QUENTIN TARANTINO AND HIS FILMS (V2.0)
(c) 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, Simon Gleave and Jason Forrest
Quentin Tarantino was born on March 27, 1963 in Knoxville, Tennessee, the
son of a 16 year old nursing student Connie and a 21 year old law student
and aspiring actor Tony. Connie named him after Burt Reynolds' character,
Quint in 'Gunsmoke'. When Quentin was 2, they moved to South Los Angeles
which is where Quentin grew up. His mother took him to the cinema from an
early age, he saw 'Carnal Knowledge' at the age of 8 and 'Deliverance' at
the age of 9. From this early introduction Tarantino fell in love with the
cinema and went at every opportunity.
At the age of 22, he landed a job in Video Archives, a video store in
Manhattan Beach, California where he and Roger Avary spent all day
watching, discussing and recommending videos. He made his first (unfinished)
film in 1986, 'My Best Friend's Birthday', written with acting class friend
Craig Hamann, and followed this up by writing his first script, 'True Romance'
a year later.
During this period, he was attending acting classes and put together a CV
of his (non-existent) acting experience which included a role in Jean Luc
Godard's 'King Lear' because nobody in Hollywood would have heard of the film
or director and 'Dawn of the Dead' by George Romero because he resembled a
biker in one of the scenes. His role in 'King Lear' was actually listed in
Leonard Maltin's video guide.
By 1988, Tarantino had written his second script, 'Natural Born Killers'
and in 1990 he sold the script for 'True Romance' for $50,000. He decided to
use this money to make his third script, 'Reservoir Dogs' on 16mm and in black
and white with his friends in the leading roles. It was around this point that
Tarantino left the video store to do rewrites for CineTel, a small Hollywood
production company - it was at this time he met Lawrence Bender and struck
lucky; Bender was attending acting classes with Peter Flood, who was divorced
from acting teacher Lily Parker and knew Harvey Keitel from the Actors Studio.
Keitel saw the script and was impressed enough to raise some more finance,
act in the film and help Tarantino cast the main roles. At this point,
producers Monte Hellman and Richard Gladstein also joined the project.
In 1991, Tarantino filmed some scenes at Sundance with him playing the role
of Mr White and Steve Buscemi playing Mr Pink. These scenes were shown to
various film people to comment on and the group containing Terry Gilliam
were particularly impressed.
'Reservoir Dogs' finally premiered at Sundance '92 before appearing at
various film festivals around the World. Miramax picked the film up for
distribution after Sundance and it was released in the US later in 1992
and in the UK on January 8 1993.
Tarantino traveled around the various festivals in 1992 promoting his film
and writing his next script, 'Pulp Fiction' which went on to win the Palme
D'Or at Cannes in 1994. It finally opened amidst incredible hype and critical
acclaim on October 14 in the US and October 21 in the UK.
'Pulp Fiction' went on to become one of the most highly acclaimed movies
of 1994, grossing over 100 million dollars worldwide and picking up several
Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best
Supporting Actor, Actress, Best Editing, and winning an Oscar for Best
Original Screenplay.
Riding on the success of Pulp Fiction, Tarantino has gone on to be a
major Hollywood player, Producing, Distributing films through Miramax
with an arm of the company called 'Rolling Thunder', Co-Directing and
Co-Writing 'Four Rooms', an anthology-type feature film, Directing an
episode of 'ER', a popular TV show, and making many appearances in movies
and TV.
Tarantino's first two films and his anthology contribution are the
subject of this FAQ:
RESERVOIR DOGS
--------------
Reservoir Dogs is the third film written and first directed by Quentin
Tarantino and was released in the USA in 1992 and in the UK at
the beginning of 1993. The film deals with the meeting at a pre-planned
rendezvous of a group of robbers who have been involved in an attempted
jewelery heist. The robbery has been organized by Joe Cabot with his
son Nice Guy Eddie who have put together a team of six men, each with a
different role to play and each with a pseudonym chosen by Joe. The
robbery has gone wrong although the participants have still managed
to get away with a quantity of diamonds. The protagonists believe that
one of their number is a police informer and the film deals with the
recriminations that arise from this.
