Original subtitles

[♪ upbeat music]

[Narrator] The cinema, a canvas painted on

by thousands of directors, and while only a few

can claim to be true auteurs, there's only one.

- Quentin. - Quentin.

- Quentin. - Quentin Tarantino.

Quentin Taran-- I mean...

Yeah, Quentin Tarantino.

Don't tell me your fucking name, man.

My name is the law!

[gun firing]

[Narrator] An unlikely outsider...

Far out.

I'd quit school

and my mom said, you have to get a job.

He worked at a video store.

[Narrator] ...that overcame the odds.

And we're all like, "Sure, you're gonna make

your own movie someday. Sounds great."

I got bloody, man.

Who is Quentin Tarantino?

Who is this kid?

There's really no one like him.

- [monster roars] - [Narrator] The triple threat.

- He's such a good writer. - A great director.

Not the best actor in the world. [chuckles]

They look like a couple of dorks.

[Narrator] The writer/director

that rewrote the rules.

Like, no, no, no, no, no, you can't do that.

He's not from film school.

His vision was insane.

Moving one direction and then another and another.

[Narrator] For the first time,

hear the story of Quentin Tarantino.

The very best day.

[Narrator] Blow...

Lawrence Tierney took a big swing at me.

[Narrator] ...for blow.

Quentin dropped him on the floor.

[Narrator] From early triumphs...

You wanna fuck with me?

Yes, make that movie!

[Phil] He was their Mickey Mouse.

And then he got an Oscar.

Thanks.

[Narrator] To courting controversy...

Wes Craven, who actually left the theater.

She's taking her index fingers and just barbecuing my junk.

Bring out the gimp.

It was a different era.

[Narrator] After controversy...

Amateurs imitate, professionals steal.

They hang horse thieves.

[Narrator] After controversy...

A movie directed by a white guy

that has the N word in it like 572 times or whatever it is.

[Narrator] To controversial associations.

Quentin pulls out the best

in Harvey Weinstein, professionally speaking.

[Michael] Whatever they did together, woed.

This happened to a lot of women and it happened to me.

[Narrator] As his collaborators pull back the curtain.

And he cared about his actors.

He wasn't throwing them to the wolves.

I was like, are we doing anything right?

Telling the truth.

Sorry, Quentin.

Oh my God, don't show this with Quentin. [chuckles]

[Narrator] From meltdowns...

Quentin just lost it.

[Zoe] I think it broke his heart.

Quentin's a very moody person.

And the viewfinder was full of his tears.

[Narrator] To on-set disasters...

[interviewee] Right into a palm tree, head on.

It should have been a stunt double driving the car.

Everything's on fire.

And I may explode.

[gun booms]

Fuck, I might actually die.

- Action. - [Narrator] To reveal

how a video store clerk

"What's in that's good?"

[Narrator] Became...

The legendary Quentin Tarantino.

[♪ dramatic music]

[Narrator] Quentin Tarantino's filmography

is packed with sharp-tongued characters

trading barbs in a diner.

Did you just order a five dollar shake?

- You want a bite of my pie? - Key lime pie.

[Narrator] Irreverent banter that would turn on a dime.

No, man, I don't eat pork.

I do believe Marsellus, my husband, your boss,

told you to take me out and do whatever I wanted.

[Narrator] Tarantino's diner discography traces back

to the first scene of his first film.

What was I talking about?

[Narrator] But to get there, we need to step back.

March of 1963.

Tarantino had a single mother.

She gave birth to him when she was very young.

[Narrator] Connie McHugh was in fact,

only 16 when she gave birth

to Quentin Jerome Tarantino.

Connie is a terrific woman, very friendly, very smart,

and she can be strong.

[Narrator] But being strong wasn't an option.

Quentin's dad Tony really disappeared from his life.

[Narrator] In the 1960s, Tony Tarantino

was an actor playing bit parts

in films like Where the Boys Are.

According to this, it's across the street.

[Narrator] One place the boys weren't was at home.

Quentin Tarantino, he didn't have his dad in his life.

He was not interested in his dad.

[Narrator] Wanting a fresh start,

Connie packed up her life in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The family moved out to LA.

[Narrator] Here, Connie would get married,

giving Quentin a stepdad

who would forego playing catch in favor of--

Taking him to the cinema and usually

to see movies that he was far too young to see.

Such as "Deliverance."

It's a movie featuring a scene

that made him scared of going camping for many years.

But that planted the seeds for his love of cinema.

You wanna get high?

[Narrator] Love, obsession.

Either way, Quentin was hooked.

He was a latchkey child.

He watched TV all day,

and I don't know how much school he went to.

[Narrator] By all accounts, not much.

He wasn't really doing well at school at all.

He was writing scripts and wanting to make movies

and dreamed of being an actor.

[Narrator] Rather than bring up his grades,

Quentin decided to remove them from the equation.

I'd quit school and my mom said, "You have to get a job."

And so I got a job at 16.

[Narrator] In a way,

it was Tarantino's first industry job.

I finally get a job as an usher in a movie theater.

[Narrator] Not bad for a 16-year-old.

The irony is, I don't like porno films.

[Narrator] Bad, very bad for a 16-year-old.

Luckily, Quentin's next job only featured a little porno.

Video archives was a small

mom and pop feeling, little store.

This guy that was there, kind of a boisterous,

energetic young man was like, "Yeah, which one did you like?

This one? Oh, the writer of this one

is the director of this one.

