Presentation Script

The Auteur theory and how it applies to Quentin Tarantino

Projector: Notes on the Auetuer theory in 1962 Andrew Sarris Book pages 562-564 [16]


Speaker:


"The assumption that underlies all the writing in a movie is that the director is the author of a film, the person who gives it any distinctive quality." Auteurs are described as film makers with a great sense of original style and distinctive work. Quentin Tarantino conforms to this ideology remarkably, his idiosyncratic, quirky style of film is immensely recognised in the industry for being excessively violent and murderous. Tarantinos distorted, unrealistic interpretation on violence has aroused the conclusion that he is indeed an auteur.


Speaker:


It's incredibly easy to distinguish a Quentin Tarantino film, intense violence, over exaggerated special effects, and intense over the top story lines are all factors which each and every film he has directed hold. This all backs up the idea that Quentin Tarantino is an auteur; a highly talented director that implements his own style of film to each film they direct. Tarantino is repeatedly asked the same question as to why his films are so overly violent and he has always replied with the same answer. [10] "violence is the best way to control an audience," Tarantino believes that good violence creates good cinema. During his childhood Tarantino moved to California when he was 4 and this is where he developed his love for films. He stated one of his earliest memories was when his grandmother took him to see a John Wayne movie. [17] His mother has previously said that since he was young he loved story telling but he would also show his creativity in unusual ways. [17]"He wrote me sad mother's day stories. He'd always kill me and tell me how bad he felt about it." This quote could explain and interlink some aspects in Tarantino's films, one of which being violence towards women or involving women.


Projector: Kill Bill - Go-go Ubari fight scene (3 mins) Youtube Clip


Speaker: Kill Bill is one of Tarantino's most popular films and from watching this short clip you can see Tarantino's distinctive style from the beginning of the clip all the way through to the end. In the clip you see the main character Black Mamba and Go-go jumping in a hyperbolic manor, it is extremely over exaggerated as the characters jump inhumanly far. [15] "Extreme violence is the best way to control a viewers emotions" this extreme violence element of Tarantino's style can be noticed in this particular scene towards the end as Go-go is killed, blood pours from her eyes which would not realistically happen if someone where to be killed this way in another film. This scene features a lot of diegetic sound to add to the realism of the scene, but when over exaggerated violence or character movements are occurring non diegetic sound accompanies the action. For example when Go-go flips and falls into the table you can hear a bowling ball hitting pins over.


Projector: Kill Bill - Animated O-Ren Ishii scene clip (3mins)


Speaker: This particular scene is the first and only time animation is used in Kill Bill, even in animation Tarantino's distinctive style is still prominent. You can notice by how Tarantino romanticises


the violence, you can also notice that he has left his mark on this from the humorous character in the scene, this character is a gang boss of the yakuza called Matsumoto. Tarantino has said in previous interviews [14] that he likes his audiences to laugh at the violence and look at it with a humorous point of view. This particle style of animation or "anime" is significant to Japanese culture which Kill Bill is greatly influenced by, examples of which are the samurai swords and the fact that the final part of the film is set in Japan.


Projector: Kill Bill - Head cutting scene (ending) (2min)


Speaker: This conclusion of the film ends as violently as the film began, again this scene featured hyperbolic character movement and special effects from jumping and over exaggerated gore. This particular scene features many uses of close ups focusing on the face and sword of both O-ren Ishii and The Bride, this represents the iconography of the weapons and violence during the scene. All these factors support my ideology of Quentin Tarantino being an auetuer for his distinctive filming style.


Projector: Item 4 interview second half (2mins)


Speaker: Quentin Tarantino is often criticised on his level of violence in his movies, in this short clip you see him take part in an interview in which the interview is very opposed to the violent aspects of his film Kill Bill [1]. In response to over violent movie claims causing realism violence Tarantino states that [14] he looks at his style of violence in a comedic manor, he enjoys the aspect of film where people can laugh at the violence and not take it as seriously as you would if it was real life violence. He also states that "extreme violence is the best way to control a viewers emotions" [15] he likes to play his audiences and he believes that good violence creates good cinema. [13] Tarantino likes to use his Cannes award for Pulp Fiction as a "big shield" against criticism on his work.


Projector: Item 6 interview 2mins


Speaker:


Racial violence has become an ongoing issue that Tarantino has recently been criticised for due to his most recent film Django Unchained [3] which narrative follows a black liberated slave in the early 1900's. Much controversy was raised due to this film, one factor being the over excessive use of the term "Nigger"[9]. The term was used over 100 times within the film and can be justified due to the time period which the film was set in and that Tarantino wished to stay true to the brutish events that took place nearly 100 years ago. Tarantino acknowledges that some people may find the film hard to watch [7] but he believes he should stay as true as legally possible (due to censorship) to the events.


Projector: Blank





Speaker:


Tarantinos over the top violence is often blamed for real-life acts of violence such as many school shootings across America [8]. He is accused due to the violence in his film indoctrinating people’s minds with violence. Tarantino defends himself by stating that all violence in his films he views as fantasy [5], he likes the concept of violence being humorous and we can see proof of this in films such as Kill Bill v.1.


Projector: Pulp Fiction movie poster "http://thesefantasticworlds.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/movie-poster-pulpfiction.jpg"


Speaker:


Pulp fiction one of Tarantino's earliest films is recognised mostly for kicking off his pattern of successful eccentric violent films, the film won many awards including a Golden globe for best screenplay in 95. A director’s success is required for them to be classed as an auteur. In conclusion Tarantino is an extremely success director and auteur, the many different concepts of violence which he displays in his film technique back up this theory. He notably conforms to the auteur theory this is obvious from his distinctive style of film and in how he controls the direction in which his films travel.