Cinematical
Posted Feb 2nd 2008 12:32PM by Ryan Stewart
<LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.cinematical.com/2008/02/02/t … ost-story/”>http://www.cinematical.com/2008/02/02/tarantino-talks-inglorious-bastards-and-his-slave-ghost-story/</LINK_TEXT>
In a new, in-depth interview with British magazine Sight & Sound, Quentin Tarantino, who I had the pleasure of meeting at this year’s Sundance, goes into all his upcoming and most of his past projects, and gives a detailed update on exactly where he is with his next feature, a war movie called Inglorious Bastards. “I’ve got tons of material and a lot of stuff written but now I’ve figured out what to do, I gotta start from page one, square one,” Tarantino says, seemingly putting to rest any notion that this thing will be going before the cameras in the next year or so. “I started just before I came on this trip and brought the stuff with me but I haven’t had a chance to continue yet. But maybe on the flight back home I’ll come back into it. I love writing in other countries.” No further details about the plot or potential casting is given, just that quasi-confirmation that the film is in his cross-hairs at the moment.
Tarantino also talks at length about Grindhouse, admitting to being depressed and disappointed over how the film was received at the box office, but defending his longer, original cut of Death Proof as the definitive one and arguing that it stands on its own quite well. Tarantino also talks about the process of getting involved with the double feature in the first place, and reveals that he first wanted his contribution to be a Candyman-style horror film about the ghost of a slave that terrifies a group of white girls. “The first idea was a bunch of young college history students that were going through a tour of the plantations of the old South. And there’s a ghost of an old slave that is part of negro folklore. Jody the Grinder actually went down and bested the devil, by fking him. And so the devil put him on earth for all eternity to fk white women.”
So why didn’t this idea make the cut? “I would probably have had Sam Jackson playing that part,” Tarantino continues," and it was really good, but then I didn’t have anywhere to go with it, because if you have a story about a killer slave with supermacho powers done in the style of a slasher film, then even if he’s doing it today, and even if the white girls are innocent, how can you not be on the slave’s side?" Tarantino goes into many other areas in the interview, talking about his writing process, the books he’s reading, the British movies he’d like to make one day, and even his plans for eventual retirement.
Damn, I stayed some minutes in front of my screen, didn’t know what to write. I still don’t, ahah. I’m sure IB is gonna be awesome like every QT movies for now, he hasn’t disappointed us (I exclude every opinions about Death Proof cause I don’t think a single second it’s bad, wasted, or disappoiting).
The thing I’m the most exciting about, is to think the shooting may really take place in France like he has always repeated it over and over, that would be the absolute best for me. I can’t even think how excited I’d be. Just like Marie-Antoinette for Sofia Coppola, was so so cool. For a “fan” (forget this word, I hate it) it’s the best to think his/her fav director is shooting right next to you.
The only thing I’m afraid about is that if QT keeps writing and writing without stoping (which isn’t really true cause in this interview he said so and in the recent interview, he said he’s gonna start page 1, so I guess it was notes maybe before, or scenes but not a real script), would this fit again the lenght of a movie ? It’d be cool to do it in two parts like Kill Bill but it wasnt that easy to choose to do so for KB and imagine if IB is even bigger. I remember it’s been said that he may do it as a TV series, that’d be cool but you can’t get the same excitement as a real movie experience (even if some series are damned exciting, like The Sopranos).
Too bad there isn’t the complete interview, sounds very interesting !
yeah, I know. If you follow the link I posted, it’ll take you to the page which has some hyperlinks to the Sight and Sound article. Which is vague online. I guess you need the magazine.
Yeah, this is the topic with the Sight & Sound article :
<LINK_TEXT text=“http://www.tarantino.info/forum/index.p … 952.0.html”>http://www.tarantino.info/forum/index.php/topic,8952.0.html</LINK_TEXT>
Thx a lot for posting it and I’m gonan try to find the mag in Paris, gotta buy it indeed.
