June
24
Tarantino Finishes Inglorious Bastards
At the recent Provincetown Film Fest, Quentin Tarantino talks about finishing up Inglorious Bastards, his spaghetti western/World War II script. When I saw him in Cannes, he was still refining it. Easily distracted, Tarantino likes to take time between projects to let his mind breathe. But once he gets over the hump of starting something, he goes away somewhere on his own, like Amsterdam, and writes undisturbed, on yellow legal pads, longhand, in pencil.
The question on Inglorious Bastards is one of length. At one time the script, which Tarantino has been working on intermittently for many years, was huge. I asked Tarantino at the recent Warren Beatty AFI gala how long the pic would be. He said he's aiming to deliver the movie at Pulp Fiction length (154 minutes). (He presumably learned his lesson from Grindhouse, which failed at the b.o. as a three-hour double feature.) Pulp Fiction recently landed on top of EW's new top 100 list.
Tarantino is one of most fortunate writer-directors in Hollywood. While other filmmakers white-knuckle their way from project to project, hoping to finance their fantasies and get them up on screen just the way they want them--which never happens--Tarantino can count on long-time mentor/patron Harvey Weinstein to be there for him. As soon as the director is ready, he gets a greenlight, and can move forward into production. He wants to get Inglorious Bastards shot and finished by Cannes 2009.
Let's just hope The Weinstein Co., which will eventually emerge from its disastrously cynical pay-TV/distribution deal with MGM, will survive-- if only to keep backing Tarantino.
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I actually wonder if it would be a good thing for him to lose Weinstein. They'd greenlight a 2-part movie about a guy pissing on a wall. Without them, he'd be forced to survive and shake things up. He needs a Shyamalan-type ass-kicking.
Posted by: Edward Wilson | June 24, 2008 at 10:20 AM
I think he did quite fine with Kill Bill, don't you?
Posted by: Chrystal Jordan | June 26, 2008 at 03:26 PM
I think that whatever Quenton wants to do. It wwill be specific to the sergio Leoni spaghetti western theme. I mean who wouldnt love a bunch of Jews Kicking ass on a bunch of nazi bastards. I have been to Deutchland. they are a bunch of jerks. Sign me Up! I mean, I think he should should use real soldiers. To give it that realism that everyone talks about and heres. But there definitly hzas to be some talen there.
Posted by: joe martin | September 07, 2008 at 05:49 AM