Quentin Tarantino thinks he is God. He believes that he can make everyone reach orgasm in public.
So, let's put it this way, in his latest and most controversial film, he rewrites history with just one finger...
I know I should regard him as a director as it should be. In the past 20 years, Quentin Tarantino has changed the history of filmmaking with his film brand. Anyone who has seen Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill" smashed open with his fist from the ground When the coffin climbed up, they would never forget the scene, unless they themselves were buried in the grave. The story of "Pulp Fiction" is bizarre and full of suspense. It allows us to see another side of John Travolta and revives the actor's career. You watch "Falling Water Dog" not for anything else, you just want to appreciate the domineering black suit of the Mafia.
But what we don’t know about Quentin Tarantino is that his script "Pulp Fiction" has sold 200,000 copies-no matter who publishes the statistics, it is a veritable bestseller. First of all, he is a writer. The script for his latest film "Inglourious Basterds" is on the table in front of me at the "Jones Café" in West Hollywood. I am waiting for him.
The 165-page script tells an epic of World War II. The story begins with the Nazis chasing and shooting the Jews, and then tells the "killing squad" composed of Jewish soldiers. Under the leadership of Lieutenant Aldo Reni (played by Brad Pitt), they specifically attacked the Nazis by terrorist means, each killing one The Nazis, cut off the scalp, the goal is to bring back 100 Nazi scalps from each soldier. The German Nazis nicknamed the US military squad "Assholes." Aldo Renee has a scar on his neck, suggesting that he is a soldier who has survived the gallows. This is a group of American soldiers who committed crimes. They should have been sentenced to death. However, during the extraordinary period of World War II, they formed a "killing squad" and were allowed to commit crimes. Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, Winston Churchill, these big figures all appeared on the screen. The final climax of the film was that Susanna’s cinema was turned into ruins in the explosion, and the film and cinema became weapons of revenge and annihilation of the Nazis. Quentin Tarantino realized his dream of rewriting history through "Shameless Bastard": he blown Hitler to pieces in a small movie theater.
Quentin walked in, wearing a black pure leather jacket that you can't buy in the store, with a bright red material like flames in the left cuff, and the words "Kill Bill" sewn on the chest. This jacket was a gift from a member of the crew. He is 46 years old this year, but his age is only a number. I will not use age to describe him. The jacket he wears proves his actual age. Everything about him can be summarized with energy and passion. It is difficult to explain, but your first impression of him is that he is no different from other people you have met.
He was so happy when he saw spaghetti and meatballs on the menu. He was extremely happy when he saw the script placed among us. He was hungry, but he was very happy, like a young man who had just finished the triathlon, eager to talk about the game just now.
Q= Esquire A= Quentin Tarantino
Q:...
A: The script is pecked out with one finger. I can't type. I can only use the index finger of my right hand. I use the 1987 Smith Corona's word processor. It is very important for me to type the script with one finger. You write and write with a pen, and you often end up writing too much. But when you only use one finger to convert text, you need an overloaded editing process. If you think this pile of shit is not a bomb, you won't waste time tapping the final draft with one finger. So, you can modify it at any time, so that the text is compressed.
Q: Do you have the exact time of conception after the sperm and egg meet?
A: The meeting of sperm and egg is much easier than the ending. What often makes me impulse to write is nothing more than: "Isn't it cool to make a thief movie?" That's why "Falling Dog" was born. And now this film is inspired by: "Isn't it ambitious enough to help guys perform secret World War II missions?" My films are not necessarily all shot in this way, or written in this way, but it allows me to sit down and think.
Q: How long has the script been written?
A: I started writing in 1997 or 1998, but the original storyline is very different from the current one. I like what I wrote back then, but it's not called a movie. So I put the script aside and wrote "Kill Bill" again. When I came back, the original one didn't look like a movie, but I liked the characters in it. So, I said, "Let me rewrite a story with the original characters." Most of the script was written two years ago.
Q: A grand film was written with a single finger, and it feels very miserable.
A: A person I know said to me, "You used a finger to type a script on a computer? This is more moving than writing. Don't talk about the content, just think about this physical action." I accept people The shame of my typing and typography, this is because I am full of pride in my personal efforts. I can't hand the manuscript to the typist and let someone else type it for me after proofreading it. This will make the script lose its personality, the script must be my style, all the text is done by hand, without condoms.
