The “gross” movie scene that made Quentin Tarantino gag
For decades, Quentin Tarantino has been trailblazing a very distinct style of cinema. From his earliest works, like Reservoir Dogs, to his most recent picture, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Tarantino’s approach has explored a wide variety of themes, genres and styles. Over the course of his filmography, the director has shown everything from decapitations to blood-thirsty vampires; seemingly, only one thing has remained constant throughout his career: the extreme levels of violence within his work.
Tarantino has often been noted – and criticised – for the violence shown within his films. Since the 1990s, the director has repeatedly affirmed his adoration for blood, guts and fighting. Even today, the sight of Brad Pitt caving someone’s face in with a can of dog food is enough to elicit a wave of gasps and queasiness over cinema audiences. You would assume, therefore, that Quentin Tarantino has a pretty strong stomach when it comes to the world of gore and violence.
There is no telling the number of gruesome scenes and shots Tarantino has presided over, and while his work is hardly on the level of films like Cannibal Holocaust, it surely must have had an effect on the director’s stomach. After the release of Kill Bill Vol.2 in 2004, a particularly violent work by Tarantino, the director was interviewed by the BBC, who asked him if the violence in his films ever becomes too much to handle. “In my films?” he responded, “No, no, no. In other films yeah, I guess there’s been some gross stuff”.
So, just what does it take to gross out Quentin Tarantino? The director gave two very different examples. “I was watching an episode of Jackass,” he recalled, “where Johnny Knoxville put some live leeches in his mouth and I started gagging. Aarrgh!” Seemingly, Tarantino is more freaked out by grossness than violence or gore, as shown by his second example.
“I remember when I saw Monty Python’s Meaning Of Life,” he shared, “with that fat guy who does all the puking. That was really gross”. The scene Tarantino is referring to here is the ‘Mr. Creosote’, in which a morbidly obese man played by Terry Jones orders mountains of food and drink while repeatedly and graphically vomiting. At the end of the scene, Creosote explodes after eating a wafer-thin mint.
Admittedly, the scene is not one to watch while eating. “I remember sitting in the movie theatre thinking right then that if somebody vomited and I smelt it while I was watching this scene I would hurl,” Tarantino confirmed, “But that’s the only time I started getting queasy in a movie”.
The idea of Quentin Tarantino, a director who has dedicated himself to creating incredibly violent, gruesome films and characters, finding the sketch-comedy stylings of Monty Python too much to handle is particularly entertaining. We are sure there are many films out there that are more vulgar and gross than The Meaning of Life, but it seemingly holds the accolade of being the only film that makes Tarantino feel queasy.
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.