GQ has an extensive interview with Quentin Tarantino in it’s latest issue and much of it tracks the subject of “Inglourious Basterds,” but time and attention is also devoted to QT’s career as a whole. Some of his thoughts seem unrealistic, but the interview is interesting. Let’s start with the prequel talk. We know he claims he has an African-American soldiers-centered ‘Inglourious Basterds’ prequel half-ready and we know he’s said, that film would include Brad Pitt and Eli Roth’s characters, but he hasn’t given many plot details.
It turns out, according to GQ, it’s about African American soldiers who have quit the war, or perhaps said f-this to fighting the white man’s war overseas in a country that doesn’t even respect them at home? The article calls the potential project “a story about a group of AWOL black soldiers making their way across occupied France.”
Not a lot more detail on paper, but when you think of a story of Black soldiers going AWOL during WWII it does bring up a lot of questions and raises obvious political and racial issues. Of course race would come up in a scenario like this regardless, but it is an interesting thought where he could go with this and how Lt. Aldo Raine would figure into this considering his character is supposed to be a redneck from Tennessee (then again, the character also has a lynching scar around his neck which is never discussed which does hint to sympathy on his part). Like we said, the little bit of news raises a lot of interesting questions.
That’s if he even makes these films. Obviously his sequel track record is not great and any prequels (and or sequels, which he’s also discussed) are contingent on ‘Basterds’ performing well at the box-office which remains to be seen. Let’s table that one for now. The ‘Basterds’ as mini-series idea? Turns out, he came close to almost creating a “twelve-episode mini-series” ala “Band of Brothers.” Why did it take him so long? Because he wrote that much material. The condensed version is the “Inglourious Basterds” the rest of the world will see in August [ed. can someone please publish the mini-series version? This we want to at least read].
Onto the subject of his career, which seems to be tad presumptuous and unrealistic. Dude states the importance of not going stale and complacent and he seems to take anonymous jabs at once-great filmmakers who haven’t aged so gracefully (Francis Ford Coppola? Martin Scorsese? Clint Eastwood? He won’t say who he’s talking about, in fact, “declines” to name names), but everyone grows old and slows down, no?
Not Quentin, or at least he seems like he wants to be Rolling Stones of the film set: never slow down, never stop touring, never make old man music (or ostensibly that’s obviously what they feel they’re doing, the latest we get with the Stones is probably Tattoo You — Tarantino’s music to film analogy in the feature is good Dylan versus Christian Dylan).
He seems to speak almost disparagingly of the “mature” tones of “Jackie Brown.” “Yeah…it’s as much of an old-man movie as I ever wanna make.” Is the translation of that? “Don’t worry fans, I won’t make another slow-moving picture like that again,” and if so is he not aware that ‘Inglourious Basterds” is actually fairly similar in its need for excessive chatter and non-rock n’ roll speed?
We find that quote odd. On his ‘hope I die before I get old,’ creatively attitude.
“There’s the rock ‘n’ roll time”—he points at the drink—”and there’s the big-band time,” he says, pointing at the water. “I don’t want that. Where I’m coming from, I’m thinking about when I’m dead and gone, and some kid—who’s maybe not even born yet—sees one of my movies and digs it. And he says, ‘This guy’s fucking got it going on. I want to see something else by this guy.’ But he doesn’t know who the fuck I am, so he doesn’t know to go to Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs. He’s just gonna pick the easiest one he can get his hands on. And if that’s one of the ones I make during my old-man years—well, I’ve lost him right then and there. People are gonna be rummaging in the grab bag of Quentin Tarantino’s work, and I want it all to be fucking kick-ass. I want the first film to be as strong as the last film. I want that kid to get his little dick hard about every single one of ’em.””
Sure, every filmmaker wants that, but big-band time and old man doesn’t have to be synonymous does it? We’ll see where he is when he’s in his ’50s (he’s 46) and see if his outlook changes then. Oh yeah, and Quentin. Don’t kid yourself. “Inglourious Basterds” is not a Dick Dale song. It’s an oddball Ennio Morricone tune with a splash of weirdo-synth David Bowie and a second of funky Billy Preston, and obviously that’s not exactly kick-ass rock n’ roll if you wanna stay on that analogy. Someone asked if we didn’t like ‘Basterds’ why do we write about Tarantino so much? Love to hate? Too strong, but the dude is a fascinating figure, contradictions and all. Anyhow, an interesting read as much as we disagree with a lot of what he says, you should check it out when you have a moment, cause it’s long. The film hits August 21, sit tight. Oh and note, if you’re in Spain, ‘Basterds’ will open the San Sebastian Film Festival, but that’s not til mid September and after the U.S. premiere (perhaps that’s early in that country).
