Formal Film Study: Quentin Tarantino

For my formal film study I decided to watch three films of the infamous Quentin Tarantino. The three films I saw were “Kill Bill Volume 1,” “Reservoir Dogs,” and “Inglorious Bastards.” I very much enjoyed all three of these films but I’d have to say my favorite of these three would have to be Inglorious Bastards. Let me first start by giving just a brief background on these three films. Inglorious Bastards takes place during World War II and tells three different stories that finally intertwine at the end. Reservoir Dogs is about a group of criminals that have experienced a robbery gone wrong and the story is told in flashback form. Kill Bill Volume 1 is about a woman that seeks revenge from the man that tried to kill her. These three movies are obviously different in a sense where the setting and plot of these three are so distant from each other, but with the same director and writer, Quentin Tarantino, you sometimes get the same feel/style in his techniques. This is obviously going to be the case because, starting out as a very unknown, indie director; he has had full freedom to do whatever he wanted with his films. And now that he’s getting into bigger budget Hollywood films, he has done what I respect, and has stuck to his roots and still has creative control of his projects.

Quentin Tarantino is very important in the film industry because ever since his directorial debut, Reservoir Dogs, he has become an instant cult legend. His style and techniques are very different from that of Hollywood directors. He also brings in many different techniques from different genres into one film. These three films range in style. Inglorious Bastards had a gritty, war style that was not unlike any war movie I’ve seen. The difference was that it reminded me of Kill Bill Volume 1 as in they are both broken into chapters, as if it was a book. In these three films, and many others of his, music has a strong influence in his movies, and most of the time, music that doesn’t fit the genre.  The style of Reservoir Dogs is very dark and gritty, but still has the same elements as the other two, not as much.

Other than Inglorious Bastards, these films aren’t really the “Hollywood” type. Hollywood is meant for big budget films with little creative control, and that appeal to the masses. Tarantino’s films are mostly indie, low budget films, where he, the director, has full control. When it comes to directors, he’s different in a sense that he uses so many different techniques, but the same techniques in all his films.

The technology is very interesting in these films as well. It starts with Reservoir Dogs. It was his first film and he didn’t have the best software, but it worked for the style he was going for: gritty. Then Kill Bill. He really focused on sound and cinematography during this film. There were a lot of action sequences in this movie so it called for great cinematography. There were also a lot of close ups in this movie. And since there was a lot of action, there needed to be interesting and new cinematography to capture the sequences. And in Inglorious Bastards, you can tell that Tarantino used the more money he had to good use. Crisper film, more violent violence, sound was good, etc.

The only film out of these three that was somewhat political was Inglorious Bastards. Since it took place during World War II he had to be somewhat historically accurate, but Tarantino interpreted events his own way. He created an ending in a way that Adolf Hitler dies brutally, which obviously never happened. Now that I look back at it, it wasn’t so much a war movie as it was a movie about characters. His characters in this movie were so interesting and kept the audience hooked.

I discovered a lot of different styles and techniques used by Tarantino. One, for example, is that he loves giving his characters nicknames or aliases. In Reservoir Dogs all the people involved in the robbery were given colors such as Mr. Pink, Mr. Brown, etc. In Kill Bill, the main character goes by “The Bride” and Bill’s team has nicknames as well. In Inglorious Bastards, Brad Pitt’s team goes by “the bastards” and one of the guys goes by “Bear Jew.” The one big discovery I noticed in not just these three films, but all his movies, is that he loves to write in long scenes of dialogue. Reservoir Dogs and Inglorious Bastards both open up with very long, no cut, scenes of dialogue. In Reservoir Dogs it opens up with Mr. Pink rambling on about why he doesn’t give tips. And in Inglorious bastards, the Nazi General talks about pure randomness. And throughout Kill Bill there’s a lot of dialogue. He loves having one sided conversations with the audience. We can’t respond because we are watching a movie. Overall I think that Quentin Tarantino is a genius in his art of movie making. He brings a fresh new style to his movies and I cannot wait for his upcoming films.