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The movie scene Quentin Tarantino said goes “beyond suspense”

Fri 9 June 2023 18:30, UK

Throughout his career, Quentin Tarantino has garnered a cult following like no other. For his distinctive style of violence, liberal use of profanity, and carefully selected soundtracks, the director has garnered widespread recognition and acclaim, including a Pale d’Or win and two Academy Awards.

Quentin Tarantino’s filmography is full of suspense, from the lengthy, tense runtime of the Kill Bill movies to the opening French farmhouse scene in the 2009 war film Inglorious Basterds. With Tarantino’s trademark themes of vengeance and violence comes a masterful use of suspense, and his filmmaking ensures that audiences feel on edge to make those moments all the more hard-hitting and rewarding.

Tarantino, it seems, also admires the use of suspense in the work of other directors. In a conversation between Tarantino and Edgar Wright for the Empire Movie Podcast, Tarantino shared the scene that he thinks is “beyond suspenseful”, citing the talk show scene in Todd Phillips’ 2019 blockbuster Joker.

In the iconic scene, Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker appears on a talk show hosted by Murray Franklin, played by Robert De Niro. The Joker admits to his crimes and becomes increasingly frustrated about society. At the climax of the scene, the Joker asks Murray, “What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash? I’ll tell you what you get, you get what you fucking deserve!” before pulling out a gun and shooting the talk show host in the head.

Tarantino recalls liking Joker “well enough” up until the talk show scene: “The movie actually moves pretty quick,” he commented. “Especially for a forced perspective, oppressive movie like that, the movie actually tells its story pretty efficiently. Then it gets to the talk show scene and you feel the entire atmosphere in the theatre change.” He describes the scene as “beyond suspense”, suggesting audiences are “riveted. Everybody is completely plugged in”.

Tarantino goes on to discuss the subversion and suspense in the scene, suggesting it stems from the audience’s conflicting identification with the villain: “The director subverts the audience because the joker’s a fucking nut… Robert De Niro’s talk show character is not a movie villain… He doesn’t deserve to die… Yet, while the audience in the movie theatre is watching the Joker, they want him to kill Robert De Niro. They want him to take that gun and stick it in his eye and blow the back of his fucking head off. And if the Joker didn’t kill him, you would be pissed off”.

He deems the technique “subversion on a massive level” and goes on to detail: “They got the audience to think like a fucking lunatic and to want something that they would never. And they will lie about it, they will say ‘No I didn’t’ and they’re fucking liars. They did.”

The unique tension of Joker’s talk show scene lies in its ability to align the audience with the villain. The suspense comes from Phillips’ directorial ability to make his audience want to see the Joker win. This element makes the shock factor of the scene’s climax all the more forceful and allows the scene to go beyond suspense, pushing the audience’s anticipatory discomfort to its limit.

Watch the scene below.