“Unlike any before or since”: Quentin Tarantino names the most distinctive director in the western genre
Fiona Apple once described a private evening with Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson as one of the worst nights of her life. Given that the former has a tendency to talk about cinema to his heart’s desire, often unprompted and with no end in sight, it is understandable why this might be slightly insufferable to many.
However, some might argue that he has earned the right to do so, with the director making history through low-budget masterpieces like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, going on to spark a unique form of filmmaking through his campy violence, stylised set pieces and fast-paced dialogue, with the likes of Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood encapsulating the kind of filmmaking Tarantino is most passionate about.
However, as well as spewing general facts about cinema, the director is perhaps most keen to talk about his influences and the ideas that have wormed their way into his filmography, discussing his love for one director who he believes had the most distinctive voice in the genre.
The western is a style of film that Tarantino has come to know and love, with the director referencing the work of iconic filmmakers such as Sergio Leon throughout his filmography, something that is particularly prevalent in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, with Rick Dalton forging a career on the genre, despite his struggles to maintain fame and avoid obsoletion.
Tarantino references many great works in the film, including scenes that are almost direct re-enactments of scenes from pre-existing westerns, instead showing Dalton as the star and charting the changes in Hollywood at the end of the ’60s as Dalton struggles to keep up with the new order.
But when discussing the director who most influenced him from the genre, Tarantino described the power of Monte Hellman and his 1966 film Ride in the Whirlwind, explaining, “Monte made westerns unlike any before or since. He slowed down all the action so the scenes play at a real-time pace unheard of in a western. The effect is almost as if Monte were in the projection booth, grabbing a fistful of film as it passes in front of the bulb and yanking it down, so each frame is illuminated longer for better examination”.
Tarantino went on to discuss the film’s trailblazing style and central performance from none other than Jack Nicholson, saying, “The film opens with a stagecoach hold-up that produces giggles due to the lazy, laconic manner of the robbers. It’s the exact opposite of the snappy action scenes we’ve become accustomed to (a robber gets a laugh from me every time for the way he unhurriedly moves a log out of the stagecoach’s way). In direct contrast with Monte’s tone is Nicholson’s plot, which is far from existential. In fact, it could easily be a great rip-snorting episode of Bonanza”.
His knowledge of the genre is seemingly endless, with his love for Monte Hellman in particular having an undeniable impact on his work and encouraging him to carry the best parts of this style into his own films.
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