1. What is the meaning of the title 'Reservoir Dogs'?
When Tarantino worked in a video store, he referred to the French
film 'Au Revoir Les Enfants' as 'the reservoir film' because he
couldn't pronounce the title. He combined this with 'Straw Dogs', a Sam
Peckinpah film from 1971, to produce the title 'Reservoir Dogs'.
Although Quentin chooses to remain quiet about this, this story
has been confirmed by Quentin's mother and Roger Avary, among
others.
2. Which films influenced Quentin Tarantino in the making of this film?
In the 1974 American film, 'The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3', the four
hijackers of the subway train are all dressed alike (hat, glasses,
moustache, big overcoat and machine gun) and had the pseudonyms of
Mr Blue, Mr Green, Mr Brown and Mr Grey.
The scene which runs over the credits near the beginning of
'Reservoir Dogs' showing the characters walking in slow motion is a
homage to a similar scene in Sam Peckinpah's 1969 film, 'The Wild
Bunch'.
Jean Pierre Melville is also a great influence on Tarantino, he was
the director of several stylish gangster films in France in the 1950's
and 1960's which deal with honour and gangster ethics and are set in a
bleak urban environment where everybody is cynical and impeccably
dressed. The 'three way stand-off' appears in Melville's film,
'Le Samourai'.
Other influences include 'Rififi' from 1955 directed by Jules Dassin
and 'The Killing' directed by Stanley Kubrick in 1956. The films of
Hong Kong director John Woo are also a great influence on Tarantino.
However, City on Fire, a Hong Kong action movie directed by Ringo Lam
in 1987 is by far the biggest influence on Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino
has used a number of ideas in the film and these are worth outlining:
1. Just before the robbers in City on Fire rob a jewelery store, one
of them says 'Let's go to Work'.
2. The relationship between Chow (the undercover cop) and Fu (the
gangster) is mirrored by that of Orange and White.
3. One of the gang members kills a shop girl in the jewelery shop
for setting off the alarm.
4. There is a scene where Chow is shot by a cop and kills him (Orange
is shot by a woman and kills her) while Fu is shooting cops in a car
by shooting at them with two guns.
5. In the warehouse there is a Mexican standoff.
6. A dying Chow tells Fu that he is a cop.
3. What fates befall the members of the robbery team?
Joe Cabot killed by Mr White in triangular shooting.
Nice Guy Eddie killed by Mr White in triangular shooting.
Mr White shot by Nice Guy Eddie in triangular shooting,
killed afterwards by the cops having killed
Mr Orange.
Mr Blonde killed by Mr Orange.
Mr Orange shot by woman whose car he and Mr White are
trying to commandeer, shot by Joe in triangular
shooting and finally killed by Mr White.
Mr Brown shot in the head by the cops, dies after he
crashes the getaway car.
Mr Blue Joe says he was killed by the cops at the
jewelery store.
Mr Pink there is a debate about the fate of Mr Pink.
Having left the warehouse with the diamonds, he is
surrounded by the cops. The soundtrack is faint, but
what can be made out tells us he has been arrested.
There is evidence to support this posted regularly
to the newsgroup, and on some of the web sites.
4. What is the order of gunfire in the triangular shootout?
Joe shoots Mr Orange, Mr White shoots Joe, Nice Guy Eddie shoots
Mr White, Nice Guy Eddie shoots Mr White again and Mr White shoots
Nice Guy Eddie as he falls from his wounds.
5. Plot Problems
There are a number of things in the film that don't quite add up:
a) Why would the cops be waiting at the jewelery wholesalers as
they knew that everybody would meet up at the warehouse after
the heist?
A possible reason for this is that the cops were carrying out
surveillance at the jewelery store just in case anything
happened and when Blonde started shooting people, they had to
move in. Mr Blonde does say that he shot one of the cashiers
for setting off the alarm, so the cops were presumably not in
the store at that stage.
b) Eddie is very open about the events of the heist when talking
to Dolph over a cellular phone. Cellular phones are relatively
easy to monitor and it is surprising how much Eddie says in
this scene.
Cellular phones are easy to scramble and as Eddie carries it
everywhere and is likely to be talking about sensitive things
on it, he is likely to have scrambled the signal.
c) If Joe is supposed to be the head of an 'empire of crime' where
he gets people to do the work for him, why is he involved in
jewelery robberies which are dangerous without huge rewards,
instead of drugs which are less dangerous with much bigger
rewards.
