Welcome to #FlashbackFriday, where we look at past moments with filmmakers, actors, etc. and highlight something in cinema history that’s fascinating, amusing, perhaps something you never knew or have seen, you name it.
Violence in media is a hot-button issue that has been discussed ad nauseam for decades. For years, parents were concerned about the violence in movies, with ratings becoming more and more strict over time. Luckily, for filmmakers, it appears that video games seem to bear the brunt of the excessive violence debate. However, back in 1994, the poster boy for excessive violence was new filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.
In a clip we’re happy to share for this week’s #FlashbackFriday, we have a quick discussion between Tarantino and his idol/filmmaker Brian De Palma. As Tarantino says in the clip, De Palma was the filmmaker getting criticized for his use of violent imagery. But as they discuss in the interview, all these directors are doing is a good job.
“As a filmmaker, when you deal in violence, you’re actually penalized for doing a good job,” says Tarantino. “Absolutely,” De Palma replies.
At the time, Tarantino was being criticized for his breakout film, “Reservoir Dogs,” which features the now-infamous ear-cutting scene. However, De Palma, at the time, was a known quantity and a revered director, but had come under fire for his violent films like “Scarface,” “Carrie,” and “Body Double.”
As we know now, both filmmakers would go on to do exactly what they’re good at in the years since. Tarantino has not shied away from violence at all, and some might say his films get progressively gorier. De Palma, on the other hand, has slowed down his output but has continued to use violent films to discuss controversial topics, such as war.
De Palma sums up the conversation best when he says, “Cinema is, as we’ve said a thousand times, is a visual medium and we’re interested in terrific visual sequences and many of them happen to be violent.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po3fQ3t-aYA
