Quentin Tarantino’s “least favourite” classic 1990s thriller
While the 1990s was one of the most important decades in the history of American cinema, almost nobody had the same magnitude of impact as Quentin Tarantino did. Through films like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Tarantino didn’t just revitalise the crime genre, but he also shook up the structures of American filmmaking by bringing a more liberated cinematic style to the table. That’s exactly why it’s almost impossible to view the subsequent ’90s crime flicks without accounting for the effect he had.
This wasn’t just the case with American movies, since many directors across the world followed in the footsteps of Pulp Fiction in the latter half of the decade. Inspired by the 1994 masterpiece’s ability to subvert conventional narrative tropes while presenting a highly stylised vision of violence and death, the genre found new life in various forms whose evolution can definitely be traced back to Tarantino’s incredible run in the ’90s.
During a 2009 conversation with Ella Taylor, Tarantino was asked about the Pulp Fiction ripoffs that had flooded the landscape in the years that had followed. The American auteur replied that he had no problem with most of them since the substandard imitations just made his projects look far superior in comparison. However, there was one particularly beloved 1990s thriller that Tarantino couldn’t stand and revealed that it was his “least favourite”.
Elaborating on the phenomenon of imitation and inspiration, Tarantino explained his perspective on the issue: “I’ve heard that: a lot of guys in black suits. It just makes my stuff look all the better when you eventually see it again. Anyway, it’s dropped off now. I’m flattered by all those guys, but every time people start writing me off because of them, I come up with a new movie, and they go, ‘Oh, that’s how it’s supposed to sound.'”
He added: “A case can be made that I re-created the gangster film and set forth the next higher subgenre that other directors followed, and there were some good films that came out. Love and a .45 was really good; it was very close to True Romance, Natural Born Killers, and Reservoir Dogs all combined. That might be the only film that guy (C. M. Talkington) ever made, but he had a gift for really funny dialogue. Lucky Number Slevin was pretty good. My least favourite was The Usual Suspects.”
Bryan Singer’s 1995 neo-noir thriller became a crowd-favourite at the time because of Kevin Spacey’s performance, its complicated narrative structure that was obviously influenced by Pulp Fiction and the infamous gimmicky ending. However, none of that impressed Tarantino since he preferred the Asian tributes to his work like Johnnie To’s Hong Kong gangster movies.
Watch the trailer below.
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.