1984

Video Archives in Torrence, California had a stack of cassettes on the wall of various sub-genres that Hollywood had spent the last five years replacing. They included grindhouse horror, blaxploitation, samurai films, kung-fu films, Hong Kong gangster, WWII films, and spaghetti westerns.

What the Beatles had started with their music in the 1960s, had been successful translated by the more curious of children, and now in the 70s, as they were of college and graduate student age, many many of them would do in the form of a more expensive form of art -- the most expensive actually -- and that was film. Made even more expensive by the fact that, like the Beatles did with music, they would go at these expensive prints under the attitude of being massively experimental.

Back when the only other images of African-Americans seen on film were condescending as hell, it was considered a very culturally viable thing to show them in films calling the bad guy "white trash mothaf***er" and "honky" and then doing sophisticated detective work just to compromise the whole case by sleeping with each and every key witness and suspect who's female.

It was also important to these 70s indie filmmakers to try to outdo each other, resulting in a sludge pile of boobs and blood. To show women in as compromised of a position as possible was to pad your Academy Award resume. It didn't matter to Hollywood that almost none of these works were family family, because VCRs were still only for 1% of the population. While you were out at work, your kids were not going to find a way to watch "Serpico" or "Taxi Driver". They had to go to the theater, and with the MPAA rating system existing then, your kid wouldn't have gotten in. The outdoing of each other led to directors not only making things like Halloween and the Exorcist and Texas Chainsaw Massacre...but all the horrible sequels that came out, literally 500 for the next ten years.

Tarantino however seemed to like films that, in particular, were not very entertaining. Tarantino loves "Crazy Mary Dirty Larry". Traci Thoms references it at the table in "Deathproof" and Bridget Fonda watches it in "Jackie Brown" while almost falling asleep. But once you get beyond the title, it has a certain blandness that's been long topped. This was the basis for what Tarantino would work off of for the next twenty years, for he would update them to make them what ADD kids who have seen everything would prefer and find exciting. Tarantino saw enough of these films that he could see that there were certain cliches to them, things that were common about each one. The great thing was, these incredibly strong and visible cliches were something the general public was not familiar with, and thus wouldn't regard as cliche. With this simple understanding, Tarantino would wholeheartedly transcend each and every one of those genres on those Video Archive walls. And as we all learned, it's because this guy has ours (or least my)...level of ADD. He understands us. He makes movies the way he himself would want to see them made.

In 1987, Tarantino and his friend who worked behind the counter with him Roger Avery, would attempt their first movie. It involved a get together at his friend's house, which was essentially where and how it was filmed -- with his best friends and one of their houses. That must have been a thrill -- those sons of bitches are all excited that morning and telling all their friends that they're going to be "movie stars", but decide they're not going to all assemble for a shoot when you tell them. You buy food, but their friends all eat the damn stuff because you left it unattended as you ran it home and ran back to work. I can list about a million scenarios where you can screw up trying to make a film. Tarantino would end up spending a few thousand dollars, which was pretty major for a Video Archives employee. He was depressed until the very very moment he realized he would have to quit the project. it was at that moment, and from then, that Quentin Tarantino realized that he had just learned how to make a movie. He would have blown twenty times the money going to film school. He would gone through just as much sweat and pain with the added incentive of homework and all the fine girls joining stupid clubs. In COLLEGE!!!!!!!! And trying to make him feel bad for raising his hand and speaking his mind full arm-thrust and hand-twirl. Who needed that crap?

And so that was 1987. Tarantino would go back to the video store and do more laboring. And this time, though he was happy to working there, he was not even in the LEAST...happy to working there.

Let's consider the thug element of Torrence and vicinity. Among the minimum wagers, they're the ones who rule it. They're the ones who initially end up with the girls most in need of a dad to approach them and tell them what they want to hear. And all Tarantino had was his comic book collection and a whole bunch of half-sketched scripts. Oh...and being considerably older then anyone else who would be into what he's into.

And so this would be the subject of the first Tarantino effort that he would manage to write all the way to the industry-standard length of 90 pages. It was called True Romance.

And it sold.

For $13,000.

However, with this money in his pocket already, Tarantino would also discover that he was one of the finalists of a competition founded by Robert Redford just a couple years before, the baby steps of what would be known as the "Sundance Film Festival". Back then, Sundance was a screenwriting contest where newbies would submit five pages of their work and then based on that, they would take you out to Arizona and teach you how to make your own indie. This was an honor unlike any other that a young filmmaker could hope for. The guy must have been in tears. The script he submitted the first five pages of? "Reservoir Dogs". This is why the first five minutes of Reservoir Dogs seem to be so show-offy and unconnected to the rest of the plot. It was meant to showcase his overall ability.

