Quentin Tarantino Month: Introduction

While I will still be doing reviews of new movies in July, this month will also be dedicated to films that are directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Parents may know him as a man who seeks to corrupt the youth with super-violent films like the "Kill Bill" movies, but critics know him as a master of dialogue and storytelling. When I had first heard of "Pulp Fiction," I only knew that there are some edgy scenes for the time it was made. However, when I actually saw it, I found a movie that is kept entertaining by mostly showing a few characters talking to each other.

In the review for "Jackie Brown" by Siskel and Ebert, Gene Siskel said it is obvious that Tarantino listens to people because he is good at writing dialogue. Roger Ebert talked about how he uses it, combined with small, behavioral details, to create unique characters.

This is exactly what made William Shakespeare's plays so famous. Like Tarantino, he was able to write dialogue that was interesting to listen to and create realistic characters through it. However, these two artists are very different from each other. While the playwright is known for sophisticated, poetic dialogue, Tarantino's is gritty and realistic. There are a lot of curse words back-to-back, and his use of the N-word has been a topic of controversy. He has justified it by saying he writes how people talk, not necessarily what he says himself.

It is not the foul language that makes his dialogue interesting. He sometimes does it by using simple trivia like in "Pulp Fiction," when Vincent (John Travolta) talks about what France calls a Quarter Pounder. Other times it is simple, yet deep, observation, such as the speech at the end of "Kill Bill: Vol. 2" that compares Superman's identity to what is going on in the story. These tactics, along with keeping the dialogue realistic, is what adds a lot of depth to his characters. Anyone who studies creative writing in any form should be required to watch Tarantino films.

The first review I will do is not his most recent nor his first film. It is the "Kill Bill" movies, which I will lump into one post. They are the last I saw and therefore the freshest in my mind. I will then decide where to go from there. I plan to get reviews for all his major films done by the end of July, which include "Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction," "Jackie Brown," "Kill Bill," "Inglourious Basterds" and "Django Unchained."

Quentin Tarantino Month:

Kill Bill: Vol. 1
Kill Bill Vol. 2
Pulp Fiction
Django Unchained
Inglourious Basterds
Jackie Brown
Reservoir Dogs