The best explanation for this is that Joe is from the 'old
school' of organized crime and does things like bank robberies
because the banks are insured and nobody gets hurt. He clearly
had moral beliefs as shown in the restaurant tipping scene at
the beginning of the film.
d) In Eddie's car on the way to the warehouse he refers to Pink as Pink.
Didn't they get their names from Joe after this scene?
Joe would have had to give them their names before the warehouse
scene, he just chose that time to let everybody know everyone elses
name because it was the first time they were all together. Pink
complained about his name then, because there was a room full of people.
6. Why did Mr Orange tell Mr White that he was a cop?
This is thought to stem from Tarantino's love of Hong Kong
action movies where honour and respect are an integral part.
Mr White had saved his life, told him his real name and
killed two friends (Joe and Eddie) to protect him. The only
thing that Mr Orange could offer in return was the truth and
this is why he told Mr White that he was the undercover cop.
7. How did Mr Brown die?
There has been some comment made on the death of Mr Brown.
In my opinion, this is one of the best things about the film in
that it shows more clearly than any other demise that you don't
just die instantly when shot. My interpretation is that Mr Brown
has been shot in the head by the cops while escaping from the
robbery. Mr. White confirms that the cops shot him to Nice Guy
Eddie. He doesn't die instantly, but is able to drive (albeit
erratically) away from the scene. Eventually, he crashes and to
show that he is on the verge of death, he says that he has gone
blind when in fact, he just has blood in his eyes. Mr White and
Mr. Orange leave the car and when they return, Mr Brown has died.
Mr. Orange did not shoot Mr. Brown.
8. Why did Mr Blonde start shooting at the jewelery store?
Mr Blonde wasn't a robber, he was only put on the job because
Joe owed him a debt of gratitude for doing time without dragging
Joe's organization down with him. Joe also referred to him as a
'goodfella' suggesting that Mr Blonde is more of a trigger man,
employed to sort out the opposition. Unfortunately, this means
that Mr Blonde will shoot with the slightest provocation and
putting him on this job is a fatal misjudgement by Joe, possibly
indicating a weakness of Joe's in that his emotions affect his
judgement.
9. Why does Orange put a wedding ring on before leaving his
apartment?
I thought the ring was just part of Orange's persona in his
undercover work - i.e. he is married in his 'role'. So, how do you
go about backing this up? Well, if this is the case he would be
wearing a wedding ring every time we see him with the rest of the
gang and the first scene that he appears in other than scenes that
are chronologically after he puts the ring on, is when he is relating
his restroom story to Joe, Eddie and White and he is wearing a wedding
ring. This, along with the state of his flat should be ample evidence.
10.Trivia
There are a number of bits of trivia which are worth mentioning:
a) Roger Avary co-wrote the radio play in the film.
b) The seventies figure heavily in 'Reservoir Dogs' with the soundtrack
being composed of seventies music, and references to television
(Christy Love and Baretta), comic books (Fantastic Four and Silver
Surfer) and film stars (Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin), all of which
were around and Quentin grew up with in the seventies.
c) Tarantino was going to film 'Reservoir Dogs' in black & white with
him and his friends playing the lead roles. However, his friend
Lawrence Bender was able to get in touch with someone who knew Harvey
Keitel and was able to get him to read the script. Keitel was so
impressed that he immediately signed on and helped with raising the
money to film it. Keitel's participation also made it possible to
attract other character actors to the piece.
d) In the warehouse where the film takes place, there are coffins
sitting on end all around them and Mr Blonde is sitting on a hearse
when Nice Guy Eddie arrives.
e) After 'Stuck in the Middle with You' you can faintly hear the radio
still playing, and an advertisement for Jack Rabbit Slims comes on.
f) When Joe comes back to the table in the diner and asks who didn't
throw in their dollar, Orange immediately 'rats' on Mr. Pink. Could
this be more foreshadowing that Orange is the 'rat'?
g) Producer Lawrence Bender plays a 'young cop' chasing Mr. Pink during
his getaway.
h) Eddie Bunker, who played Mr. Blue, has spent over 20 years in prison
and has written a few crime novels based on his real-life experiences.
