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Jay Cray

Editor (Film)

 

Quentin Tarantino announced the title of his next feature film this week, The Hateful Eight. Following the western style of Django Unchained (2012) Tarantino’s next film looks to have parts for Christoph Waltz and a rumoured role for Nebraska actor Bruce Dern. With this announcement, we at The Global Panorama felt it was time to look back and celebrate Tarantino’s career in film.

Born 1963 in Knoxville, Tennessee, Tarantino began acting classes at the age of 15 with the James Best Theatre Company. He quit two years later and was employed in the new defunct video rental shop Video Archives, Manhattan. Here, he payed close attention to the films rented by the public and has been quoted saying “when people ask me if I went to film school, I tell them ‘no, I went to films’.”

Tarantino’s career in film began with Lawrence Bender, an American film producer, encouraging him to write a screenplay after the two met at a Hollywood party. This resulted in his first film My Best Friend’s Birthday (1987) which was unfortunately destroyed by a lab fire during the editing phase. His next film Reservoir Dogs (1992) could be scribed as his breakthrough feature. Screened at Sundance Film Festival, the film became an instant hit with positive responses from critics.

After the success of his first film, Tarantino was approached by a number of Hollywood studios with projects, but instead headed to Amsterdam and focused on the script for his next hit Pulp Fiction. The cult classic hit screens in 1994 and won him the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Pulp Fiction grossed more than $200 million and Tarantino won the Palme D’or Award at Cannes Film Festival. The film maintained his use of violence aesthetics and is still proclaimed today as one of his best films.

Tarantino went on to work on other film with Robert Rodriguez and smaller projects before returning with his next feature Jackie Brown (1997). The film was an adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s novel Rum Punch and was described as an homage to blaxploitation and featured Pam Grier. Inglorious Basterds was postponed while Tarantino wrote and directed Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, a stylised revenge film. Kill Bill used the cinematic traditions of wuxia and jidaighi with a mix of spaghetti Western and Italian horror. The plot was developed by Tarantino and Uma Thurman during the making of Pulp Fiction.

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Tarantino’s work in film was recognised when he was selected as President of the Jury at Cannes Film Festival in 2004, where he won the prestigious award ten years earlier. 2009 saw Tarantino’s next big feature, the postponed Inglorious Basterds. The film set during the Second World War followed a guerrilla group of Jewish-American soldiers in Nazi-occupied France. It took number one spot at the box office world wide and went on to become Tarantino’s highest grossing film (until Django Unchained).

Telling the story of the revenge of a black slave in the deep South set in 1858, Django Unchained (2012) became Tarantino’s biggest hit, nominated for five Academy Awards and winning Best Original Screenplay. He has many trademarks in his films, classic Mexican standoff scenes, extreme violence described as being rooted in dark comic context and his director cameos where you can spot him in small roles throughout his films. His influence and position in the film industry is remarkable.

Tarantino has brought us many classics and cult films always causing excitement and a stir when he announces a new project. We’re very excited for The Hateful Eight and look forward to the production starting in 2014.

Image Courtesy: pinguino k, Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License | Wiki Commons

Image Courtesy: Wolf Gang (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfgangkuhnle/8438866481/)

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Jay Cray

Jay is an undergraduate studying English Literature and English Language at Cardiff University, United Kingdom. Her main interests include Modern Literature, film, art and music. Although studying literature she would love a career in the film and television industry, possibly screenwriting in the future. In her free time she enjoys snowboarding, reading and trying new things.

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