The movie Quentin Tarantino says “you have to see twice”
Sometimes it feels like Quentin Tarantino has seen every film ever made, such is the vast cinematic knowledge of the director. Like anyone, though, Tarantino has his favourite, and he once spoke glowingly of Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie There Will Be Blood, a brilliant picture that stars Daniel Day-Lewis in the lead role of oilman Daniel Plainview.
“I think There Will Be Blood is definitely one of the best movies made in this last decade, and I couldn’t be prouder of saying that,” Tarantino once said during an interview with Sky Movies. “Paul is one of my best friends, and I would say he is probably the current filmmaking artist out right now who I consider the most contemporary, the most friendly competitor, and I’m glad to be making movies at the same time as Paul.”
Tarantino was not quite willing to call Anderson’s 2007 film his “masterpiece”, though, preferring one of his earlier works instead. He continued: “Many people consider There Will Be Blood to be his masterpiece. I’m afraid I still have to choose Boogie Nights over There Will Be Blood. As exquisite as There Will Be Blood is, I still prefer the exuberance of Boogie Nights over the formalism of There Will Be Blood.”
The director went on to claim that his friend’s movie is one that simply must be seen twice before one can get their head around its meaning. “If ever there is a movie that demands to be seen twice, if not more,” Tarantino said, “before you can really have an intelligent discussion about it, it would be There Will Be Blood.”
“It’s so overpowering; to even try and talk about There Will Be Blood a few days after seeing it would amount to gibberish until you’ve seen it a second time,” he added. Tarantino then said that he did try to talk to Anderson about the film after his first time watching it, and what came out was indeed gibberish.
“Paul is a very cinematic director, and like me, he likes indulging in set pieces,” he said. “The first time I saw it, I was like, ‘Wow, there were no cinematic set pieces in the movie’. Paul was like, ‘Oh, thank you, Quentin, I take that as a compliment’.”
Anderson had followed up with, “There’s the putting out the oil fire; maybe, if there is one, maybe that would be it.”
It was only after watching the film again that Tarantino understood his initial words were incorrect. “Then I saw the film again, and I was completely wrong,” he said. “The putting out of the oil fire is absolutely positively a set piece. It’s a brilliant cinematic set piece.”
Never Miss A Take
The Far Out Quentin Tarantino Newsletter
All the latest Quentin Tarantino content from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.