So you really like this and the actor

and that one and the..." And I was, whoa.

He had an encyclopedic knowledge of movies.

There's not a single genre of movie

that that guy doesn't know about.

[gun firing]

He says, you gotta watch this and this and this.

I need you and the paper needs--

Sold to the American.

I said, "Look, I'm coming here to get two more movies."

[Narrator] Overwhelmed by the clerk's enthusiasm,

Ian made for the door before Tarantino

could lay out his master plan.

Tarantino thought he was gonna be an actor.

Going through acting school, learning to act.

At the James Best Theater Center.

[Narrator] Located in the heart of Toluca Lake.

Where's Toluca Lake?

It's just over the hill here, over by Burbank Studios.

[Narrator] Quentin grew up nearly an hour

from Toluca Lake, but it was on that bus ride

Tarantino would pass by no shortage of iconic studio gates.

It was there, Quentin would find a kindred spirit.

Craig Hammond.

It was 1981.

First day I met Quentin and we hit it off immediately.

In my opinion, he was the best actor in that acting school.

I told him about an idea I had,

and we had been talking for a while

about holding our noses and taking the plunge

and just shoot something.

This is gonna be a happy birthday after all.

I don't know that I had a title for it at that point,

but it was "My Best Friend's Birthday."

He loved the idea.

I actually wrote the first draft.

Getting a whore for, for Mickey.

'cause he's the best thing.

[Narrator] The plot was simple enough.

A man tries to give his best friend

the best possible birthday.

Hi Mickey, I'm Misty Night, your birthday surprise.

It was a kind of a Martin Lewis

buddy comedy kind of tribute.

[Craig] We co-produced, co-wrote, co-starred.

Wear any old thing, as long as it's nice.

And Quentin was the director.

That's a shitty movie.

Never made a shitty movie.

And it expanded and just decided,

let's make this a feature.

[Narrator] Shooting a feature

on a 16-millimeter Bolex camera had its issues.

We only shot a hundred feet of film.

That means three minutes you have to reload.

[Narrator] Was expensive and very time consuming

compared to modern digital workflows.

When you're doing films like that and you have no money,

you have to shoot when you have money.

[Narrator] Quentin and Craig would work on the film

over the course of three years.

You call it low budget,

it was kind of a no budget film, really.

[Narrator] But rather than take a second day job,

Quentin was about to earn his first payday as an artist.

I wanna be him so bad.

I mean, Elvis looked good.

He wanted to be an actor, so he tries out

and you know, it's no secret that he's an Elvis man.

♪ Thank you for being ♪

[Narrator] As it turned out,

one show was looking for a few Elvis men.

His first thing was a Golden Girls,

playing an Elvis impersonator.

There he is.

He's got the pompadour hair,

and he's got the white outfit on and...

Yeah, well, it was like me

and like 11 other Elvis impersonators.

I was kind of like a glorified extra.

[Narrator] Even in a group of Elvis impersonators.

Quentin found a way to be an outsider.

Tarantino liked young Elvis.

He was not a fan of fat Elvis, so to speak, or Vegas Elvis.

If you watch that, he's the only 1950s Elvis.

[Narrator] Even though Tarantino's role

wouldn't be ongoing, his paycheck would.

They liked it so much,

they put it on a Best of the Golden Girls episode.

So I was getting residuals from both.

I mean, that was like one of my only acting jobs I ever got,

and I like made like thousands of dollars off of it

just from the residuals.

And the Golden Girls helping

to keep him alive for a while.

[Narrator] It was a gift

from actor Quentin to writer Quentin.

He started writing "True Romance"

not that long after "My Best Friend's Birthday."

[Narrator] Each of Tarantino's scripts

appeared to have been written for the same actor.

He actually said, "Clarence is me."

"That guy up there. It's Sony, Sony Chiba."

From his love of Elvis to the fact that he sort

of had a geeky workplace with a boss called Lance.

I mean literally Tarantino's boss at the video store was--

Hey, what's his name?

Lance.

[Narrator] The most obvious self nod.

The lead character was writing a script.

[Narrator] The name of that fictitious script.

[Craig] Natural Born Killers.

[Narrator] The thing about writing a script in the script.

It got too long.

He was gonna end up with like a 300 page screenplay.

[Narrator] That's when Quentin

decided to break out the scalpel.

He plucked "Natural Born Killers" out of "True Romance."

One thing drifted into another.

[Narrator] But not everyone was ready

for Tarantino's gratuitous anti-heroes.

In the 80's, that was a very repressive time.

Quentin was writing about things--

Sicilians were spawned by niggers.

People dropping F-bombs and--

[gun firing]

[people screaming]

Blood splattering and things like that.

[gun firing]

[Narrator] Craig had connected his partner

with his manager, Cathryn Jaymes,

who began to spread the gospel of Quentin Tarantino.

Someone that she sent one of Quentin's scripts

called Cathryn up.

Hey, hi, Cathryn I was just--

And said, "This is horrible.

This is, you know, shit."

[Narrator] Impressed by Taranti's script,

manager Cathryn Jaymes sent it out to test the waters

and feelings were caught.

Dear fucking Cathryn,

how dare you send me this piece of shit?

You must be out of your fucking mind.

You wanna know how I feel about it?

Here's your fucking piece of shit back.

Fuck you.

They were telling Cathryn,

we're not gonna take scripts from you

if you're gonna send us junk like this.

[Narrator] Her reputation and livelihood were on the line.

