SSRP Presentation Script: Quentin Tarantino, Auteur or not?
Slide 1:
Hello everyone, in my presentation today I will be talking
about auteur and director Mr.Quentin Tarantino. Throughout my presentation I
will be discussing the use of themes within his films, his cameo roles within
his films, his frequently used actors and his individual auteur style and influences.
The question I asked myself was ''Is Quentin Tarantino an auteur and what sets
him apart from other directors and auteurs.
The films I have chosen to use are Django Unchained (focus
film), Pulp Fiction (supporting film), Reservoir Dogs (supporting film) and
Kill Bill (supporting film). I have chosen these films specifically because
they are throughout Taratino’s career as a director and I feel like give me a
better judgment on him as an auteur.
Slide 2:
The film I am going to begin with is my focus film Django
Unchained. The key themes I have found in this film were racism, blood &
violence, profanity and relationships.
Django is Tarantino's latest film from 2012 which became
very successful around the world. It was heavily criticised for it's used of
the word "nigger", some critics even claimed that Tarantino was using
it in a racist manner. However in one of my sources, Tarantino claims that he
did it to give a true representation of South America during the slavery period
and that the original cut of Django was much worse in every aspect and had to
be watered down for it to be suitable for viewing. In the video interview he
says "I could handle it but we wasn't sure if the general viewing public
could so we had to change a lot of it". Despite all of this Tarantino
doesn't let anything change his directing style which I believe makes him a
very powerful auteur in his own right.
Slide 3:
In Pulp Fiction we see the same themes as Django but with
some new ones this time such as sex & nudity and drug abuse.
Slide 4:
Reservoir Dogs was the first Tarantino film that I ever saw
and in all honesty it really shocked me. This is mostly because previous to
this I had never before seen a film like this which I really enjoyed. I had
never heard so many uses of the word ''fuck'' in a film before either. For
these reasons I thought it would make a good choice to use as my third film.
Slide 5:
And my final film I studied and researched for my SSRP is
Kill Bill: Volume 1. Out of the four films I have explored for my SSRP, this was
the last one that I had watched. I really enjoyed how Tarantino mixed the film
up, for example half way through when it turns to anime I thought was very odd
as I had never seen it before but still very unique of Tarantino. The fight
scenes I feel are very graphic being one of Tarantino’s most iconic styles.
Slide 6:
I will now be discussing the theme of blood & Violence.
As you can see from the picture on the right hand side there are two
comparisons of Kill Bill from 2003 and Django from 2012. From these images we
can see how Tarantino has used very similar almost identical shots in the two
films. From the blood splatters on white snow and white cotton flowers to the
low angle shot looking up at the dominant figure from the perspective of the
submissive character. This I believe shows that in some ways he has not changed
as a director which could be a positive thing to show that he has his own
individual auteur style.
Slide 7:
When looking at crime in Pulp Fiction, I think the most
obvious thing is all the drug taking within the film. For example, the scene
were we clearly see John Travolta’s character injecting himself. This scene has
been known to put many people on edge. Nowadays it wouldn’t have as much of an
impact on the audience than it would have in comparison to 1994 when it was
released.
Crime in Reservoir Dogs is very clear. In one of the first scenes
all of the men are organising a bank robbery while smoking and telling jokes to
make light of the situation. However we don’t actually see the robbery take
place which defies the crime genre convention. Here we can see Tarantino’s
auteur skill and style at work.
In Kill Bill the most prominent crime scene in the film for
me is when Uma Thurman’s character is in a Coma and the doctor charges people
to rape her. Not only is rape a taboo
subject in many society’s which shows Tarantino’s fearless attitude but also show
something that has only been joked about in previous films of his such as
Reservoir Dogs.
However when it comes to Django, I don’t believe that there
is much crime in comparison to his other films. This could perhaps be due to
his use of other themes in Django. But also looking at the time period Django, black
people were treated severely different which would be considered a crime in
modern society. Many critics have criticised Tarantino for this claiming that
he is racist.
