Quentin Tarantino picks his favourite Jean-Luc Godard movie
A director whose career has been shrouded in mystery and controversy, Quentin Tarantino’s cult following has torn apart every shot of his filmography, analysing every colour choice and line of dialogue in an attempt to understand the director. This intense analysis began with his debut feature, Reservoir Dogs, back in 1991.
It is no secret that Tarantino’s work is, first and foremost, a love letter to the filmmakers and cinema which came before him. Each of his films famously serves as an ode to genres the mainstream has somewhat lost interest in over the years, with Tarantino bending the old genre to his will and always adding his unique brand of dark humour and incessant violence. So far in his career, he has tackled everything from the neo-noir with Pulp Fiction to martial arts flicks with Kill Bill and even the noble western with The Hateful Eight.
He is, somewhat uniquely, a director who openly admits to borrowing from filmmakers of the past. Tarantino consistently cites his inspirations and diligently references moments of cinema history in his own work, acknowledging the debt he owes to his forefathers and peers. He has hailed Brian de Palma and lauded Martin Scorsese, among many others.
One key inspiration Tarantino has religiously cited, almost above all else, is the French New Wave movement, a widely creative cinematic explosion that emerged during the late 1950s and saw young filmmakers such as Alain Resnais, Agnès Varda, François Truffaut, and Jean-Luc Godard come to prominence.
During an interview with In the Soup director Alexandre Rockwell, the cinematic maverick spoke fondly of the French movement and shared his favourite Jean-Luc Godard film: “I’ve been influenced by European art films and the French New Wave,” he said. “At the same time, I’ve been influenced by the New World exploitation films of the ’70s.”
Continuing, Tarantino added: “And the blaxploitation films of AIP, the Pam Grier films, and the early Roger Corman-directed movies. I love them both. And I like the merging of the two. I described Reservoir Dogs as a genre-based art film. Those are the ones of the New Wave I like most – the Jean Pierre Melville gangster films or when the New Wave guys took on the genres.”
He then delved into specific, stating: “Band à Part – Band of Outsiders – is my favourite Godard film.” Reserving the highest praise for the director’s grittiest work.
It’s no surprise that Band à Part is held dear to Tarantino, as one can easily see how the film paved the way for his cult-classic Pulp Fiction, in particular. Godard’s refusal to conform to mainstream cinematic convention, self-awareness and twisting of clichés is rife in Tarantino’s 1994 film, alongside the general sense of ennui which sees Godard’s trio of Parisian slackers, played by Anna Karina, Claude Brasseur and Sammi Frey, embark on a crime spree.
Throughout the film, the plot keeps driving along but never overrides the fluidity: Will they go down in a blaze of glory? That is the question that keeps you engrossed in their wandering actions as the two crooks convince a language student to help them pull off a daring heist.
However, perhaps even more apparent of an influence than this wrestle of plot and play is Godard’s use of cinema references in a meta sense. Tarantino has always celebrated his love of cinema internally within his own features. So, it’s no surprise that he adored the way in which the two crooks at the heart of Band à Part have a burgeoning love for Hollywood B-movies. In fact, you could almost argue that Tarantino would’ve loved nothing more from life than to have been one of the protagonists.
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