Yet Cathryn's faith was unflappable.

Cathryn would call them up and just tell them,

"You're wrong. You watch and see."

[Narrator] Tarantino was also developing a heist story,

sans the heist.

What if you just, say, set up the heist...

fall out from the heist and miss everything else.

And he would change the linear story

so that we would go back in time

and learn people's backstories,

find out things that other characters didn't know.

Completely different way of telling a movie.

It was called ""Reservoir Dogs"."

Tarantino made a very important

friendship with Lawrence Bender.

They were introduced by a mutual friend at a barbecue.

Lawrence Bender, when he was introduced to Quentin,

he thought, "You know, I've heard that last name before.

Just recently read a script called 'True Romance.'"

And Tarantino had to kinda be like, 'No, that's me.

I'm that guy."

[Narrator] As it turns out,

Tarantino was aware of Bender's admittedly obscure work.

A slasher movie called "Intruder."

He was a fan of that.

[Narrator] Soon, Bender would become a fan of Tarantino

as the two began to discuss "Reservoir Dogs".

- He loved it. - Lawrence Bender

would go on to produce a majority of Tarantino's films.

[Narrator] Their relationship was off to a running start

as Bender pushed Quentin to put pen to paper and write it.

Tarantino wrote "Reservoir Dogs" in three, not years, but--

He turned it around in about three weeks.

What is this?

Bender read it. It was full of spelling mistakes

and formatting errors, but he realized it was brilliant.

[Narrator] Yet Tarantino couldn't make it past page one

without breaking the biggest

unwritten rule in screenwriting.

It said, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino,

which was quite a ballsy move.

[Narrator] Despite having never sold a screenplay,

Tarantino was steadfast.

It was something he was very keen on making himself.

He said, if we don't show the heist, that'll save money.

I'm gonna make it insulated.

We'll put in one location.

Lawrence Bender said to Tarantino,

I think I can get you more money.

It doesn't have to be shot

on 16 millimeter with your friends.

[Narrator] Quentin Tarantino was on his way

to becoming an accomplished screenwriter,

but one accomplishment had eluded him

getting paid.

People did realize he was a wordsmith

because they started hiring him

to do some polishes on some low budget movies.

Was it called "Past Midnight?"

[Narrator] It was indeed.

The Rutger Hauer crime thriller had noir elements

right up Quentin's Alley.

I don't need to go through all this again,

so you can feel like the angel of fucking mercy.

[Narrator] But Tarantino remained merely a contributor.

When he is working for someone else,

there's bits and pieces and it's not his work entirely.

[Narrator] The funny thing about opportunities,

you never quite know where they're going to come from,

and Quentin was about to roll into a big one.

I'm Robert Kurtzman.

My name's Howard Berger.

[Narrator] And in 1990 they owned the fledgling.

[Howard] K.N.B. EFX Group.

[Narrator] But Robert's aspirations

went beyond effects work.

I wrote a story "From Dusk till Dawn."

It was like a 20 page outline.

Bob's not a writer, really.

I thought Bob's outline was not that wonderful.

And so we decided to just find someone

to do a draft of the film for us.

So he is like, I need to hire a writer.

I wonder who we can get.

[Narrator] Robert and Howard launched

an exhaustive search for the perfect writing candidate.

We thought we'd just find some kid

that's done some writing that wouldn't mind

knocking out a first draft.

[Narrator] Or that.

A friend of ours said,

"This kid, he's a really good writer.

He works at a video store."

[Narrator] Meanwhile, Robert checked out

some of Quentin's spec scripts.

It was natural Born Killers,

"True Romance" and "Reservoir Dogs".

[Narrator] The verdict.

God damn, that was intense.

Yeah, let's, let's do this movie with him.

The deal was, Quentin said,

"If I do this, you guys pay me 1500 bucks."

[Narrator] Quentin went on to add a very savvy addendum.

"If I get my first movie going,

you guys do the effects for free."

And we're like, "Okay, sure.

You're gonna make your own movie someday. Sounds great."

[Narrator] Quentin had no shortage of scripts in the fire.

Cathryn Jaymes, she knew it.

Something was going to hit and eventually something did.

[Narrator] Tarantino's Script was acquired

by Jane Hamsher and Don Murphy for $10,000.

Tarantino had a buddy who works in the industry as a PA,

and that PA happens to be working

on the set of "The Last Boy Scout" for Tony Scott.

And as good friends do, he gets Tarantino onto the set

who somehow finds the fortuitous event

of being able to speak with Tony Scott

and hand him two scripts, "Reservoir Dogs" and "True Romance."

[Narrator] In doing so,

Quentin broke countless unwritten

Hollywood laws. Fortunately...

Tony Scott was like, "You know what, I feel for this guy.

He's a struggling writer.

I'm gonna give these scripts a read."

[Narrator] Tony Scott did not like Tarantino's scripts.

He tells Tarantino he would like to make both of them.

[Narrator] He loved them.

But I think I love you.

Tony really wants to do "Reservoir Dogs."

Tarantino says, "Sorry, but I'm gonna do 'Reservoir Dogs.'"

[Narrator] Tony Scott, the director of "Top Gun,"

just offered to make Quentin Tarantino,

recent video store clerk's script, and he said no.

I can't hear you.

Tarantino felt that he could make

that movie without financing.

He could do it on his own.

Uh-uh, I don't tip.

He could do it with his buddies.

But the big bravado of what "True Romance" would be,

he knew that he didn't have that financing.

