Cannes 2023: Quentin Tarantino, a filmmaker who loves his audience

The icing on the cake for Quinzaine des cinéastes, which closes 55^e edition received on Thursday, May 25, Quentin Tarantino for Carte Blanche, followed by a conversation around his latest book, Cinema speculations (Flammarion, 448 p., 25 euros), where the author Pulp Fiction, kill billy and Once upon a time in HollywoodThe camera shift on a critical exercise recalls the 1970s films he grew up watching.

A surprise film drawn from this rich corpus appeared immediately legitimate violence (1977), by John Flynn, A A careful film (A Personal Revenge Story) Little known, dry and muscular, from the director’s favorite – Until his production company Rolling Thunder Pictures was christened after the original title, rolling thunder.

Presenting on the stage, the film-loving filmmaker announced the screening with great fanfare on 35 mm film »asked the room “ Defranchise » (Free yourself) and therefore react “ Whenever [ils auraient] I want to react, shout when [ils auraient] I want to scream ».

Impassable border

The discussion was carried out by the loud and inexhaustible eloquence of the in-form Tarantino, who is not afraid to answer at length the questions posed by the general delegate of the event, Julien Regal. The analysis of the presented film, which is rich in action scenes, naturally deviated from the issue of violence, which the screenwriter often approached in his films, purely artistically.

“ Yes, I love violent moviesshe said. Just like other people love musicals or slapstick movies. I find it extremely cinematic, it’s fun, and it’s never just stories that you enjoy as stories.. » “ I have often seen reasonable movies go beyond reasonablehe readily admits But the only time I felt a problem with the violence was when it was poorly done. »

“It is important to understand that the first thing in cinema is pretensionhe explained. We are just children playing. This is not real blood on screen. People don’t really hurt themselves – sometimes they do because they’re being overzealous, but that’s not the point. »

As a cinephile, the visitor still sets the bar insurmountable when it comes to the spectacle of animal killing. “ Something that was once done a lot in European or Asian movies ». “ I’m not paying for my seat to see real death on screenHe said, showing himself to be unsettled in this matter. Be it a dog, a llama or even a fly. »