Quentin Tarantino's Cinema Speculation
On Wednesday April 12th the SUMO team attended the Berlin stop of Quentin Tarantino's Cinema Speculation European book tour, which took place in the Mitte district's historic Admiralspalast theatre. The legendary director discussed his career, time spent in Berlin during the filming of Inglourious Basterds, and many of the themes explored in Cinema Speculation - his new book which combines elements of autobiography with film criticism.
Projected above Tarantino and moderator Steven Gätjen was the American cover of Cinema Speculation, which features a photograph of director Sam Peckinpah and star Steve McQueen on the set of their 1972 film The Getaway. A chapter of the book is dedicated to an analysis of The Getaway, and both Peckinpah and McQueen's names were invoked during the evening's conversation. When asked by Gätjen which director from the "New Hollywood" era Tarantino wishes he could interview today, he offered Peckinpah as a possibility - with the caveat that he wouldn't fully believe what the oft-combative director would have to say.
Making the distinction between an actor and a movie star, Tarantino focused on McQueen, sharing how the iconic star of Bullitt (another film which gets its own chapter in the book) was known for giving away any superfluous lines of dialogue to other actors in order to protect his larger than life star quality by actually saying less. To paraphrase Tarantino, "He would have the other guy say all the bullshit that needed to be said while he just stood there and peeled an apple."
On his connection to Berlin, Tarantino reminisced about his time spent filming and promoting Inglourious Basterds, and shared that the cast and crew would go out together almost every weekend to local spots like Haifischbar in Bergmannkiez
Last but not least, when asked about his final film, The Movie Critic, Tarantino said that he probably has one draft of the script left to go, and that production should be underway this fall. Overall it was a fun night, and Cinema Speculation is an entertaining read we would recommend to any cinema fan.