[Narrator] But would Tony Scott accept scraps

from a guy that just crashed his set?

Tony said, "You know what, I'm not missing an opportunity.

I'm going to do 'True Romance.'"

[Narrator] The sale would give Tarantino $30,000.

But more importantly, buzz.

Lawrence Bender would land the "Reservoir Dogs" script

in the hands of an indie film icon.

Harvey Keitel.

Keitel made his name in the 70's.

Mostly in independent films,

like the films of Martin Scorsese.

[Narrator] Keitel felt a unique

connection to Quentin's screenplay.

How do you like that?

I think we are in the presence of a unique talent.

Quentin Tarantino.

He said, "Well, look, I'll, I'll help you produce this."

Harvey Keitel got involved

with "Reservoir Dogs" and that took off.

I'm hungry, let's get a taco.

[Narrator] Because aside from producing,

Keitel agreed to play.

[Blonde] Mr. White.

[Narrator] The conversation shifted from--

"Who are these people shooting it?"

"Who is Quentin Tarantino?"

[Mary] Okay, Harvey - Keitel's in it...

Okay, okay.

That got the interest of Live Entertainment.

[Narrator] Were responsible for the home video

distribution of Arnold Schwartzenegger hits

like "Total Recall" and "Terminator 2."

And while home video was Live's bread and butter.

They did see this as a theatrical release.

Real juicy.

What Tarantino was planning to make for, you know,

a few tens of thousands of dollars

suddenly had a budget of 1.3 million.

[cash register dings]

Nevermind what you would normally do.

[Narrator] With financing in place,

casting for "Reservoir Dogs" began in New York City.

A key casting was Steve Buscemi.

And at this time, Buscemi wasn't that well known.

He was just an independent actor.

[Narrator] Well, primarily indie.

Keaton did that. It's not me.

I don't make hits, I make deals.

[Narrator] Aside from "Miami Vice..."

A man's gotta make a living, you know what I mean?

[Narrator] ...Buscemi was building a reputation

as a character actor.

Started working with the Cohen Brothers.

Like that was a really big thing for him.

Fink, Barton.

That must be you, huh?

[Narrator] As to whom Buscemi would play.

Mr. Pink.

Why am I Mr. Pink?

Originally Tarantino wanted to play Mr. Pink.

It was great for me to know that

because I had Quentin as my role model.

Mr. Brown, that's a little too close to Mr. Shit.

But gave the role to Steve Buscemi.

How about if I'm Mr. Purple?

You're Mr. Pink.

[Narrator] Quentin wasn't the only one

eyeing the role of Mr. Pink.

Why can't we pick our own colors?

I had done "Thelma and Louise."

Were you just gonna leave for fucking ever?

And I had done "The Natural."

Sit down and shut up, your mouthy prima donna.

What do you want from me, an apology?

I wanted to play roles where I was kind of a good guy.

We're gonna give you one more chance to shape up.

I said, "Quentin, I would rather play Mr. Pink."

But he said, "No, no, Michael. I have somebody for Mr. Pink."

Okay, let's talk.

I have something for you to try.

So he actually let me audition for Mr. Pink.

I went in there and there's Quentin, no shoes.

He had bare feet.

I'm sorry, I didn't catch it.

Would you repeat it?

Quentin, he had bare feet.

[Narrator] Keitel was probably mortified.

Harvey was in there too.

He had bare feet.

[Narrator] Well, at least Tarantino and Keitel

were on the same page.

Jesus Christ.

And he got up and he played the scene with me.

About halfway through it, Quentin goes,

you are not Mr. Pink.

I said, "Wow, I guess I'm not in the picture."

[Narr] Michael Madsen had high hopes

of landing the role of Mr. Pink.

But the only pink Quentin and Harvey saw was on the floor.

Quentin goes, you are not Mr. Pink.

You're Mr. Blonde.

He's a fucking asshole.

I said I didn't wanna play Mr. Blonde.

[Narrator] It was the one role Michael Madsen

was trying to avoid.

And he said, "Listen, Mike, you're Mr. Blonde,

and if you're not, then you're not gonna be in the film."

"No! Okay, okay, okay, okay, I'll do it."

I don't feel great about it.

[Narrator] For the role of Mr. Orange.

Orange?

Mr. Orange.

Tim Roth was not his number one choice.

[Narrator] Quentin originally had his eye

on a Hollywood favorite.

He didn't even commit the crime.

[Narrator] James Woods's agent dismissed "Reservoir Dogs" as a B movie.

Never passing on the offer.

I'm sorry, goodbye.

I'm kicking myself.

[Narrator] Tarantino needed to pivot.

This is a very weird situation.

Similar to Buscemi, Tim was really at this point

looking to break through in the States

as many British actors are.

[Narrator] Tim Roth had already proved his chops

in the UK playing a skinhead

in the cult classic "Made in Britain."

I gotta memorize all this?

[Narrator] For Roth, it was all about the script.

When I read it, I thought, this is extraordinary.

This is how we construct a character.

And he's put that in a film.

You gotta remember this story's about you.

[Narrator] The last piece of the puzzle.

This guy in the 80's tracksuit.

Look part of your job, Vic, is going different places.

That's the beauty of it.

Chris was a big, tough guy, man.

He's, no longer with us, but he was a mountain of a man.

He was a strong son of a gun.

All right, enough of this shit, break it up.

[Narrator] Next up, Tarantino trained

his focus on a Hollywood legend.