Slide 8:
First I will be looking at profanity in the film Django. The
word "Nigger" is used constantly throughout the film when characters
within it are referring to black people. As the video I will soon show you this
is not done in a racist fashion. It is done to shed some light on the situation
in South America during this time where black people were not equal and slavery
was in action. There are also many uses of the word "fuck",
"shit", "bitch", "bastard" and "hell". God’s
name is often combined with "damn" in the film which could show the
view towards religion at the time.
So here is the video that I have to show, it is an interview
with Tarantino himself.
Slide 9:
Profanity is used an extreme amount in Pulp a Fiction. The
word "fuck" alone is heard in many variations over 270+ times I found
from an article which I selected as one of my sources. Interestingly enough the
film at the time of its release broke the world record for the most uses of the
word "fuck". This could show that perhaps Tarantino was using it as a
statement to show people that he would not let anything change him or his
directing style and that he was in the business to stay. I feel like this gives
him status and defines his style.
I have another video to show you now. It is a clip from Pulp
Fiction were we see Samuel L Jackson calm but then lose his mind when he starts
shouting and swearing at some college kids, he then starts shooting them. This
really highlights the themes of not only profanity but also blood and violence
which I have already talked about. This is the very infamous 'Say what' scene.
Slide 10:
In the opening scene of Reservoir Dogs, strong sexual
dialogue is used frequently and graphically including a gross joke about prison
rape. When looking directly at the amount of times a word is said I found that ‘’fuck’’
is used 272, 5 utterings of the word "nigger" which is said more in a
racist way than Django if we compare the two. I know this because Django is set
during the slavery period whereas Reservoir Dogs is not set in such a time.
There is also several uses of 'dick', 'shit', and lots of abuses of God's name.
Slide 11:
In terms of Profanity Kill Bill probably has the least in
it. Although there are many uses of "fuck" and so on, I believe
Tarantino has done much worse in other films. However the word "cunt"
is used a few times within the film which is a much harsher swear word.
Therefore I think that using it showed Tarantino to be fearless in a way.
There isn't much else to talk about in reference to
profanity in Kill Bill so I don't have a video or anything to show you. But
next I will be moving onto the topic of frequently used actors.
Slide 12:
Tarantino tends to be very particular about the actors that
he includes within his film. Such as Uma Thurman, Samuel L Jackson and Steve
Buscemi being the most prominent actors. This tells me that he has a clear view
of what a film of his will be like before he even makes them. What I mean by
this is that when Tarantino has the idea for a film he must imagine specific
people in specific roles which is a way of showing how he is a talented
director/auteur.
Slide 13:
When looking at Tarantino’s individual style his cameo
appearances within films are a great way of showing how he has his own
individual style. For example here is a list of his cameos, his most popular in
my opinion being Mr.Brown from Reservoir Dogs due to it being one of his most well-known
films. He also appeared in Django, Pulp Fiction and Death Proof. In doing this
I believe it is a way of drawing out one of his main influences which I believe
to be Alfred Hitchcock. This is because Hitchcock was a director too and a very
successful one at that who had cameo roles within his films. However this was
not to the same extent as Tarantino because he didn't have speaking roles.
Slide 14:
Before I tell you anything else in reference to Tarantino's
auteur style I want to show you a video interview from him which I used as one
of my source as he explains his use of genre conventions within Pulp Fiction.
Not only does this apply to Pulp Fiction, it also applies to
Reservoir Dogs in the way that we do not see the bank robbery take place which
in a film of the crime genre you would expect to see, especially since it is
the focus of the film.
Slide 15:
To bring my presentation to a conclusion I believe that
Tarantino is indeed an auteur and a very talented one at that. He uses many
different themes in his films and goes against the genre conventions in his
films. Pulp Fiction is a prime example of this where he tips the conventions on
its head.
Word Count – 1,712
