Quentin Tarantino can be a difficult artist to talk about. Not because there's nothing there. The problem is kind of the exact opposite. I don't know if it's too much to say guys like Tarantino contain multitudes. I know anyone who's talked with him in person claim the guy has so much of a mouthful that sometimes you can't keep up. In a way, that's a good metaphor for the whole problem. The fact that its drawn from life just gives a bit of needed weight. With directors like Tarantino, the problem is there can sometimes be so much to talk about that often the critic doesn't even know where to begin. The worst part is that in a way, the director himself presents very little challenge at this late date. The real worry in writing about the films of Tarantino is that you have to keep looking over your shoulder in case someone else made your own point for you a long time ago. There's very little original to be said or unearthed about one of the most successful and defining careers in the history of filmmaking. In other words, there's a lot to talk about, and its all been said before. Still, the critic has to report something about his subject if he's to do the job right.I suppose the best place to start is with the guy himself. That can also be difficult because there are ways that his life can sound like that of a fictional character who shouldn't even exist. He was a video store clerk, a rare and by now almost extinct form of retail wildlife that flourished for a brief span of time during the 80s and 90s. What used to happen is people would actually bother to leave their houses, get in their cars, and go to an actual block of brick and mortar where VHS copies of old films were stored and housed. They did that because back then it was possible to buy or rent the movie you wanted to watch right there in the store itself. It was even possible, during this brief span of two decades, when some of these video stores were successful enough to become an actual business chain. The most famous of these remains Blockbuster Video. Tarantino never worked at one of these. His own place of employment was an indie outlet called Video Archives.
This seems to have been the place where Tarantino first cemented a public awareness for himself. He would sit behind the counter and market with the customers. This was easy enough and enjoyable because all he had to do was tell anybody who chanced to walk in how much he loved the movies. He would try and spread the enthusiasm around, get the buyers talking about what they liked, what films they found enjoyable, and what was it about the art-form that even made them want to set foot in establishments like the Archives? It was a good way to drive up sales. On personal level, though, it got customers talking not just about the business, but also about a motor-mouth clerk who also seemed like he had something promising in him. It helped a lot that Quentin was an avid consumer of all things celluloid. The man has been able to amass an incredible amount of detailed knowledge about movies past and present. He was already well read, film wise, when he got his start back in the early 90s with Reservoir Dogs. I don't even know how much more he's been able to accumulate since then.
Just recently Tarantino released his 9th film in theaters. It's kind of a big deal because some time back he declared that he was going to limit himself to just 10 films under his own banner as a director. This sort of marketing scheme is interesting for several reasons. On the one hand, it creates expectation in audiences. It gives them something to think about in a way that keeps the buzz around your name going. At the same time, it puts a necessary amount of pressure on the artist to deliver on his promises. Tarantino knows he has to make every film he releases count. Any kind of screw-up on his part is going to put a dent in both his reputation and prospects. That means every film he makes has to be as top quality as he can possibly make it. The guys must hav a great luck to go along with his natural talents if he wants to succeed. So far, most of his output has been greeted with popular and critical acclaim. It's the reason why audiences are now in a heightened state of anticipation because they know his last film has to somehow sum up and account for it all.
According to the director himself, that film is still somewhere on the horizon. Part of his strategy is to space out his work so that a legend is able to generate around his oeuvre. It's another bit of his marketing skills. Right now, his latest film is a bit of a nostalgia piece. It's called Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and as the penultimate notch in his belt, it seems worth a look to determine just how well it holds up.
