Quentin Tarantino is a famous American director, screenwriter, and actor. His films regularly receive nominations for prestigious awards, such as the Oscars and the Golden Globes. Pulp Fiction (1994) made Tarantino famous, bringing him the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe Awards for the best script. Directed by Quentin Tarantino is fraught with a specific manner of shooting, special acting of episodes, and impressive dialogues.
Do you want to know the most interesting facts about his biography, career, and personal life that show that all life difficulties are easy in just a few minutes? Then let’s go!
A Childhood
Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 27, 1963. His mother, 15-year-old Connie McHugh, graduated from high school with an externship. She wanted to be independent of her parents and married actor Tony Tarantino. However, the couple broke up before Quentin was born. Connie learned about the pregnancy after her lover left for an unknown destination.
His mother moved to Los Angeles, married a second time, and pursued a career in pharmacology. His stepfather, musician Curtis Zastoupil, adopted Quentin and even gave him his last name. However, the filmmaker returned to his biological father’s last name early in his career.
Little Quentin spent a lot of time in front of the television. He loved to watch various soap operas and television shows. The family always went to the movie theater; it was their favorite pastime.
Education
At the age of 15, Tarantino dropped out of school. At the same time, his mother made him promise to find a job immediately.
In one interview, he explained it this way: “School oppressed me, and I hated it from the first day. I have a lot of things that people learned easily, but I struggled with. I was always bad at math and spelling until fifth grade; even in high school, I could not ride a bike or swim. Furthermore, I did not understand how to learn the time until the sixth form.” Now he understands that school difficulties are easy compared to the future events in his life.
Quentin never finished his education. Later, he was getting the same question: “What film school did you go to?” He came up with a witty answer—” At the movies.”
Work before acting. Where did it all begin?
The future star’s first job was as an usher in a movie theater that showed adult movies. The teenager was not excited by such movies but approached his duties responsibly. Later, he called pornography a disgusting and cheap movie product.
He spent his free time in acting classes. He did not get a role, but within the walls of the studios, he met many interesting people who strongly influenced him.
Tarantino said his best work before directing was at the Manhattan Beach box office, where he worked from 22 to 26. He spent all day watching films, discussing them, and finding out what audiences liked. “Twenty-two was the right time to work in video distribution. But after five years, I was starting to feel like a loser. At 22, that’s good; at 26, you need something else.”
During this period, the young man formed his opinion about the film, his style, and his directing profession.
The beginning of а directing career
One day, at a Hollywood party, Quentin met producer Lawrence Bender. The new friend convinced Tarantino to start writing scripts. Tarantino worked hard for several years and offered his compositions to various studios. However, the guy was not lucky—he got rejections everywhere.
Together with a friend, Roger Avery, they began shooting an amateur picture, “My Best Friend’s Birthday.” But the film was never finished, and part of the material was lost in a fire. But later, the script of this tape became the basis for another picture, “True Love,” made by the director.
This first debut was the 1992 film “Mad Dogs.” The curious fact is that Quentin worked on the script of his debut full-length film for only three weeks, which is a great result. An important aspect was that the script was at the right time with the famous actor Harvey Keitel. He helped get attention to the project and played one of the main roles. Interestingly, there was insufficient money to shoot the film, so the actors played in their clothes. In the meantime, the film was released without any advertising. But for Tarantino, nothing was impossible, and all the difficulties were easy.
Tarantino’s unique style
What’s so special about a Tarantino movie?
- The action of the films does not develop in chronological order. This way, the viewer is intrigued, and the linear story is shown from different angles. In addition, the climactic scenes are given out exactly at the right moments without following the direct chronology of events.
- Non-trivial dialogues. Tarantino likes to reveal his characters through their conversations. In his films, characters often talk about abstract topics unrelated to the plot. The director believes that this is how real people act in everyday life.
- Long shots, close-ups, and unusual angles. The director shoots several minutes in one continuous frame without editing, creating a greater sense of realism. At the same time, he uses unusual angles to bring out the characters more vividly.
- The absence of positive characters. It is impossible to find absolutely the right characters in Tarantino’s films. Almost all the central characters break the law in one way or another, take drugs, sometimes behave meanly, and hide something.
- Brutality and violence. Tarantino considers on-screen violence to be just a device that helps to reveal the characters and, at the same time, entertain the audience. According to him, it has nothing to do with real violence from life because what happens in the movies is just a game.
Summing up: what is the phenomenon of Tarantino?
Tarantino’s secret is that he knows how to show long dialogues without boredom. He highlights the best components of genres, getting rid of their defects. He combines the author’s approach with mass cinema and shows a hilarious attraction, which can be discussed endlessly
The fact that Tarantino has no higher education does not prevent him from making some of the most discussed films. He has talent and a great desire to do what he loves. Tarantino says that If God has given him a gift, it’s the gift of writing dialogues.