Q: I can experience this passion, but what do you think of compassion?
A: Sympathize with others, sympathize with others' experiences, and sympathize with others' futures.
Q: That means you are compassionate?
A: Exactly-it has almost become my weakness. Even in a simple moral dispute, I take the most difficult defensive strategy.
Q: I'm asking this to say that everyone who has no sympathy in "Shameless Bastard" is deceived. Does this have any connection with your worldview?
A: You see, when I use words to create characters, create the world, and create the universe in the script, I am the God who rules everything. I created these characters. If my mother did not meet my father, then you would not know them. I created them completely, and they made me. So, as far as the matter itself is concerned-as God rules the universe, you have established the character's behavioral norms, but how they obey it is their own business. Sometimes they abide by the moral universe, and sometimes they violate the moral universe, so there is a dramatic conflict.
Q: Do your story scenes come from personal life experiences, or are nutrients drawn from other movies?
A: Some are real life, some are based on scenes in movies I have seen as the starting point, or they are based on "what if" assumptions. Therefore, these roles were born. If I put them until today, what would happen? I say something that best reflects my style and runs counter to other playwrights. For all of us, characters are often placed on paved roads, which carries a metaphor and is a story they want to tell. But at the fork of this road, three streets appeared. In the past, the usual creative method used by playwrights was to put roadblocks at the entrance to the street, but I can’t write like this, I can’t handle the plot like this, even if the GPS can accurately determine that this is the best path to the ending. This is because the writer has no control over what impact this street will have on the character. Maybe it makes the characters annoying, vague, and weird. But I ignored the roadblocks. I never set up roadblocks. No matter where the characters go, I don't care, but I will follow them. As for "Shameless Bastard", I didn't care about whether there was a roadblock, but at the end, a huge roadblock appeared at the entrance of the street in front of me, and this is history.
Q: That's why you have to rewrite the ending of World War II...
A: If you asked this question at the beginning, then I would be full of praise for setting up roadblocks. But I have just clarified my point of view and said, “It’s someone else’s skill to set up barricades, damn it, fucking damn it! Take the barricades away, let’s walk along the road and see if something else happens. What. I’m not worried about whether it’s true or credible. The script is fabricated. But it’s written based on truth. I woven history into what I want. It makes sense—and it’s reasonable.
Q: Then the actors gathered together and handed a 165-page script, which would cause variables, and this is not what you want, but as a "god", how do you deal with this problem?
A: This involves the selection of actors A procedural problem, that is, to choose the most suitable actor. There is no communication problem between me and the actor. "Look, I want you to understand every "if" or "but" in the script. As the plot develops, We may relax slowly. But everything I write has an order, each has a purpose, and a reason for existence. Maybe I can’t explain why I used a particular word on a certain occasion. "I may have forgotten that I wrote this to create a note to increase the paragraph on the page. But I just want them to know that I am very demanding on the text of the script. When working with Brad Pitt, it was very interesting. He said, "I haven't said to take this film yet, so I can improvise. If I say to take this film, then I can speak the lines in the script. "
Q: During filming, what you learned from Brad Pitt who?
A: He has the stubborn personality of Lieutenant Aldo Reni. He can be in the state of performing all day, and no one can compare with him. That state is not weird. Once he caught Aldor, he wouldn't let him run. When the camera starts to rotate, it is no longer a question of grabbing him, putting him down, or grabbing him. If I want to listen to Brad's advice, then I must go to his trailer early in the morning to find him. Once he entered the shooting scene, he immediately became Lieutenant Aldo. He gave me a deeper understanding of this character, which was one of the most wonderful things during the shooting. I can ask Aldor for a cup of coffee, and in response he will make a small joke, but the joke is definitely Aldor’s style. For me, staying with the character I created for 3 months day and night is indeed full of endless fun. With the deepening of the exchange, my understanding of this role is much fuller than I had originally imagined.
Q: After the filming started, have you ever thought in your heart, go to some unfamiliar places where bastards are produced?
