The scene Quentin Tarantino calls “one of the most heartbreaking shots in the history of the cinema”
Throughout his time in the spotlight, Quentin Tarantino has never been shy around telling the world about his favourite movies and fellow directors, particularly the likes of Sergio Leone, Jean-Pierre Melville and, most notably, Brian De Palma, the latter of whom Tarantino once admitted that he was “obsessed” with throughout his twenties.
While Tarantino loves pretty much all the works of De Palma, he particularly admires his 1981 neo-noir mystery thriller Blow Out, starring John Travolta, John Lithgow and Nancy Allen. Travolta plays a sound engineer from Philadelphia, Jack Terry, who works for a low-budget slasher film studio.
When Jack is recording audio for a film, he inadvertently captures proof of an assassination attempt on a local presidential hopeful and becomes embroiled in a race to put together the evidence to show to the newspapers. However, both he and a young woman who was riding in the car with the politician have their lives put at risk because of their involvement and prying nature.
Tarantino was particularly impressed by John Travolta’s performance in De Palma’s film and once explained that he had sought the actor out to play Vincent Vega in his 1994 crime film Pulp Fiction after seeing him deliver some of his best on-screen moments as the sound engineer.
By that time, Travolta’s career had hit the ground, and it took some convincing on Tarantino’s part to get the studio to cast him in his revival role. “The rest of the industry was telling me I was crazy”, he noted on the Joe Rogan Experience but said that if Miramax did not admire Travolta in Blow Out, then maybe they should not be making Pulp Fiction together.
Of all the amazing scenes in Blow Out, one stands above the rest in terms of its captivating quality. It happens right at the film’s conclusion and sees Jack race to his lover, Sally, to rescue her from a serial killer. However, Jack is too late and is left to cradle her dead body in his arms as fireworks from a nearby parade light up the sky.
Tarantino is in particular admiration of the scene and once said that he considers it “one of the most heartbreaking shots in the history of the cinema.” And those words are so true; the end of De Palma’s film is arguably the most heartwrenching that the director and Tarantino’s hero has ever provided.
Check out the scene in question to see why it breaks Quentin Tarantino’s heart to pieces.
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