66 THE WEEK • AUGUST 4, 2019
@LEISURE
CINEMA
Ahead of the release of what
may be his penultimate
movie, here is a look at the
genius of Quentin Tarantino
and the alternate universe
he created through his films
Master
crafter
penultimate movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. He
had announced that he may retire after his 10th movie.
He may not be considered one among the cinematic
pantheon, but Tarantino is certainly one of the most in-
fluential filmmakers of today. His name is evoked every
time a movie luxuriates in gratuitous bloodshed, foot
fetishism or profanity. Or when a director experiments
with the three-act structure. Things that have become
signature Tarantino tropes.
Unlike the methodical Kubrick, the character-driven
Scorsese, or the masterful Godard, Tarantino did not
reach the top of the cinematic summit with films that had
great stories or layered characterisation. He achieved
stardom by making films inspired by movies of every
shade, paying homage even to odd genres (grind house,
blackploitation), and consequently fashioned his own
cinematic universe.
The universe that he designed is rarely inhabited by
real people or incidents, but one that offers him plenty
of creative liberties. Red Apple cigarettes and Big Kahu-
na Burger, fictional brands mentioned in Pulp Fiction,
are seen in his later movies. Mia of Pulp Fiction played
a deadly assassin in a pilot show and Beatrix of Kill Bill
is the deadliest assassin at Bill’s disposal. Vincent Vega
(Pulp Fiction) and Vic Vega (Reservoir Dogs) are siblings.
It is indeed an alternate universe.
Tarantino broke rules and played around with the
three-act structure—the setup may be established only
in the second half and confrontation might come when
you least expect it. Anime characters are used for sto-
rytelling, and dialogues would often veer into absolute
banality. Filmmaker Bejoy Nambiar, a self-professed
Tarantino fan, says, “Tarantino has a very unique voice.
It was like a breath of fresh air when he started putting
out his works.... Hollywood was resorting to certain kinds
of stereotypes. He brought about a certain change, a very
radical one. He has inspired many filmmakers.”
He made tribute and intertextuality an art from. A self-
taught filmmaker, Tarantino makes movies not merely
wenty-seven years ago, a caper film
by a debut director was screened
at the Sundance Film Festival. Res-
ervoir Dogs, the story of a failed
heist by curiously named charac-
ters who mouth dialogues full of profanity and
pop culture references, announced the arrival
of a quirky filmmaker. Eight films and an array
of awards later, Quentin Tarantino received an
extraordinary, seven-minute standing ovation
at the Cannes Film Festival for what may be his
Kill Bill 1
2003
ANDREA RAFFIN
T