The Tarantino Revolution and the Emergence of a New Cinematic Genre
April 28th 2010 14:10
Sixteen years have passed since a film hit the American conscious and changed the way we look at movies.
A film that didn’t appear on the landscape with media buzz and fanfare but built it’s following by word of mouth and cult status.
Pulp Fiction will forever be remembered as the film that put Quentin Tarantino on the map with a ride that took him to an Oscar nomination in the same year that the Cinematic Classic Forrest Gump took home the trophy.
It would be foolish of me to expect everyone reading this to bow down to Tarantino as the anointed master of film but the rise of this legendary director from a writer on such films as Natural Born Killers to directing the Indie Classic Reservoir Dogs and ultimately taking his unique style to an International audience with Inglourious Basterds has to be marveled at.
With a style that pulls together elements from so many different genres in movie history it’s hard to pin down the style of Quentin Tarantino to any specific expectation.
If forced to label Tarantino Films think Dolomite meets Foxy Brown meets Bruce Lee meets the original Gone in 60 Seconds meetsThe Godfather meets GoodFellas meets Clint Eastwood meets the Dirty Dozen.
Even with this half attempt at an analogy to describe Tarantino Films it still fails to come anywhere close to ideas that have been put to film and the one’s that are yet to come.
While some may say it’s the violent nature of our society that fuels these drunken, cigarette smoking, foul mouthed and violent genre of films; I would point to the carefully pieced together sets of social dialogue, disregard for doing the things ways they have always been done, precise casting of characters, choreographed fight sequences, and structure of storylines that go into each and every creation.
Without room to compare a set of films to one’s that have came before we are left with no choice but to create a label of our own.
A genre where a Kung Fu Revenge Epic can sit side by side with a Crime film about a gangster who receives a religious awakening in route to deliver a man’s most precious possession.
It’s the variety and range of films that make Tarantino a master in the Film Industry.
A master of harnessing the culture that surrounds us and putting pen to paper in its delivery no matter the time period of the film he is creating.
While Inglourious Basterds is the latest Tarantino Epic one can only hope that it will not be the last.
It is up to the faithful fans to hem and haw about what the next film may or may not be in the creation of the next installment of the Kill Bill Journey or another fresh piece of Cinema from the Master.
The only answer I have for this is the guarantee that I will be in a Cineplex when this day comes whether the wait is a year, 5 years or 10.
A wait that will be eagerly anticipated and well received when it ends.
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A film that didn’t appear on the landscape with media buzz and fanfare but built it’s following by word of mouth and cult status.
Pulp Fiction will forever be remembered as the film that put Quentin Tarantino on the map with a ride that took him to an Oscar nomination in the same year that the Cinematic Classic Forrest Gump took home the trophy.
It would be foolish of me to expect everyone reading this to bow down to Tarantino as the anointed master of film but the rise of this legendary director from a writer on such films as Natural Born Killers to directing the Indie Classic Reservoir Dogs and ultimately taking his unique style to an International audience with Inglourious Basterds has to be marveled at.
With a style that pulls together elements from so many different genres in movie history it’s hard to pin down the style of Quentin Tarantino to any specific expectation.
If forced to label Tarantino Films think Dolomite meets Foxy Brown meets Bruce Lee meets the original Gone in 60 Seconds meetsThe Godfather meets GoodFellas meets Clint Eastwood meets the Dirty Dozen.
Even with this half attempt at an analogy to describe Tarantino Films it still fails to come anywhere close to ideas that have been put to film and the one’s that are yet to come.
While some may say it’s the violent nature of our society that fuels these drunken, cigarette smoking, foul mouthed and violent genre of films; I would point to the carefully pieced together sets of social dialogue, disregard for doing the things ways they have always been done, precise casting of characters, choreographed fight sequences, and structure of storylines that go into each and every creation.
Without room to compare a set of films to one’s that have came before we are left with no choice but to create a label of our own.
A genre where a Kung Fu Revenge Epic can sit side by side with a Crime film about a gangster who receives a religious awakening in route to deliver a man’s most precious possession.
It’s the variety and range of films that make Tarantino a master in the Film Industry.
A master of harnessing the culture that surrounds us and putting pen to paper in its delivery no matter the time period of the film he is creating.
While Inglourious Basterds is the latest Tarantino Epic one can only hope that it will not be the last.
It is up to the faithful fans to hem and haw about what the next film may or may not be in the creation of the next installment of the Kill Bill Journey or another fresh piece of Cinema from the Master.
The only answer I have for this is the guarantee that I will be in a Cineplex when this day comes whether the wait is a year, 5 years or 10.
A wait that will be eagerly anticipated and well received when it ends.
Are you a Fan of the Conversation?