11. Soundtrack and Location in the Film:
Hooked on a Feeling - Blue Swede
The cops trailing Eddie's car after Orange gets in from his
apartment. It is also on the car radio in the next scene in
Eddie's car just before the E. Lois conversation.
I Gotcha - Joe Tex
Eddie talking to Dolph on the car phone and White, Blonde and
Pink beating up Marvin the cop to get information.
Magic Carpet Ride - Bedlam
In the bar where Orange is relating his commode story to Joe,
Eddie and White.
Fool for Love - Sandy Rogers
Orange's apartment when he gets the phone call that Eddie,
White and Pink are downstairs in the car.
Stuck in the Middle with You - Stealers Wheel
I think we all know where this.
Harvest Moon - Bedlam
When Orange is telling Holdaway in the diner how he's on the
inside due to Longbeach Mike.
Coconut - Harry Nilsson
End credits.
PULP FICTION
------------
The film opens in a diner as a couple of thieves discuss the
possibility of holding up restaurants. This leads us into three
distinct strands; a date between a hit man and the wife of his boss,
the boxer who is supposed to throw a fight and the cleaning up of a
hit man's mistake. The stories are told in non chronological order
and we finally return to the diner for the final scene.
1. What is contained in the briefcase?
There is no real answer to this and Tarantino has actually said
that he didn't know what to put in the case so he decided to
leave it to the viewers to decide.
There's no truth to the 'friend of a friend' rumour that Quentin
said the briefcase contains Marsellus' soul.
One interesting suggestion is that it contains the diamonds from
'Reservoir Dogs'.
2. What films have influenced Tarantino in the making of 'Pulp Fiction'?
The dance competition is clearly influenced by Jean Luc Godard's
1964 film 'Bande A Parte' which Tarantino has named his production
company after.
The unknown contents of the briefcase are a homage to Robert Aldrich's
film 'Kiss Me Deadly', made in 1955.
When Butch stops at the lights and sees Marsellus crossing the road,
we are reminded of Alfred Hitchcock's film 'Psycho' when Janet Leigh
stops at a set of lights to see her boss crossing the road.
The pawn shop rape is clearly reminiscent of 'Deliverance', made in
1972 by John Boorman.
'The Bonnie Situation' contains Jules and his friend Jimmy, clearly
a reference to Francois Truffaut's film, 'Jules et Jim'.
The character of Wolf in this story is taken from Jean Reno's
portrayal of a 'cleaner' in Luc Besson's 'La Femme Nikita', a role
reprised by Keitel himself in the American remake 'Point of No Return'.
In addition, the films of John Woo, Sam Peckinpah, Brian De Palma
and Don Siegel are all important.
3. Why did Mia overdose at her house?
She thought that she was snorting cocaine whereas she was taking
Vince's extremely pure heroin. His heroin had been packaged as
cocaine would normally be because his dealer had run out of the
standard heroin packaging.
4. Why did Butch return to the pawn shop to save Marsellus?
Redemption is one of the central themes of this film and this scene
along with Jules' saving of Honey Bunny and Pumpkin in the diner
are the best examples of this. Butch's conscience made him go back
to save Marsellus and this acted as his redemption for killing
Wilson in the previous night's boxing match.
5. Why did Vince leave his gun on the counter at Butch's apartment
when he went to the bathroom?
Quite simply, he didn't, the gun belonged to Marsellus. Vince was
clearly with somebody else at the apartment as he didn't react
when Butch came in, thinking it was his partner. Jules had given
up 'the life' by this point and Marsellus was probably filling
in on this job. For further evidence look at the scene where Butch
runs Marsellus over; the 'big man' is carrying two cups and as he
is near to Butch's apartment, we can assume that he is Vince's
partner.
6. Why are Honey Bunny's lines different from the beginning of the film
and at the end?
A lot of people think this was probably a mistake. It has also been
thought by some that Tarantino was showing us the difference between
perceptions of different people in the diner, the second time being
Jules' perception. It is interesting to note that in a early version
of the script the difference isn't there, but it was added in a later
version.
7. What was Winston Wolf doing in a tuxedo at 8:30 in the morning?
Where was he?
The script explains that Winston was in a hotel suite where people
were gambling. If you listen closely, you can hear someone in the room
telling the gamblers to 'place their bets'.
8. What was the book that Vince was reading on the toilet?
"Modesty Blaise", a pulpy novel written by Peter O'Donnell in
1965 which is very much in keeping with the film's title.
