Jean-Luc Godard’s peculiar hatred of Quentin Tarantino: “His work is null”
Few filmmakers have had as much of an influence on the landscape of contemporary cinema as the French new wave icon Jean-Luc Godard. An innovative figure in 1960s European cinema who disregarded the former rulebook of filmmaking, the films of Godard are suffused with the same free-spirited energy as the fashion and music industries during the time, making him a key figure in the zeitgeist’s cultural transition.
Whilst Godard’s 1960s classics, including Breathless, Contempt and Pierrot le Fou, were transforming how European cinema was appreciated and consumed, on the other side of the pond, Hollywood was languishing in a period of disruption. Such led to the burgeoning American filmmakers of the time and coming future, like Martin Scorsese, Jim Jarmusch, Steven Soderbergh and Quentin Tarantino.
Though his snappy style may not directly compare with Godard’s, Tarantino was infatuated with the French filmmaker’s approach to cinema, even comparing him to the music pioneer Bob Dylan. “That’s one aspect of Godard that I found very liberating—movies commenting on themselves, movies and movie history,” Tarantino stated, “To me, Godard did to movies what Bob Dylan did to music: they both revolutionised their forms”.
Whilst Tarantino was fond of Godard, even naming his production company after the 1964 film Bande à part, the same couldn’t be said vice versa, with the new wave artist stating in a 2004 interview: “I think his work is null. He chose the title of one of my worst films to name his production company. That doesn’t surprise me at all”.
This isn’t the only time Godard hit out against Tarantino, either, later calling him a ‘faquin’ in a Cannes interview, a French term that roughly translates into “a low or dishonest person”. Another instance of his dislike for Tarantino came about in an unlikely conversation with Molly Ringwald, with the iconic American actress keeping in touch with Godard for years after they collaborated together on 1987’s King Lear.
“We chatted about recent films. He didn’t think much of Pulp Fiction, the movie of the moment,” Ringwald stated in an essay she wrote for the New Yorker, saying that Godard believed the 1994 Palme d’Or winner was “not authentic”.
Over time, Tarantino’s appreciation for Jean-Luc Godard waned too, perhaps due to the French filmmaker’s comments. “I’m not really a big fan of Jean-Luc Godard anymore,” he stated in an interview where he discusses his cinematic role models, “I think Godard is kind of like Frank Frazetta. You get into him for a while and he’s like your hero for a little bit. You start drawing shit like him and then you outgrow. I think that’s what Godard is, at least for me anyway, as a filmmaker”.
Perhaps if Godard weren’t so harsh towards Tarantino, he would still have the iconic filmmaker behind Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown as one of his greatest fans.
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