“Django Unchained” still hasn’t opened in the UK; in fact it’s one of four of this year’s Best Picture nominees that have yet to do so. It will, however, hit British cinemas in just eight days time, and Quentin Tarantino is over there at the moment to promote his new film which tonight has it’s London premiere. While doing said promoting, QT has so far come across as someone supremely confident in his own ability as a filmmaker, and unashamedly proud of the latest product he’s got to offer. In fact, it had all been going rather swimmingly, until he was interviewed by Channel 4 News’ Krishnan Guru-Murthy.
Guru-Murthy (who points out “this is a news program, not a film program…so we explore serious themes”) was intent on pressing Tarantino about his views on links between movie violence and real life violence, and QT didn’t like that one bit. “Don’t ask me a question like that. I’m not biting. I refuse your question,” says Tarantino. “I’m not your slave and you’re not my master. You can’t make me dance to your tune. I’m not a monkey.”
That’s about four and a half minutes into the interview and it continues on that track for the majority of the eight and a half minute piece, with QT steadfast in his refusal to go beyond his initial assertion that there is no link between real life and movie violence (something he’s already discussed on the press tour for the film). It truly is a fascinating watch, and it’s worth watching alone for QT quotes like “I’m shutting your butt down,” and “It’s none of your damn business what I think about that.” Oh, and watch out for the clearly worried PR’s hand popping into frame around the 7:47 mark, trying to wrap the interview up.
Frankly we don’t blame QT for refusing to answer a question that rather spuriously tries to connect his movie with real-life violent tragedies. If there’s any doubt about what Guru-Murthy and Channel 4 were trying to imply, just check out the tags accompanying the video their website – one of which reads "US guns." We’re just surprised that Guru-Murthy (who it has to be said is a respected journalist on that side of the Atlantic) pursues it for quite so long, but kudos to both of them for standing firm throughout. Watch the video for yourself and see if you think Tarantino dealt with this the right way, regardless of whether you agree with his original (and we believe valid) stance.