The one movie Quentin Tarantino described as “ass-kicking nirvana”
To be a great director, you have to dedicate yourself to your craft. Of course, by nature, that means being a good organiser of people, a good leader with an excellent eye for cinematography and a good feel for acting chops. But, above all, you must be a devoted lover of cinema. Quentin Tarantino is a film nerd first and a filmmaker second.
Over the years, the director has expressed his admiration for an astoundingly vast array of genres – ranging from spaghetti westerns to grindhouse cult classics. In one way or another, all these films have had a direct impact on his filmography. But, perhaps most strangely, the filmmaker has rarely shied away from accepting and sharing the influential movies that shaped his own work.
Many critics often attack Tarantino’s vision of cinema for indulging in gratuitous violence. The director has rarely avoided including it in his pictures, with many of his movies using exuberant violence as the backbone of the story arc. However, others have pointed out that Tarantino is one of the most prominent practitioners of arthouse action, which is evident in his iconic projects such as the Kill Bill series. His sensibilities have been influenced by his favourite action stars, from Bruce Lee to Michelle Yeoh.
Among his favourites, there was one particular 1970s action flick which impressed Tarantino so much that he decided to name his film distribution company after it. That film was none other than Rolling Thunder, John Flynn’s 1977 psychological action thriller, which starred icons such as William Devane and Tommy Lee Jones.
Paul Schrader initially wrote the screenplay, but it was later reworked. Schrader said: “You could see Rolling Thunder as a more overtly actionful companion piece to Taxi Driver. The critics seemed keen to dismiss it as ‘lightweight’ or ‘mindless’, but Rolling Thunder was able to explore things we didn’t touch on in Taxi Driver”. Considering how deeply Taranitno holds affection for the Martin Scorsese picture, he clearly showers praise on the movie.
While Rolling Thunder received a lot of praise for various production elements, the film also faced criticisms because of its depiction of cinematic violence. For Tarantino, Flynn’s construction of an aesthetic framework for action and violence greatly developed his nascent artistic vision. It was the kind of setup that Taranitno himself would employ with severely successful results.
Although the film is a classic now, it did get a mixed reception from some audiences who felt it was too much. Flynn recalled: “We almost got killed when we previewed Rolling Thunder in San Jose! People were shocked by the extreme violence, especially the scene where a hand is ground up in a garbage disposal unit”.
According to Tarantino, this film is as close as it gets to experiencing enlightenment. He once declared: “Most movies let you down, but this is ass-kicking nirvana”. Tarantino borrowed the name of the film for his distribution company which championed other cult works like Chungking Express and Sonatine.
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