9. How does a guy like Jimmy know a gangster like Jules? Why does Jules
refer to him as 'his partner'?
Quentin has said in an interview (Denver Post) that Jimmy used to work
for Marsellus, but when he married Bonnie she made him quit, and Jules
respects that.
10. Who was Marvin and why did Jules and Vince take him with them?
I think we can assume that Marvin also works for Marsellus as
Vince refers to 'our guy' before they go up to the apartment.
11. Why is there a band-aid on Marsellus' neck?
The actor Ving Rhames simply had a rather ugly looking scar on
the back of his neck and so the make-up artist covered this up
with a band-aid so that the scar didn't distract the audience
too much.
12. There's bullet holes in the wall behind Jules and Vince before
'The Fourth Man' empties his gun. Was this an editing error?
It seems to be possible that the holes might have been there for
other reasons, it's not a great apartment, but it could be a mistake
in editing.
13. Red Apple cigarettes appear throughout the film, what are they?
Tarantino seems to have invented this brand presumably to
minimize the amount of product placement in the film. This is
also done by using other brands which were around in the 1970's
but are no longer available (i.e. Fruite Brute cereal).
14. What happened to the Gimp? Did butch kill him, or was he just knocked
out?
The script explains that Butch hitting the Gimp caused him to hang
himself to death on his leash.
15. Did Butch key Vince's car outside Sally Le Roy's?
The script has Vince pulling up to a white Honda in a near-empty
parking lot outside Sally Le Roy's. There is no such scene in the
filmed version, so it's tough to say what Tarantino's intentions
were here. It's leaves the possibility open.
16.Trivia
a) During the opening scene, you can see the bottom half of Vince
as he makes his way to the bathroom. Look out for his book, shorts,
t-shirt and 'strut'.
b) The Buddy Holly waiter in Jack Rabbit Slims is played by Steve
Buscemi who as Mr Pink in Reservoir Dogs, refused to tip
waitresses.
c) The room in Lance's apartment where Mia receives the injection
of adrenalin contains two board games, Operation and Life.
d) The cabdriver, Esmeralda Villa Lobos (Angela Jones) appeared in
a 30 minute short called 'Curdled' in which she played a
character who cleaned up after murders. This makes her fascinated
by the idea of murder. Tarantino saw this film and decided to
include this character in Pulp Fiction but as a cabdriver.
e) When Butch is sneaking up to his apartment, there is an advert for
Jack Rabbit Slims on the radio.
f) Butch's great-grandfather bought the gold watch in Knoxville,
Tennessee and this is also where Butch is meeting his connection.
Knoxville is Quentin Tarantino's birthplace.
g) The undercard for Butch's fight is Vossler vs. Martinez; Russell
Vossler and Jerry Martinez are two friends of Tarantino's from
Video Archives who use to live together and their constant fighting
was the butt of jokes around the store.
h) Jerry Martinez's brother, Steve, painted the picture of Uma Thurman
in Mia's house.
i) Lawrence Bender plays the 'long haired yuppy scum' in the
restaurant hold up.
j) The guy who comes out of the bathroom is played by Alexis Arquette
who is the brother of Rosanna and Patricia.
k) The cartoon being watched by the young Butch was 'Clutch Cargo', a
kid's show from the sixties. The film playing in the motel room was
'The Losers' directed by Jack Starrett in 1970; it's about five
Hell's Angels sent to Cambodia by the CIA to rescue a presidential
adviser who has been captured by communists.
Soundtrack and Location in the Film:
Misirlou - Dick Dale
Opening credits.
Jungle Boogie - Kool and the Gang
Opening credits.
Let's Stay Together - Al Green
While Jules and Vincent are at Marsellus' club.
Bustin' Surfboards - The Tornadoes
Playing when Rosanna Arquette is talking about her body piercing.
Lonesome Town - Ricky Nelson
Sung by the Ricky Nelson impersonator at Jack Rabbit Slims.
Son of a Preacherman - Dusty Springfield
While Vincent is waiting for Mia at her house.
Bullwinkle Pt. II - Centurians
As Vincent is driving to Mia's house after leaving Lance's place.
You Never Can Tell - Chuck Berry
The Twist Contest at Jack Rabbit Slims.
Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon - Urge Overkill
Mia dancing by herself while Vince is in the bathroom at her house.
If Love Is A Red Dress - Maria McKee
Maynard's store when Butch and Marsellus first come in fighting.
Comanche - The Revels
Butch and Zed "bonding" in the pawn shop.
Flowers on the Wall - Statler Brothers
Playing when Butch is leaving his apartment having killed Vincent.
Surf Rider - The Lively Ones
End credits.
The Man From Hollywood
----------------------
In this, the final segment of the anthology 'Four Rooms', Tarantino plays
Chester Rush, a new Hollywood hot-shot partying with a few close friends
in the penthouse of a posh Hollywood hotel on New Year's Eve. The bellhop
of the hotel, played by Tim Roth, gets caught in the middle of a wager
held by Rush and his friends.
1. Where did Tarantino get the idea for the story?
The story, titled 'The Man from Down South', was originally written
by Roald Dahl and featured on his 'Roald Dahl's Tales of the
Unexpected'.
It was most notably done by Alfred Hitchcock on 'Alfred Hitchcock
Presents' in 1960, and stared Steve McQueen and Peter Lorre. This
specific version was mentioned as the inspiration for the bet within
Tarantino's story. A newer version of Alfred Hitchcock's stared John
Huston
and Kim Novak.
2. Why was the ball of twine and the nails requested by Chester when
they were never used?
In some other versions of the story, the particular person's hand
was tied and nailed down to the table, I suppose to avoid last minute
second thoughts.
3. Why wasn't Bruce Willis in the credits for the story.
This was nothing more than an uncredited cameo, something not all
that uncommon in many Hollywood films. Bruce has said he did the role
as a favor to Tarantino. You will notice a credit for 'Bruce Willis'
hair stylist' appears in the final credits.
4. Trivia
a) Fans will recognize both Bruce Willis, who played Leo, and Paul
Calderon, who played Norman, from Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction'.
b) Although not in Tarantino's segment, longtime friend and producer
Lawrence Bender plays another 'long hair yuppy scum'.
Tarantino Miscellany:
Jules' speech from Ezekiel 25:17:
'The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the
iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is
he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak
through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's
keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down
upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who
attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know
my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.'
This is actually not directly from Ezekiel 25:17 and in fact, only
the last sentence and part of the second last sentence will be
found there.
The racism question:
I've decided not to tackle this subject because whatever I write
is not going to change anybody's viewpoint. However, Tarantino
has said, "...that's the way my characters talk in the movies
I've made so far. I also feel that the word 'nigger' is one of
the most volatile words in the English language and any time
anyone gives a word that much power, I think everybody should
be shouting it from the rooftops to take the power away. I grew
up around blacks and have no fear of it, I grew up saying it as
an expression." Movieline, Aug 1994
The 'Tarantinoverse':
There has been a lot of discussion about the fact that the same
character names appear in different Tarantino scripts and
whether these people are either related or one in the same. Some
of the common names so far are as follows:
Alabama - White has worked with someone of this name in RD and
she is one of the main protagonists in TR.
Spivey - Marsellus is mentioned in RD and Drexl appears in TR.
Marsellus - as above and 'the big man' in PF.
Vega - Vic (Mr Blonde) in RD and Vincent in PF.
Marvin - the cop in RD and the inside man in PF.
Scagnetti - Seymour in RD and Jack in NBK.
Nash- Marvin the cop in RD, and Gerald the cop in NBK
The best explanation is that the names reflect Tarantino's
ideas so the name Vega is used for a killer, the name Marvin
is a fall guy and Scagnetti is an authority figure. Quentin has
said that Vic and Vince are supposed to be brothers, which may
have been an afterthought as Michael Madsen could have ended up
playing both roles.
His Other Scripts:
True Romance was bought and directed by Tony Scott, it was
released in the summer of 1993 in the US and October of the
same year in the UK. It has recently been granted a video
certificate in Britain after some delay.
It's worth mentioning some of the more common FAQ's that come up
with regards to True Romance:
1/ Where was Val Kilmer in the movie?
Kilmer played the 'Mentor' in the film, who spoke to Clarence
in the bathroom, and was supposed to represent Clarence's hero
Elvis.
2/ How was Tarantino's script different from Tony Scott's filmed
version?