It was at the workship that he befriends two youngsters -- Austin Texas finalist and native Robert Rodriguez...and a teenager from San Bernadino named...Paul Thomas Anderson.

The guys would sit around and talk to the instructors, former and continuous employees in Hollywood, all about their future dreams. After all, for every one of them, there were about 2,000 others who were still masturbating in the Starbucks bathroom on their way to their dealer's house. Tarantino suggested that they try to bring the 70s back in the 90s. Rodriguez and PT Anderson alike...took this to be the best damn idea anyone's ever had.

One of the most noted alum from this group, when first concieved in 1988, was Steven Soderbourgh. Don't laugh. His "Sex, Lies and Videotape" would provide the independent movement with a necessary and permanent boost.

Yet for the rest of the guys, there was the pressing issue of money. You see...you or me might assume that to be recognized by both Sundance AND the director of Top Gun...would give you some kind of opening. Some kind of...set for life kind of thing. Some kind of...well there's no way anyone's gonna let me starve now, I'm a Hollywood name kind of thing? $13,000. That was what Tarantino had garnered in his pocket by early 1992.

The saving grace of the situation was that Tarantino now had tons and tons of new contacts, people who he didn't know but might or might not be on the verge of making it big. At a party he would meet one of those guys -- Lawrence Bender. Bender at the time was the number three man to a brand new company started by brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein named Miramax. When I went to L.A. last August, I found myself at a sushi restaurant where two guys around my age were sitting across from a younger guy in a suit, who was telling them the ifs and buts of selling a script. This guy was an aspiring Lawrence Bender, and there's lots of them. He likes your stuff, but he's new. He'll get there...just don't think you can quit Video Archives now. Yes there will be lots of people who will say what the hell are you still doing at Video Archives. Deal with it. You've waited your life, QT. You can wait a little bit longer.

Bender, not suprisingly, hit it off with the QT immediately. Bender suggested that he try to make a movie since he's now got tons of experience at it. He was smart enough not to promise anything with the Weinsteins. And QT was at the time just one of dozens of players that they were considering. It's important to think of producers and agents as coaches, and you're a blue-chip prep star. They want more then anything to court you....for years down the road. They got their starters for now. If it helps to make you think you're good enough to start, that's something they'll say. Nobody complains about the process because they know god damn well better.

And so Tarantino would be left with good feedback and...once again I stress...$13,000.

Well at the time, being made back home in his parents' house in Austin Texas by his new good friend Robert Rodriguez, was an effort called "El Mariachi". For $7,000. It starred friends of his from the neighborhood, and was shot almost entirely IN the neighborhood. It was about a hitman who uses a guitar case and mariachi outfit (they do seranades in Mexico) to disguise a gun. The hitman also happens to be a very good performer of said guitar. There was concern whether an unknown cast and a small budget would suffice, particularly when put together by the young Rodriguez with equipment he had put together.

"El Mariachi" would turn out to be everything the public never expected and more. It was a brilliant film. Rodriguez uses a series of quick cuts that make the action look closer and faster, and occupying much more room then it actually did. It stands today as a masterpiece and yet...almost impossible to find at the video store. "El Mariachi" was absolutely marvelous, and it stands today as Rodriguez's best effort to date.

Tarantino wasn't jealous, but he had to be conscious of the fact that Rodriguez was six god damn years younger as he himself still struggled. And that was when the most incredible thing happened --

Tarantino's mom and aunt like to go to the hair salon and meet the other older ladies for gossip and treatments. While there, one of the ladies pointed out that Harvey Keitel is a good friend of their's. Very soon after that as you can imagine, not only does Tarantino have a script all ready with a lead role in it that a Harvey Keitel type could play...but Harvey Keitel is READING THE SCRIPT!!!

And LOVES IT!@@@@!!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!!! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!

The film was called "Reservoir Dogs", and would be finished and released by October, 1992.

"Reservoir Dogs" is probably his best written film ever, but it was marred by a very dark and dirty controversy. There was a film from Hong Kong that won many prestigious East Asian cinema awards (encompassing even Bollywood) and it was called "City of Fire". It's estimated that the entire last act comes directly from City of Fire, as well as the basic premise and characters. Tarantino named many many influences during the Reservoir Dogs interviews. City of Fire's director is only referenced when talking about OTHER movies.

Tarantino would not win Sundance even though "Reservoir Dogs" was a nominee. The honor if I'm not mistaken went to "Amelie".

Add to that, both Reservoir Dogs and True Romance...would do crappy at the box office.

Yet Tarantino had the benefit of being known to the Weinsteins as a filmmaker, not just a screenwriter.

And this would make it alot easier to have a second chance at being a director...

TO BE CONTINUED

by CLICKING BELOW...

http://hubpages.com/hub/Quentin-Tarantino-Part-III

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And so Hard Eight (1995) which is PT Anderson's edition of the Hustler.