Quentin Tarantino announced that he would retire from filmmaking after his 10th film and concentrate on writing. QT is currently working on Hateful Eight, his eighth film, leaving just two more to go. We look at some of the things that the crazy genius has given us and why we will miss him if he does retire.

the unique style: There are so many things that make a Tarantino film — from the violence, wit and humour to the pop culture references. And his homage to different genres of films adds that extra zing to his films. So, if Kill Bill was a nod to Japanese films, Death Proof was a homage to grindhouse films while Django Unchained was his take on Westerns and Inglourious Basterds on war films.

The music: The music of Tarantino films, no matter which film you take, is always distinctive and spot-on when it comes to matching what is happening on screen. Who can forget the incredibly apt use of Nancy Sinatra’s Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) in Kill Bill Vol.1, Urge Overkill’s Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon that plays as Mia Wallace snorts heroin thinking it to be cocaine in Pulp Fiction or David Bowie’s Putting Out The Fire With Gasoline that sets up the finale in Inglorious Basterds.

The badass characters: He has given us some of the most badass characters on screen, sometimes as many as three in one film. From Uma Thurman’s super ninja Beatrix Kiddo in the Kill Bill series, the sadistic and murderous Vic Vega (Michael Madsen) from Reservoir Dogs, Lucy Liu’s cold and scary O-Ren Iishi (remember that boardroom scene and the grotesque decapitation?) from Kill Bill Vol. 1, to the most memorable one ever — Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), the Bible-quoting, god-fearing, smooth-talking killer from Pulp Fiction. Maybe QT can’t better Jules, but he should keep trying, which means many more badass men and women.

Pulp Fiction

Kill Bill Vol. 1

Reservoir Dogs

Inglourious Basterds

Django Unchained

The quotable quotes: All the badass characters are made even more badass by their memorable lines. Any Tarantino fan will know the film just from some of the dialogues. When you hear “Silly Caucasian girl likes to play with Samurai swords”, you know it is O-Ren Iishi from Kill Bill Vol. 1. You hear “Any of you f****g pricks move, and I’ll execute every motherf****g last one of ya!” you know it is from Pulp Fiction. “And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee”, means your favourite ‘basterd’ is up on screen, the one and only Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction.

The collaborations: It is difficult to ascertain who ups whose cool quotient when it comes to his frequent collaborators. Take for instance Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Christoph Waltz, Harvey Keitel and Michael Madsen, with whom he creates magic in the form of unforgettable characters, and that is just on screen. His collaboration with friend and fellow filmmaker Robert Rodriguez has given us Grindhouse and Frank Miller’s Sin City where Tarantino was credited as a guest director. He has written screenplay for the cult classic True Romance directed by Tony Scott and written the story for yet another cult film, Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers.

The cameos: He might not be much of an actor but we’ve all enjoyed the cameo appearances he has made in his films from Mr Brown in Reservoir Dogs and Jimmie Dimmick in Pulp Fiction to Warren, the dive bar owner, in Death Proof and, most recently, as the Australian miner in Django Unchained, who, obviously, gets blown up by his own dynamite. And who can forget that loooong urine-based joke he cracked as the pickup guy in Rodriguez’s Desparado?

The muse: She has played two of the most kickass characters in films, thanks to Tarantino, who has called her his muse. Yes, we are talking about Uma Thurman. The two were seen getting cosy in Cannes but are still not saying if they actually “are”. Well, we think the “are they-aren’t they” chemistry that makes the pair rock should be exploited further on screen. We sure haven’t had enough of them.

 

Should Quentin Tarantino retire from films? Tell us at t2@abp.in

 

Chandreyee Chatterjee