Certainly the biggest difference is that in Tarantino's version
Clarence was supposed to have died at the end, perhaps paving the
way for Alabama to join up with Mr. White later on in life, as many
people seem to think.
Also, Tarantino's script jumped around in time, much like Pulp
Fiction.
3/ What is the difference between the 'director's cut' and the original
version of the film?
The director's cut has a longer, more violent scene with Alabama
and Virgil (James Gandolfini) in the hotel room, and it's Alabama
not one of Coccotti's men that shoots Officer Dimes (Chris Penn) at
the end of the movie.
Natural Born Killers was made by Oliver Stone and released
in the US in August 1994. It's certificate has been delayed
by the British Board of Film Classification until 1995
although it will premiere at the London Film Festival on
November 12 1994. Tarantino asked for his credit to be
purely for the story as he feels that Stone has changed the
film so much from what he originally intended.
From Dusk Till Dawn was directed by Tarantino's friend and fellow
filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, who Tarantino has worked with in the past
(Desperado, 4 Rooms). Quentin wrote the script based on a story by
Robert
Kurtzman, a makeup artist and writer who wanted to direct. Kurtzman read
the scripts for True Romance and Natural Born Killers before they were
in
production, and asked Tarantino to fill out his story into a full length
script. The movie also had Tarantino in a leading role opposite TV star
George Clooney.
Tarantino and Britain:
Quentin Tarantino's films have proved to be very controversial
in Britain due to their violent content. Reservoir Dogs only recently
was allowed its video release after years of playing in late night
theaters. True Romance had it's video certificate delayed until 1994
and Natural Born Killers didn't get its certificate until Feburary 1995.
Pulp Fiction was released on video in April 1995. Because of what is
commonly known as the 'Dunblane massacre', Natural Born Killers has had
it's video release delayed indefinitely.
Tarantino's Future
After 'Four Rooms', Tarantino decided to take a break from writing and
directing to pursue other projects and to relax. As it turned out, this
break didn't keep him any further away from the media, appearing on talk
shows, attending awards shows, film festivals, etc. He has been
rumoured to be directing several future pictures including, but not
limited to, the next James Bond picture, an adaptation of Mac Beth and
a 'Vega Brothers' movie. What is known for sure is that Tarantino is
going
to be working in Hollywood, probably in several capacities at once, for
many years to come.
Scripts:
Tarantino's scripts can be bought from the following outlets:
US
HOLLYWOOD SCRIPTS
5514 Satsuma Ave.
N. Hollywood, Ca 91601
ph. (818) 980-3545
fax (818) 566-1143
MR. WEEKEND PRODUCTIONS
Jimmy L Shirah
P.O. Box 1803
Lilburn, GA 30226
ICONOGRAPHICS
1807 Second St #4
Santa Fe NM 87505
1-800-279-9779
UK
HOLLYWOOD SCRIPTS
PO Box 325
LONDON SW4 9JZ
0171-978-2706
The script for Pulp Fiction has been published in paperback in the US
by Miramax, retailing at $9-99 and in the UK by Faber and Faber costing
8-99 GBP.
Sites for more information:
WWW:
http://www.mind.net/nikko11/
http://www.tarantino.com
http://www1.usa1.com/~oclv52/index.html
http://rmd-www.mr.ic.ac.uk/~dan/tarantino/tarantino.html
http://www.blarg.net/~kbilly
Tim Roth:
http://weber.u.washington.edu/~jenhwolf
The authors would like to thank Roger Avary, Greg Bole, Skander Halim, Al
Harrell, Dennis Humbert, Ray Lahey, Robert Martin, Dave Munroe, Dave
Robson,
Joan Shields, Ajaipal Tanwar, Ola Torstensson, and Kale Whorton for their
input into this FAQ.
A special thanks is extended to Jami Bernard whose contributions and help
have proved invaluable to this FAQ.
All Rights Reserved.
Simon Gleave, E-Mail sg@ssru.city.ac.uk Phone +44-71-477-8000 x 4129
Computing Officer, LS Support Group, Social Statistics Research Unit,
The City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, UK
Jason A. Forrest
aa114@ccn.cs.dal.ca
afn27900@freenet.ufl.edu
http://www.ccn.cs.dal.ca/~aa114/Profile.html