Quentin Tarantino interview

Words: Matt Hill

All smiles, gesticulations and boundless enthusiasm, Quentin Tarantino is not how you expect the ‘coolest filmmaker of his generation’ (copyright everyone, ever) to be. While many Hollywood names with half his back catalogue act archly aloof, the Tennessee-born writer/director is as giddily excitable as when he first took the film world by storm as a 30-year-old with Reservoir Dogs in 1992. ShortList very much approves.

After all, there aren’t many directors who have become genres in their own right, but with his unmistakably modern mix of sharp dialogue, stylish visuals and liberal violence, Tarantino is one such exception. He gave a whole generation of filmmakers someone to crib from while cutting ‘Tarantino-esque’ into our filmic vocabulary with a cut-throat razor, earning an Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and the Palme d’Or in the process.

Now 46, with his new film, the brutal but dazzling Brad Pitt-starring Second World War romp Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino is showing no signs of taking his foot off the accelerator. Yet when we meet in a London hotel, cinema’s former enfant terrible is already planning his retirement. And the pipes and slippers may not be far behind…

Inglourious Basterds was lapped up by the ShortList office, but it received a mixed response at the Cannes Film Festival. Were you surprised by the reaction?
I’m never surprised. While it’d be nice if everybody was tripping over themselves with praise, all my movies have received a mixed reaction, even Pulp Fiction; that’s the way it is when you’re doing what I’m doing. If you’re an important artist, people may not like you, but they have to deal with you. I am a filmmaker that critics have to deal with, and how they think about me will help define who they are and what they are about. So whether you accept me or reject me, I define you to some degree. Would it be nice if everybody just all got in line and drank the Kool-Aid? Yeah, that would be really great, but nice isn’t always best.