Quentin Tarantino
Hollywood icon celebrates 60th birthday
Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino knows exactly what spectacular cinema should look like.
© Denis Makarenko/Shutterstock
Legendary director Quentin Tarantino turns 60. Many of his works are considered timeless classics. But how long will he keep going?
When it comes to the point in a film by Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino (60), it is never as an end in itself. His works are not for the faint of heart, but they are brilliantly written throughout. Action and depiction of violence are often prominent, while it is the sharp-tongued dialogues that turn the carnage into a gripping story.
Now that Tarantino is turning 60, film lovers around the world are hoping that he may be able to continue for a long time to come. After all, he had already announced that he wanted to stop after the tenth project. But one after anonther.
acting instead of school
Quentin Tarantino grew up in Los Angeles and decided to drop out of school at the age of 15. Instead, he devoted himself to acting training and later worked in a video store. A directing workshop in Sundance with Hollywood legend Robert Redford (86) gave him the idea of becoming a director.
That went wrong with one of his first films, but it was extremely unfortunate: “My Best Friend’s Birthday” was largely destroyed in a fire. 36 of the original 70 minutes of film were shown at film festivals, but are hard to find elsewhere.
Breakthrough thanks to Harvey Keitel
Tarantino’s breakthrough work “Reservoir Dogs – Wilde Hunde” was able to be completed in 1992 because actor Harvey Keitel (83) became aware of the project. The “Thelma & Louise” star pledged his financial support and the foundation for Tarantino’s meteoric career was laid: “Reservoir Dogs” was celebrated at the Sundance Film Festival.
The mega hit “Pulp Fiction” followed in 1994, which should already have made the filmmaker immortal. But that was just the beginning. Seven more Tarantino films were released, and he even picked up an Oscar for best original screenplay for “Pulp Fiction” and “Django Unchained” (2012).
The Master and the Ten Film Deadline
His tenth film will be his last, Tarantino already committed to that in 2016. Since then he has confirmed this plan several times, most recently in November 2022. In an interview with “CNN” said the master director: “I’ve been doing it for a long time […] for 30 years. It’s time to end the show.”
The fans are now speculating how things will continue with their favorite director. Is he fully retiring? Or does he then produce series or do other creative work? In any case, Tarantino has been emphasizing for years that he doesn’t want to end up as a creatively slack old director. And in the interview, too, he stated that he did not want to work “for falling earnings”. “I don’t want to be that old man who lost touch,” Tarantino said.
Instead, the filmmaker stated his goal for his retirement and his tenth and final film: “I’m an entertainer. I want to leave you wanting more.” Tarantino revealed that he “doesn’t know at all” what his forthcoming final film will be about. “Because I’m in no hurry to do my last film.” But now it seems that it will soon be ready.
Waiting for “The Movie Critic”
In mid-March 2023, various US trade journals such as “The Hollywood Reporter” unanimously reported that Tarantino had finished the screenplay for his tenth and final film. It will have the working title The Movie Critic, will be set in Los Angeles in the late 1970s and revolve around a female protagonist. Currently, Tarantino would offer the script to various studios who can read it under high security precautions. According to the Hollywood Reporter, filming is scheduled to start in the fall. Therefore, “The Movie Critic” will probably be released in cinemas at the end of next year at the earliest. There is currently no information about the cast.
The “Hollywood Reporter” also speculates that Tarantino’s last film could be about the legendary US journalist Pauline Kael (1919-2001). The enormously influential film critic worked briefly as a consultant for the Hollywood studio Paramount in the late 1970s.
At the possible end of Tarantino’s career there will probably be no “Kill Bill 3”, as some had speculated. However, the master has never really allowed his cards to be looked at in his work.
time for the kids?
The director could at least spend more time with his two children afterwards. It was only on July 2 that wife Daniella Pick (38) gave birth to a little daughter named Adriana. The filmmaker has been married to Pick since the end of 2018.
Son Leo welcomed the Israeli singer in November 2020. “We almost didn’t name him that because people would assume I named him after Leonardo DiCaprio,” revealed the father bei “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”. “There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s named after my wife’s grandfather.” Quentin Tarantino said he was “our little lion in our hearts”.
The 60-year-old keeps coming up with stories and even dances for him, as he revealed and demonstrated to Kimmel. He even ennobled little Leo as his “best viewer”. After the final tenth film, maybe his family is the only audience he needs.