Lawrence Tierney, for God's sake.

Lawrence Tierney was a big star.

Lawrence Tierney was a hell of a good actor.

Well, he's the first actor who ever played John Dillinger.

I said wait in the car.

[hand smacks]

[Narrator] Although Tierney's more recent work

did reveal somewhat of a fall from grace.

Are you certain she's a virgin?

Would I lie to you?

[Narrator] But Quentin saw past

the wizards of the demon sword.

I don't care what you think.

[Narrator] And wanted to bring back the hard boiled

Lawrence Tierney of yesteryear.

I mean, he was big, big, big time.

Okay, boy, I'll be seeing you.

[Narrator] With Lawrence Tierney locked in,

it was time to celebrate.

Going on a little break?

Yeah.

They told us, they told us to never

give Lawrence any alcohol.

As soon as they told us not to do that, me and Tim did it.

[Narrator] The old Hollywood star was fittingly taken

to an old Hollywood haunt.

To Musso and Frank's.

He got a vodka and grapefruit

and he guzzled that thing down like, wow.

Dive in and swim.

[Narrator] For being a big guy,

Tierney turned out to be a lightweight.

He said, "You kids are a bunch of babies

and I gotta go to the bathroom."

And I said, "It's over there."

And he goes, "I know where it is."

Okay.

So, he...

...he disappeared.

[Narrator] Tim Roth volunteered to do recon.

He came back and he goes, "He's not in there, man."

I said, "Holy shit."

We hear all these cars out in front honking

and people were getting up and some people

were walking over, looking out the windows.

And so me and Tim, we got up, "What the hell's going on?"

And there's Lawrence and he was standing

in the middle of the street

with his pants down around his ankles

and he was pissing right in the middle of the street.

[Narrator] He said he knew where the restroom was.

I guess you could say that again.

Cars were going around him,

cars were honking at him, stopping.

And it was insane.

What the hell was I supposed to do?

[Narrator] The duo did the only thing they could.

I don't wanna do this.

So we got him out of there.

[Narrator] Which was easier said than done.

I said something to him, I don't remember what I said,

but he took a big swing at me and I backed off.

He missed me by about that much.

Well, I felt the breeze go by my face.

He was gonna punch me right in the face.

He was gonna knock me out.

But he was pretty funny.

He's a mad man.

He's Larry. He's the mountain man.

Thank you.

[Narrator] But Tarantino's risky approach

well beyond the cast.d

My name Andrzej Sekula.

[Narrator] In 1991, Andrzej was best known for--

I didn't have any credit.

[Nrator] But through an acquaintance of an acquaintance,

Andrzej managed to arrange an interview

or possibly a hostage exchange.

I jokingly said, if you come three o'clock in the morning

and pick me up and take me to the airport,

I will have free lift and we will have interview.

And guess what?

Three o'clock he appeared with his small car

and whole way, we were talking about films.

These are my boys.

[Narrator] Deep cuts like the Eastwood/Savalas film,

"Kelly's Heroes."

The moment in this particular movies,

which touch me also touch him.

We need at least a hundred guys, where do I find a hundred men?

Just like that?

So it was a possible good collaboration.

I said, "Why you choose me?"

Quentin said, "Because you opposite

what other people were saying."

[Narrator] Quentin had found a kindred spirit.

His next task was calling in their special effects favor.

One day we get a phone call and it's Quentin

and he is like, "Hey, I'm making a movie

and I'm calling in the second half of the deal."

"Hey, we made the promise."

You're gonna be okay!

[Narrator] One thing Quentin needed--

Tons and tons of blood 'cause we make our own blood.

[Narrator] And when it comes to film blood,

Tarantino is a connoisseur.

He loved the 70's blood.

Almost that poster paint blood, but more realistic.

[Narrator] And with Tim Roth's leaky condition,

it meant there was plenty of work for K.N.B.

Not to mention [records scratches] wardrobe.

We needed multiple jackets like for Tim Roth

and you, we just couldn't afford it.

They didn't have no money.

I remember the producer Lawrence going,

"We cannot use that many paper towels."

And I'm like, "Okay."

[Narrator] So with a restricted budget,

a rookie cinematographer,

and day one of filming just around the corner,

could Quentin keep the ensemble of actors in line?

Who didn't throw in?

Mr. Pink.

Quentin comes walking over,

he goes, "You're fucking fired."

And everyone was like, wow, man.

[♪ dramatic music]

[Narrator] It was day one of filming "Reservoir Dogs".

And the pressure was on.

They kicked the door open for low budget movies.

[Narrator] Could the former video store clerk

and his cinematographer straight

out of film school team up to create magic?

Our first few days of shooting

present with a lot of challenge.

[Narrator] Quentin decided

to jump in head-first with the diner scene.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, time out.

[Andrzej] This was one of the most difficult scenes.

Quentin's like, "Let me open 'Reservoir Dogs' in the round."

We're going to shoot this camera constantly moving.

No argument about that.

[Narrator] Quentin was taking a relatively simple scene

and making it anything but.

What's that?

Problem was about eye lines.

You are moving one direction and then another and another.

If one character is looking left to right.

Want me shoot this guy?

When you cut to the person they're talking to,

you want them looking right to left.

We had additional script supervisor

to make the notes that we don't commit a mistake.

You shoot me in a dream, you better wake up and apologize.

[Narrator] If Tarantino was looking for blind loyalty,

he wasn't getting it.

There were times where producer's going, whatever.