It’s so fucking hard to get a hold of this magazine here in the UK. I’ve been to like 10 different stores now that sell a good range of magazines and I still haven’t found it. This is pissing me off. The last place I’m going to try is the universisty union shop. If they don’t have it, I may as well just kill myself 
How comes it’s so hard to find it ? It’s considered like the equivalent of Les Cahiers du Cinéma here, like one of the most respected sort of.
[quote=“Ify”]
QT: “Well, I would say what I have written so far, alright, is the best stuff I’ve ever written.”
[/quote]
He said the same thing about the Death Proof script. And technically, that one was written after Inglorious Bastards.
That was from like 4 years ago! You guys JUST saw that?! Damn!
[quote=“PutneySwope”]
That was from like 4 years ago! You guys JUST saw that?! Damn!
[/quote]
Yeah dude, not all of us have the luxury of watching Charlie Rose on our Television sets. And me saying right at the start of my post that I “came upon his interview with Charlie Rose which I haven’t seen before” which makes it clear I JUST saw that. Anyway, I wasn’t aware of anybody posting the vid or making reference to it on any thread.
[quote=“Scarface”]
He said the same thing about the Death Proof script. And technically, that one was written after Inglorious Bastards.
[/quote]
Yeah, which has got me thinking a little. I don’t agree with him there though. I don’t think DP is the best stuff he’s ever written at all. That would go to PF.
I think True Romance & Pulp are his best scripts so far. Hopefully Bastards will go right alongside them.
[quote=“PutneySwope”]
I think True Romance & Pulp are his best scripts so far. Hopefully Bastards will go right alongside them.
[/quote]
A lotta people say True Romance is so well written, I think they mean the Dennis Hopper / Christopher Walken scene, before he kills him. The rest, not SO great I think.
For a QT script I think it’s not that well written, it’s his first script and I think it shows in some scenes.
Pulp however was brilliantly written, and I think every movie he has done since was written better than TR. And I’m sure IB is a better script(s) than Pulp, he is more experienced now.
The Sicilian scene is classic but theres a bunch of other scenes I love too. Its right up there with PF for me. I love all the characters. One of QTs finest, most entertaining scripts. Nothin can change my mind on that.
I [quote=“PutneySwope”]
The Sicilian scene is classic but theres a bunch of other scenes I love too. Its right up there with PF for me. I love all the characters. One of QTs finest, most entertaining scripts. Nothin can change my mind on that.
[/quote]
I can agree with that. I think TR was incredible.
I have to disagree when you say IB has to be better just because he has more experience. I can’t imagine QT writing a poor script, ever… But, that doesn’t mean, he can’t go down from his prior work, which was bloody brilliance.
I’m not saying IB won’t be great, it will. I’m just saying, he’s already written greatness, many times over, so where does he go from there?
I feel like people are putting so much pressure on him when it comes to Inglorious Bastards, that it may make him want to rethink things he’s already written that are brilliant and Tarantino-esque.
Just wait, and let the man write.
Im not saying Bastards has to be BETTER Im just expecting it to be as good as those in its own way. Im sure it will be great no matter what.
No, no. I didn’t mean YOU Putney! That comment was mainly directed towards Crazy_Hattori. I should have “” it. Sorry.
[quote=“Scarface”]
He said the same thing about the Death Proof script. And technically, that one was written after Inglorious Bastards.
[/quote]
Not exactly… he said “writing this script made me a better writer”, there’s a slight difference…
[quote=“tonyanthony”]
Not exactly… he said “writing this script made me a better writer”, there’s a slight difference…
[/quote]
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1206985,00.html
Ok, he does not say it’s THE absolute best script…but he clearly says it’s one of the best which is pretty close.
I think he was referring more to the female dialogue aspect. I agree it was really great. I dont consider Death Proof his best script so far though.
My favourite script of his is Kill Bill, because he created this whole mythology of this epic story himself from ground up, with so many fascinating characters, scenes and dialogue. It’s as if he had concentrated pop culture glory into a needle and injected it into every page.