Discussions like the one you have just read can not continue without your support.
Please Vote and Leave Your Comments at the Bottom of the Page.
Please also Click the links of our Advertisers to show your support for the movement that is not about a fantasyland where everyone agrees with each other but one where we can at least come to table of understanding to find a better way.
To get more of the story join me on my Social Networking Sites and Become a Fan of my Facebook Page by following the links below.
Join me for a discussion of current events and background conversations on my weekly blogs.
The Side Conversation
Click Here
Facebook Fan Page
Click here
Friend me on Facebook
Click Here
Friend me on Myspace
Click Here
Follow Me on Twitter
Click Here
Poster Courtesy of Miramax Studios all rights Reserved
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Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Reservoir Dogs was actually the movie that brought Tarantino to the attention of film critics and cinephiles, and arguably it is still his best; a pared-back, lean, mean fighting machine. However, Tarantino stole the premise from a Hong Kong movie called City on Fire.
Pulp Fiction is somewhat original in that it tells multiple stories and interweaves them, but that in itself is hardly novel. There are more movie references in Pulp Fiction than you can throw a stick at, but what Tarantino does that is so memorable is his attention to detail, characterisation, casting, source music, and his no nonsense approach to screen violence. All these elements meld together to become the signature Tarantino stylistic. Which he's used over and over.
Jackie Brown is an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's crime novel Rum Punch, but nods its head to blaxploitation and caper movies.
Kill Bill is the appropriation of a dozen Asian martial arts and revenge movies.
Death Proof, while original in premise, was basically an exercise in muscle-car and tail exploitation, just not done especially well (Rodriguez's Planet Terror was much better).
Inglourious Basterds is a very loose re-working of a WWII B-movie, but curiously is probably his most original movie to date. It still uses all his trademark elements. And it's his best movie since Pulp Fiction.
Don't get me wrong though, I'm definitely a fan of Tarantino, but I don't think he should be placed on such a high pedestal.
He certainly didn't change cinema, he just re-packaged certain low-brow genres and made them cool to younger and new audiences. Or those that had never seen those kinds of genre flicks before.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Khalfani King
Politics and Culture
Khalfani King
Oldies but Goodies From Campaign 08
To your points I have to say that I am not here to impress my opinions on anyone else or to get into a back room film or grammar argument.
What I am here for is to lay the facts on the table and state my opinions as to what makes me see things the way I do.
While you may say that borrowing or paying homage makes someone a thief I say that this is the same formula some of the greatest and most celebrated artists in the world used to reach heights of fame.
It is the very basis of American Culture to borrow elements from other artists or forms of government to create something new.
We see it in music, paintings and yes even cinema.
If I had said that he was the greatest original artist of our or all time we would have some serious divisions of opinion that would need to be ironed out.
I have never said this and most certainly Quentin Tarantino never said this.
As far as the grammar lesson I’m going to put up a mind numbing link that explains the difference between the Affect vs. Effect that leads to nowhere.
This should explain my use of the word in the context of this conversation as something more than expecting Director’s to copy his style line for line and was more about a change in thinking in the creation of the movies that followed.
Affect vs. Effect
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Of course I realise that all forms of art, from music to movies, theatre to dance exist through the influence and inspiration of existing art. Tarantino is a jack of all-trades, but master of none. He can't seem to make a truly original movie. Yet everyone feels they are original, because he amalgamates so many elements, and then packs in so much dialogue it feels like you're watching filmed theatre. True Romance is probably the only truly original movie he's written.
I'm not trying to create an argument, I'm only voicing a point of contention; that Tarantino is an anomaly. He makes movies that have a unique and distinctive style, yet they are hugely influenced by and often blatantly steal from an existing movie.
Comment by Khalfani King
Politics and Culture
Khalfani King
Oldies but Goodies From Campaign 08
I believe Tarantino has created his own genre by fusing elements of the world around him into works of art.
Whether that is society, films of yesteryear or his own personal experiences it is still used to create something new.
If you feel this is thievery so be it.
That is your opinion and you are entitled to it.
There are plenty of original artists who deserve praise but are being overshadowed but that is a completely different conversation.
There is no direct comparison to Tarantino's style so we have no choice but to call it a style of it's own.
We are given the individual choice to embrace or reject it.
Hope that clears things up.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
I would like to see Tarantino make a wholly original movie.
But is he capable of doing so? I don't think so.
Comment by Khalfani King
Politics and Culture
Khalfani King
Oldies but Goodies From Campaign 08
I guess we will have to wait and see.
When and if that time comes we can judge Quentin Tarantino's body of work in a another light all together or we can comence with the "I told you so's" if it never occurs.
Thanks for the conversation