They don't think it's gonna work.

He's not from film school.

[Narrator] Well, he might not be.

When I was on film school,

I spent a lot of time in editing room.

So I know every kind of nuance,

how to cut, would it cut together.

And so you would see arguments sometimes.

[Narrator] Even Andrzej's assistant was on edge.

He said, "Andrzej, are we going to get fired?

[Narrator] But the fireworks were just getting started.

As Andrzej's camera turned to Lawrence Tierney.

I'm gonna do whatever the fuck I want with it.

Harvey showing him a book with people's names in it.

Toby Wong.

So Lawrence had to look at Steve

and he had to look at Harvey who had this book.

And Quentin kept saying, "No, you gotta take,

take a minute and, and look at these guys."

He'd feel a ton of insecurity, so it was kind of tension.

[Narrator] And it wasn't silent tension.

Give it back now.

Lawrence Tierney had this personality

that could get triggered.

[Narrator] And that trigger?

Shoot this piece of shit, will you?

[Narrator] Had just been pulled.

He got really mad, he said,

"I look like a God damn fucking idiot.

I'm looking over here and I'm looking over there

and looking over here, looking over there."

And he goes, "Ah, it doesn't feel good."

Quentin comes walking over, he goes, "You're fucking fired."

And he goes "Fuck this."

And he got up and everyone was like, wow, man.

And Lawrence left and he went outside

and he was walking down the middle of the street.

And Quentin ran after him

with Lawrence Bender, the producer.

Lawrence asked to come back and Quentin brought him back.

And two hours later we were back

on the set, and shooting on the scene.

[Narrator] Quentin had passed

his first test as a director.

Meanwhile, Mary Claire's trial was only just beginning.

I think we were getting these jackets

for like $2.50 each.

[Narrator] The only problem

with buying a bunch of cheap jackets.

[Mary] Those jackets were actually all different jackets.

[Narrator] Mary's idea?

Buy a bag of buttons.

The buttons are the same.

And that's what the camera's gonna catch,

is the light from the button.

[Narrator] The result--

You convinced me. Gimme my dollar back.

They look the same on camera.

[Narrator] If there was a corner, Mary would cut it.

[car honks]

You can tell that Steve Buscemi has black pants,

but they're jeans.

He has black Levi's on.

[Narrator] To save a buck,

Tarantino even asked the cast to bring their own shoes.

I didn't have any black dress shoes.

I thought, what the fuck am I gonna do?

But I had black cowboy boots.

So that's why I have those damn cowboy boots on.

[Narrator] With the men sorted,

Tarantino turned to filming

with the ladies of "Reservoir Dogs."

[gun firing]

That was quick.

Well, there was one other woman, she even had lines.

My name is Nina Siemaszko

and I played Officer McClusky.

[Narrator] Mr. Orange's handler.

He's a pro.

I am providing information to Tim Roth's character.

One of the bank robbers?

[Narrator] While the men's fashion was inspired

by classic G-Man films, Quentin had a different muse

when it came to McClusky.

Like a Virgin.

He wanted me to look like early Madonna.

[Narrator] The scene would prove

challenging for several reasons.

No rehearsals.

There was a lot of dialogue that I had to memorize.

Girlfriend's got it, his dog got hit.

[Narrator] And if that wasn't enough.

[Holdaway] What was it?

I'm eating a burger.

[Nina laughs]

[Narrator] While Nina had to eat

a lot of burgers that day,

she wasn't the only one to go the extra mile.

Kirk Baltz, who played Officer Marvin Nash,

had a special request of his scene partner.

He goes, "You know, I've never been

locked in a trunk before. You know?"

He goes, "I wanna see what it feels like."

You can torture me all you want.

Well okay.

Real method acting there. [chuckles]

[Narrator] In that moment, it dawned on Madsen.

I've never had anybody in my trunk before.

And this ought to be interesting for me too.

[Narrator] And with that, the experiment began.

Started up the car and I drove down the alley

across the street, but I didn't realize

the alley was all filled with potholes.

And so it was a lot of bump, bump, bump, bump.

[Narrator] Leading Kirk Baltz to say.

Let me out of here.

Help!

Get me out of here.

And I just, I just kept going.

[Narrator] As a kidnapper would.

And when I turned left, it was Taco Bell.

I rolled in there and I turned on the radio

so you couldn't hear him 'cause he was yelling back there.

No, please don't.

And I got some French fries

and I had a Coke.

And then I drove back.

[Narrator] One might think Tarantino

was proud of the initiative and one would be wrong.

Is he really in there?

Oh my God, is he in the trunk?

You have Kirk the trunk?

And they're like, let him out, let him out!

I said, "I will, I will."

He was messed up.

He was all sweaty.

He didn't appreciate it.

[Narrator] But Kirk wouldn't be

the only one to end up in the trunk.

I was sitting in the trunk with the camera.

They closed me.

Sitting there, Michael Madsen spit on me.

Ain't a bad idea, let's get him the fuck outta here.

I said, "Michael, why you did spitting on me?"

"Because I feel that.

You was policeman."

[both chuckling]

I was okay, I was laughing.

[Narrator] But the laughs would be short-lived

as a controversial decision lay ahead.

They were gonna shoot the actual ear getting cut off.

And...

[♪ dramatic music]

[Narrator] As production on "Reseoir Dogs" pushed on,

Quentin Tarantino continued

to struggle with Lawrence Tierney.

He had kind of a hard time with his dialogue.

