
Amanda Plummer).
touchstone reference
point, emblem /
masterpiece person’s
greatest piece of work /
starring in the principal
role / to award to give (as
a prize) / main principal,
chief / mob mafia, criminal
organisation / hit man
hired assassin / diner
inexpensive restaurant (ref
to the opening of the film).
3
Kill Bill
(2003 and 2004)
Originally conceived as one
movie, Kill Bill’s 4-hour plus running time
prompted its release in two parts. This
highly stylised movie assumes different
cinematic traditions such as Kung Fu films,
Japanese martial arts, Spaghetti Westerns and
Italian horror.
The story: The Bride (Uma Thurman), an
ex-professional assassin who is pregnant, is shot
and left for dead at her wedding by her former boss,
Bill (David Carradine). When she wakes up from the
coma, she sets out for revenge.
running time duration / to prompt to cause / to
assume to feature / bride woman getting married /
pregnant expecting a baby / former ex / to set, set,
set out for to leave in order to / revenge vengeance.
4
Inglourious Basterds
( 2 0 0 9)
The movie tells an alternative history story.
It is heavily influenced by French New Wave cinema,
Spaghetti Westerns and pre-war German cinema.
Tarantino spent over a decade writing the script.
The story: During WWII, Lieutenant Aldo Raine
(Brad Pitt) organises a group of Jewish soldiers to
take down the leaders of The Third Reich.
heavily considerably, greatly / decade period of ten years
/ script screenplay / WWII World War 2 / Jewish
belonging to the Jewish culture or religion / to take, took,
taken down to kill.
5
Django Unchained
(20 1 2)
This action-adventure movie stemmed
from Tarantino’s desire to make a movie about
America’s “horrible past with slavery” but in the
style of a spaghetti western. It is Tarantino’s
highest-grossing film to date.
The story: In the American Deep South, two years
before the beginning of the Civil War, a slave named
Django (Jamie Foxx) sets out to rescue his wife from
a brutal Mississippi plantation owner (Leonardo
DiCaprio), with the help of a German bounty hunter
(Christoph Waltz).
to stem from to arise from, result from / to gross to earn
in sales receipts (before tax) / Civil War war in the US
between the North and South (1861-1865) / to set, set,
set out to to undertake to / owner proprietor / bounty
hunter person who hunts criminals for money.
6
Once Upon a Time... in
Hollywood ( 2 0 1 9)
Tarantino’s upcoming movie is based on a
true event: the Manson Family murders. It has
premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. It took
Tarantino, who lived in Los Angeles County most of
his life, five years to write the script.
The story: The movie is set in Los Angeles in 1969.
Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), former star of a
western TV series, and his longtime stunt double Cliff
Booth (Brad Pitt), are struggling to make it in a
Hollywood they don’t
recognise anymore. But Rick
has a famous next-door
neighbour...Sharon Tate
(Margot Robbie).
once upon a time ref to
traditional fairy tale
beginning / upcoming next /
true event his tor y, ac tual
occurence / to premiere to
show, present for the first
time / to be set in to take
place in / to make, made,
made it to succeed.
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Once Upon A Time In... Hollywood, part of the
official competition at Cannes in May, comes to our screens this summer. Here
is a resumé of the six most important films in the career of the cult director.
(SIPA)
(SIPA)
(SIPA)
AA 28-806-Isa.indd 28 01/07/2019 09:18