A: I have never had any complete and strong admiration for suspense in my own film before. In the past, continuous footage was rarely used in the same scene, but in "Kill Bill", Uma was buried in the ground and there was suspense. But that is not really suspense, but another form of film expression. Suspense only occupies a small part of it, similar to "Death Evidence." "Shameless Bastard" is the first time I use suspense to tell a complete story. Generally speaking, you like to keep the scene as clean as possible. When I created "Shameless Bastard", the metaphor I used was a flexible rubber band, but it was invisible to the naked eye. If I pull it off, the shot becomes lengthy. The longer the rubber band is stretched, the better the scene becomes. The scene at the Louis Xian Inn lasted 20 minutes. When it was over, I saw the audience still staring at the screen carefully. In the middle of the scene, when the Nazi secret police were sitting at the table and the rubber band was pulled to the limit, the audience was silent and breathless. What will happen next? Then reached orgasm.
Q: Is it you or them?
A: I often use sexual metaphors to describe filming, or to describe the effects I want to get from the audience. I want the audience to be satisfied. I want to bring orgasm in the most appropriate way, so that you can get it at the most appropriate moment. Orgasm, this is the charm of movies. For me, there is no other art form that is more sexually satisfying than film. When I watched this movie with the same person for the last time, I was actually enjoying a sexual process and had an orgasm. The movie is also watching me teach the audience to get an orgasm. I am the conductor, I am directing the audience. I direct their emotions and their emotional ups and downs. I want to get closer to you now, I want to see you happy, I want to see you smile, I want you to stop laughing, stop laughing, stop laughing, laugh now! This is a complete and complete instant gratification of experience. Before watching the movie with the audience, I only watched half of it. Only when the audience reacts, you can say yes. As far as sexy shots are concerned, I am the absolute authority. When I watch other people's movies, they are also teaching me, which is the most natural thing.
Q: That 20-minute scene contains too many small details. I will go back to the cinema again to see what I had overlooked. I guess the biggest compliment a movie gets is to urge people to watch it again...
A: I think every movie I make can only be understood after watching it twice. It is difficult to beat the initial experience because I only turn left. You follow the story, and you will eventually be dragged. If you don’t know what a bludgeoning is, it’s wonderful. This is an experience, very cool. But because it contains too much, it will cause a narrative neck sprain, which is a problem you have to deal with. When you watch it the second time, you will know where to turn, your neck will not be hurt, and you can enjoy it freely, but there is still a lot left to watch. Generally speaking, people will find more fun when they watch my movie the second time. If they can't follow the movie, they can still laugh freely.
Q: In "Inglourious Basterds", there is a plot of the British people, why do you think you have a large number of followers in the UK?
A: It started with "Falling Dog", this film caused a huge sensation in the United States. "Falling Water Dog" is similar to the gangster movies filmed in the 1970s. If you choose British actors to speak London slang, it must become a British gangster movie. On the other hand, many people know that I used to work in a video store, did not go to college, but can make movies, which made me the embodiment of the American dream. In the same way, my story in the UK excites everyone, and I am completely deified under the shining of the spotlight. I have become a true hero in the eyes of many young men who have dreams of filmmakers, but I know they can't realize their dreams.
Q: Early reviews of "Inglourious Basterds" were mixed, maybe the praises and criticisms were inaccurate, because I haven't met anyone who said, "Ah, it's okay." If a critic said that the film is radiant. , Wonderful, and another critic accuses the film of being messy and indiscriminate. How do you respond to this?
A: The comments are impeccable, from the heart, but they are not practical. The greatest pleasure of commenting on films is that they are full of passion. The critics are not praising me, but rushing to fight each other. Someone has said something similar, "If someone tells you that this movie is great, then he must have got water in his brain." This angered another person, "Do you believe this? This movie is great! If you don't admit it, you It's an idiot." This passion requires you to experience it yourself, seeing is believing.
Q: People have used the last sentence in "Inglourious Basterds": "I think this may be my peak work in the future." If you think so, why don't you publicly announce to the world when you are 46 years old Woolen cloth? If you already have a pinnacle of your own, what's the point of making more movies?
A: Oh, something can be the pinnacle of the present, but you will surpass it in the future. You see, I don't care about hints at all, otherwise I wouldn't say that. At that moment, let Lieutenant Aldor say such a wonderful thing, I am sure that the sculpture he completed must be his pinnacle. So, the last sentence is very great. If you want to say that only I can analyze the work myself, then I have nothing to answer. But I can't boast, I don't want to say, "This is how I really feel." I want the audience to speak with their eyes.
(For the original text, see the character column of the October 2009 issue of "Mr. Reader")
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