Wait a minute.

He could not remember line.

You know, he was older guy.

Here are your names.

You're Mr. Brown, you're Mr. Blonde, you're Mr. Purple.

You're Mr.--

He kept pointing at the wrong people.

He called me Mr. Brown. Chris, Mr. Blonde.

He couldn't do it.

You're not Mr. Purple.

[Narrator] Tierney wasn't just struggling.

He was struggling in front of a captive audience.

Now I'd get fidgety and I,

you know, scratch my face, whatever.

And he goes, "You stop moving around.

Moving around, you're throwing me off."

[Michael chuckles]

I just sit there, man.

All you guys got the goddamn message?

[Narrator] Take after take,

Lawrence was burning through film.

Expensive film.

Goddamn man, because of you guys I can hardly talk.

About the 3rd or 4th time, we got

a little bit, you know, "Come on, Lawrence."

[Narrator] Tarantino leaned into the old saying,

opting to fix it in post.

They had to take everybody out.

No way. I pick.

He did okay on his own.

It didn't fucking matter where he was pointing.

Mr. Pink.

Because we weren't even there.

Yes, Lawrence Tierney was difficult.

Chris Penn was difficult.

They were all difficult.

Are you kidding?

Michael Madsen was difficult.

[Michael chuckles] Oops.

[Narrator] Michael Madsen was about to shoot

what would go on to become the most

memorable scene of his career.

It was also the scene he never wanted to shoot.

I didn't like the idea of torturing some cop,

you know, cutting his ears off.

I don't like alarms, Mr. White.

The ear gag was the biggie.

[Narrator] But cutting off the ear was the price

Michael Madsen had to pay to be in the film.

And he said, "Listen Mike, you're Mr. Blonde.

And if you're not, then you're not gonna be in the film."

I pretty much had to do it.

[Narrator] And while Madsen was hesitant,

the film's director was anything but.

As an artist, alright, if violence

is part of your palette, then you gotta paint.

I don't have the slightest fucking idea

what you're talking about?

[Narrator] He's talking about blood, Mr. Orange.

But what made the interrogation so memorable

wasn't just the violence, but the foreplay.

It said in the script, Mr. Blonde maniacally dances.

What the hell does that mean, you know?

I was scared of it and I didn't know what to do.

I started thinking about James Cagney

in "Yankee Doodle Dandy."

♪ I'm a Yankee doodle dandy. ♪

You know, he had that funny thing to do with his legs.

You know, he didn't look like

anybody else that I ever saw dancing.

And so I started going back and forth.

[Narrator] Only Cagney never danced to British glam rock.

Quentin had "Ballroom Blitz"

that he was gonna play during that scene.

And so that's what I had in my head.

And he said, "You know, Michael,

what I really want is 'Stuck in the Middle.'"

[Narrator] There was only one problem.

He goes, Rafferty won't gimme the rights to it,

so we're probably not gonna be able to use it.

He goes, but if I get it,

would you do one take where you sing that to it?

I said, okay.

I didn't know what the hell I was doing.

But once I started turning around and around and around,

then it sort of seemed natural.

I kept waiting to hear and yell, "Cut, cut, cut.

Michael, what are you doing?"

You know, but he didn't.

Quentin loved it.

[Narrator] Not only did Quentin

get a dance he didn't expect.

Somehow, he got the rights to the damn thing.

So they put it in the movie.

[Narrator] Movie villains have a long,

rich history of slow and painful interrogations.

Do you expect me to talk?

[Narrator] With the hero portrayed

here as James Bond always making an escape

just in the nick of time.

But in Tarantino's reality, there was no escape.

They were gonna shoot the actual ear getting cut off.

[Crew] 22, Denver, take one.

This is the kind of realistic violence prevalent

in Scorsese's films in the seventies.

Hey!

[gun firing]

[Quentin] Action.

[Narrator] The inspiration for the scene

came from 1966's Django,

where not only is an ear cut off,

its original owner was forced to--

Well, imagine this ear of corn.

Now drop the word corn.

Quentin wants this and you figure out how to do it.

[muffled screams]

So the way we built that, it was a double layer appliance.

He's got a hairpiece and you glue his ear down

and you have the earpiece that goes over it

that he cuts off.

I had a blade and I cut it off.

[Narrator] As for the blood.

And they had a tube up his shirt.

And when I cut it off, it was spraying blood.

You know, I had to get out the way.

As much as Michael Madsen didn't want to film the scene,

it was done and behind him.

Right?

The thing with Quentin is he will do a lot of alts.

When we redid it, come over there

and he didn't have the fake thing on anymore.

I couldn't lean far enough forward.

So I had to get in his lap and it looked like

I was really doing it.

And, and they turned away from it

and all you see is the wall.

That was a moment Quentin was happy,

so that when he pulled the camera up,

you'd see, "Watch your head."

It's much worse as a viewer,

you're imagining opposed to showing it.

[Narrator] Tarantino went one step further,

answering the question,

what do you do with another man's ear?

I remember standing there, holding it

and he said, "Toss it, toss it,

get rid of it, get rid of it."

And I didn't really wanna just toss it, and I didn't wanna--

I was trying to think of something.

[Narrator] And that's when it came to him.

And so I talked, I spoke in it.

Hey, what's going on?

You hear that?

I thought that, that's pretty bad.

And then I, then I threw it.

[Narrator] As for that special effects favor.

How did that turn out for K.N.B's Howard Berger?

