His most famous quote about his career is “people ask me if I went to film school, I tell them, ‘no, I went to films” and Quentin Tarantino has really proven that you definitely do not need to go to film school to be a great director. Essentially the greatest magpie in existence, Tarantino has taken elements from every cinema genre, thrown them all together and somehow made them work. Today, he celebrates his 50th birthday and here are seven reasons why we should be thankful he exists.
1. Soundtracks
No Tarantino film would be complete without its soundtrack and Tarantino has been the master of reviving a track we had completely forgotten existed. The director essentially introduced the 5,6,7,8’s to the West in Kill Bill after hearing their track playing in a second-hand clothing store in Tokyo. Quentin haggled with the owner to purchase the track and the rest is history. The same goes for the classic Bang Bang by Nancy Sinatra and this amazing track for the most well-known dancing murder scene ever.
2. Christoph Waltz
Waltz has reiterated with virtually every speech he has ever made for accepting awards that the person he owes his success to is Quentin Tarantino. The director has revived actor’s careers, but he also discovered many gems and Waltz is no exception to this fact. We were first introduced to the German star with Inglourios Basterds and he has remained a major screen presence since…
3. John Travolta
While Waltz can thank Tarantino for his career in general, Travolta can basically thank him for reviving his entire career. The actor was always a household name, but hadn’t really been a part of a major or credible project (his film before Pulp Fiction was Look Who’s Talking) until Tarantino cast him as Vincent Vega. And what a career turnaround that was…
4. Uma Thurman
Uma and Quentin’s collaboration goes way back to the days of Pulp Fiction when the pair discussed a revenge project that would eventually be entitled Kill Bill. Make no mistake about it, despite Tarantino being at the helm, Uma’s input into the Kill Bill project was invaluable. Thurman became his muse and rumours encircled the pair’s relationship, but you can’t really argue with the results.
5. The Crazy 88’s
The spectacular Showdown at the House of the Blue Leaves left cinema-goers gobsmacked on first viewing. Tarantino had, of course, borrowed elements from other films but the final result is spellbinding.
6. The Other Projects
Tarantino’s greatest attribute is the fact that the guy just loves film, he loves everything about it, he loves people that love film and he loves people that make film. It’s no real surprise then that the director has lent his talents to other projects, has often given ideas and lends plenty of advice. Any director with Tarantino as a friend is lucky indeed… Just ask Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller!
7. His Scripts
Reservoir Dogs was a revelation, no one can deny that but the script itself was the real talking point. Tarantino just let the characters wander off into random, and yet completely believable, discussions. The trend continued with the wonderful Pulp Fiction and the Royale with Cheese and by then it was quite obvious, Tarantino was a master of the written word.
