Quentin Tarantino on making movies
Quentin Tarantino, the most distinctive writer-director around today, grew up in L.A. and worked as a teen behind the counter at a video store, where he devoured everything he could learn about the cinema. He famously described his training: "People ask if I went to film school, and I tell them, 'No - I went to films.' "
In 1992, he wrote the screenplay for Reservoir Dogs, an ensemble heist movie built around blood-soaked action sequences and the type of hard-boiled dialogue that felt like updated Raymond Chandler. His screenplays for other people's movies, such as True Romance and Natural Born Killers, continued to develop his reputation as a writer.
The success of Reservoir Dogs set the stage for Pulp Fiction, which created a sensation. It gave John Travolta his career back, gave Samuel L. Jackson his iconic role, and earned Tarantino an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Jackie Brown followed, built around wonderful performances by Pam Grier and Robert Forrester, and then it was Kill Bill, a revenge epic that was so spectacular it had to be released in two parts— wall to wall filled with extraordinary action scenes and fascinating soliloquies.
He then made his World War II epic Inglorious Basterds were he unearthed the talents of Christopher Waltz and followed it up with his slavery drama Django Unchained, which bagged him his second Best Original Screenplay Oscar of his career.