"Reservoir" was like our big, first big film.

It was kind of fun to,

you know, come up the ranks as Quentin came up the ranks.

[Narrator] With principal photography completed

on this low budget indie.

[Announcer] The "Reservoir Dogs".

[Narrator] But without distribution,

"Reservoir Dogs" would be headed

straight to the shelves of video archives.

I was in editing room when they get message.

He was accepted on the Sundance Film Festival.

[Narrator] Throughout the production of "Reservoir Dogs",

the freshman director stuck to his guns.

[gun firing]

And saw his vision through.

With Quentin, nobody has any right to say,

"Mbe we should get this covered.

Maybe we should get that covered."

No, Quentin knows what he's doing.

[Narrator] But when it came to editing,

Quentin was looking for a partner.

An editor's a very intimate relationship.

You have to trust them,

'cause sometimes you can't trust yourself.

[Narrator] Which is why the young auteur

turned to the editor of the indie darling.

It dices, it slices and yet makes

french fries in three different, whoops.

Sally Menke was an incredible editor.

And you can see it in the work.

[Narrator] Beginning with the 1983 comedy, "Cold Feet."

I always wind up taking care of the men I see.

[Narrator] Sally split her time

between features and documentary,

most notably Ken Burns's 1988 film "The Congress."

Compromise, which gets us through the day.

[Narrator] Again, a logical transition to--

[Turtles screaming]

As for "Reservoir Dogs," at the time,

spending any amount of money

often elicited the same response.

[Characters] Don't do it.

- Drop the gun, man. - Don't drop the gun.

We just couldn't afford it.

We can't afford it.

They didn't have no money.

Should be about a buck apiece.

[Narrator] As it so happened, Sally--

She was cheap.

Do you know what these chicks make?

They make shit.

[Narrator] This is true.

But more than that, Quentin and Sally clicked.

A match made in heaven, Sally and Quentin.

She took him seriously and just kind of got him.

She could say to him, "This feels incongruous."

And he'd be like, "Yeah, you're right.

I've just got that in there

'cause it looks so cool."

She might be one of the few people

that he would've heard that from comfortably.

[Narrator] Quentin and Sally would be editing

up until the premiere.

It was there, "Reservoir Dogs" would become

the talk of the fest, or at least one scene was.

The ear cutting scene.

There were people who walked out

because they were so shocked and disgusted.

[Narrator] 33 to be precise,

even pushing purveyors of gore to the limit and beyond.

Caused Wes Craven to actually get up outta the theater

as it was too hard for him to handle.

I'm fucking dying here, I'm fucking dying!

Quentin looks at violence in a different way.

Part of what really put him on the map

is his incredible ability to take violence

and make it funny.

As entertainment.

[Narrator] Moments before the big screening,

Sally and Quentin decided to make a last-minute cut.

I'm walking in to watch the movie

and right before I walk in,

Quentin told me that the scenes

weren't going to be in the movie.

I just remember thinking, this is a male perspective.

Someone who looks like me in the middle of it all,

I, I think it would be a little jarring.

At the end of e day, you want a great movie.

[Narrator] "Reservoir Dogs" certainly

stirred the Sundance pot,

but it remained to be seen

if the controversy would help or hurt.

Another movie starring Steve Buscemi, actually

It's gonna be good.

"In the Soup" won in competition at Sundance,

but "Reservoir Dogs" was the film

that everyone was talking about.

This whole sort of Hollywood buzz around it.

[Narrator] Buzz but no award.

However, in the end, that didn't matter.

It took a few months before Miramax.

Harvey and Bob Weinstein decided

to pick up and distribute the movie.

[Narrator] But the offer wasn't without strings.

The Weinsteins are very well known

for getting the film re-edited and reworked

so that it would hit the market that they wanted it to hit.

Unsurprisingly, Harvey said to Tarantino,

"The ear cutting scene's gotta go."

But Tarantino dug his heels in.

He would not cut that scene.

[Narrator] Lawrence and Quentin felt very strongly

about having creative control moving forward.

So dug in their heels.

He said, "I don't care about it being mainstream.

Like I, I make movies for myself.

Everyone else is invited."

That was a very rare example

of someone standing up to the Weinsteins

and getting their way.

[Narrator] Which is exactly what happened.

As "Reservoir Dogs" hit theaters in October of 1992,

earning 2.9 million worldwide on a $1.2 million budget.

Here in America,

it would be considered not very successful.

However, it was a huge success in Britain

where they're used to having more dialogue in their films,

having their gangsters talk a lot.

Do you wanna go into the toilet?

I know you didn't kill him!

[Narrator] Not to mention the appeal

of Britain's favorite delinquent.

The most important thing about it

was it put Tarantino on the map.

So when the film's over,

no matter what you think about it, you've seen something.

You know, it's not just a bunch of images glazing over you,

you know, it's like, you know, it's doing something.

The funny thing is, just in typical Hollywood, that movie

comes out and everyone's like, you know,

we love this way he tells the story.

We love the-- we gotta-- What else do you have,

what else do you have?

[Narrator] Tarantino was in the game,

but could he play by Hollywood's rules?

There's that possibility of your sophomore failure.

You know, the sophomore curse.

[character screams]

He felt like he had a ton of money, the $9 million budget.

Quentin was fighting the studio.

It's just different than what I thought.

You're talking about John Travolta.

You know, that's breast milk.

Versus Daniel Day Lewis, Oscar winner.

I may explode.

[♪ dramatic music]