Michel Gondry set to return with new film ‘The Book of Solutions’

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Why Michel Gondry isn’t a fan of Quentin Tarantino movies

Mon 8 August 2022 7:00, UK

If you don’t think you’ve seen a Michel Gondry film, you probably have, you just don’t know it. A French director, screenwriter and twee animator, Gondry is celebrated across the world for his striking visual style that has been favoured by legions of fans as well as fellow filmmakers, with Charlie Kaufman collaborating with the creative for the Oscar-winning 2004 drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Helming The Green Hornet, Be Kind Rewind and The Science of Sleep, Gondry loves a sentimental story with a colourful pop, a bit like Wes Anderson with a little more craft paper and PVA glue. Though fear not, if you don’t recognise these aforementioned films, it’s likely you would have seen his music video work, with the French filmmaker collaborating with such musicians as Daft Punk, Foo Fighters, Radiohead, Kanye West, Björk, The Chemical Brothers, IDLES, and The White Stripes.

A playful artist who has long brought joy to audiences, it’s fair to say that Gondry has never made a mean-spirited film, with his movies being the polar opposite of someone like Lars von Trier who spikes each of his releases with a venomous dose of pessimistic realism. As a result, (and we can only really presume this) we doubt Gondry is much of a lover of his films, nor the work of Quentin Tarantino for similar reasons. Though, there is some evidence for the latter.

In conversation with The Talks, Gondry discussed the extent to which he can step back from being a director to simply enjoy a movie outright. Explaining how he likes to discuss modern cinema with his “less critical” son, it becomes clear that Gondry’s tastes differ quite greatly, adding “sometimes I don’t tell him my opinion”.

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This can meet a comical head between the bickering family members, however, with Gondry adding, “It’s funny, when he wants to piss me off he tells me I am a bad director and that Quentin Tarantino is much better than me. I hate it when he says that!”.

Once Kill Bill Vol.2 is brought up, which the filmmaker says that he walked out of, Gondry sees red and states, “[besides Pulp Fiction] all the others are too mean for me. I mean, he is a brilliant director, much more skilled than me. You see great performances, great images. Everything is great, only the message is dangerous”.

Continuing, he adds, “It’s all revenge and vengeance, about being mean and cynical. I would almost say that these movies are not made for my son, but it is exactly those movies that young people love. Even if they are too young they just sneak into it’.

Though it’s clearly obvious that Gondry isn’t a fan of a grisly film with a nasty message, it’s nice to see that he’s not an ardent hater of Tarantino’s work, with a good handful of the American filmmaker’s movies being some of the greatest movies of modern cinema. If Gondry isn’t a fan of Kill Bill Vol.2 then we certainly wouldn’t recommend watching Death Proof or Reservoir Dogs either, with both these films being equally disturbing as the tale of the Bride.