All language subtitles for Icons.Unearthed.S13E03.True.Romance.NBK.Dusk.Till.Dawn.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-Kitsune_track3_[eng]

In 1994,
a film was released

that was destined to
reset modern cinema.

Let me take a wild guess here.

"Pulp Fiction," it became
a sensation across the world.

Shit, negro, that's
all you had to say.

That movie made well over
$200 million worldwide.

It made Tarantino a rock star.

It was Star Wars for
independent cinema.

It had
everyone asking a truly

taran-tantalizing question.

What's he gonna do next?

Ms. Brown!

But to
understand where Tarantino

was headed
after "Pulp Fiction"...

What the fuck is
up with this shit?

...we first
need to understand

where he was coming from.

He grew up surrounded
by black culture.

- And go back...
- Oh, I ain't here

because they didn't try, lover.

...to a time
when the Tarantino verse

was still forming.

You can't make
movies like this.

I can't tell you that was one
of the best times I ever had.

Not in the
movies he directed.

This is not the proper way
that a script is written.

You can forget about
acting for the next 20 years.

Your fucking career is over!

But in
the films he wrote,

starting with a true
romance in the early '90s.

They sent me "True
Romance" and I was like,

"I don't even know
what's going on here."

Involving
certain natural-born killers.

We bought your script,
now get out of here.

That's not what I had in mind.

That
proved to be the wrong

kind of knockout in 1994.

Quentin took his
fist and popped him.

What do you have
to say to your fans?

You ain't seen nothing yet.

Before things really
started to change shape...

Kill them all!

...in 1996.

Is it a vampire movie?
Is it a gangster movie?

What you are doing
is not how it's done.

All this
long before the film,

- whose name...
- Jackie Brown.

...announced the return

of an almost forgotten star.

She was like, "You wrote
a movie for me to star in?"

Following
Pulp Fiction,

Tarantino was not just a
success story, but a disrupter.

Rarely in our years on the
movie beat has a new director

become as hot as fast
as Quentin Tarantino

In Hollywood,

the greatest form of
flattery is imitation.

Not only did the film
itself spawn loads of ripoffs

I got an idea for a movie.

But you had the other big
studios looking at this film

and going, well, we
want in on that action.

Three, two, one.

It started this whole wave
of nonlinear storytelling.

So you have big
studios opening up

like their own indie wings.

Pretty smart.

20th Century Fox
started Fox Searchlight.

Paramount started their own.

It genuinely was a film that
changed the movie industry.

God damn, it's a pretty
fucking good milkshake.

- Told you.
- And in this changed

industry, its newly crowned king

was being watched almost
as keenly as his movies.

People could not wait to
see the next Tarantino film.

Luckily for fans,
in the year of "Pulp Fiction,"

another Tarantino
work hit screens.

You believe in fate, Mallory?

Maybe.

It was bold,
risque, and innovative.

That hasn't been
done in years.

It just wasn't
a movie made by him.

This is not about
you, you egomaniac.

Oh, and
one other thing...

We have the road to
hell in front of us.

He
personally despised it.

What do you mean by that?

Well, long
before Quentin Tarantino made

a name for himself--

One of Tarantino's
earliest scripts

was "Natural Born Killers."

His work was
already doing the rounds

among Hollywood elites.

He sold it to these
up-and-coming producers,

Don Murphy and Jane Hamsher.

The money
from his script sales

would go towards his first
feature, "Reservoir Dogs."

Uh-uh, I don't tip.

You don't tip?

Oliver Stone got the script,
they put it in his hands.

Eager to continue
his Hollywood education,

Tarantino assumed he could
look forward to working

with one of America's
foremost directors.

By this time, Oliver Stone

is one of the most
celebrated filmmakers

with the Oscar-winning
"Platoon."

Hell is the
impossibility of reason.

And the
director liked what he saw

in Tarantino's work.

He loved "Natural Born Killers."

I won't forget about you.

Instead,
before a frame was shot,

"Natural Born Killers"
claimed its first victim,

Tarantino's hopes.

Quentin went to
Oliver's producer

and the guy said, "Beat it."

Producer Don Murphy
felt Quentin's job was done.

"We bought your script,
now get out of here."

"Thank you, goodbye.

I'm now gonna make my movie
how I want to make it."

And
true to his word,

Stone's vision for the
story was different.

He could see in it
some commentary

that he could say about
modern American media.

We are talking about nothing
less than television history.

And he saw it as symptomatic

of American culture
going down the toilet.

You're scum, Wayne.

You did it for ratings.

Pretty
soon Tarantino

could see something else
going down the toilet.

They changed the script a lot.

And as soon as Tarantino got
wind that Stone was in fact,

heavily rewriting,

Tarantino actually went
back to Murphy and Hamsher

and said, "Can you stop this?"

Uh, they refused.

Powerless to
save something recognizable

from his script,

Tarantino publicly disowned
"Natural Born Killers."

There was definitely
a lot of animosity.

And it
all came to a head

when the producers lawyered up.

They tried to stop him from
publishing the screenplay

like his original screenplay
before the changes.

Why in the hell are you letting
this scumbag do this, Dwight?

Quentin
got his way winning

the right to publish
his screenplay.

- And then...
- There was a restaurant--

Cut to a West
Hollywood restaurant,

Interior. Day.

Quentin was leaving
the restaurant

and Quentin made eye
contact with this guy.

That guy
was producer Don Murphy.

And he goes,
"Oh, hi, Quentin."

And Quentin just lost it.

Quentin took his fist, which
is about as big as my head.

And popped him and dropped him
on the floor with witnesses.

He just was smacking him.
You know?

And dropped him on the ground

and walked away and got sued.

Fade out, fade in.

A lawsuit followed and
parties settled out of court.

I know I heard Quentin say,
"It was worth every penny."

Stone's film was
released to polarizing reviews.

For Tarantino, this was
unnatural born killers.

He said, "Nah, they
fucked up my script."

Thought you'd be more
creative than that.

Even though...

Quentin claimed he'd never
seen "Natural Born Killers."

So he got up,
he walked out.

It's seen enough.

But audiences loved
Stone's movie.

The picture grossed 50
million at the box office

from its budget of $30 million.

Tarantino needed a
greater vengeance.

It came just two months later
when a story told his way,

as he'd written it, put
him firmly on the map.

And you will know
my name is the Lord!

Suddenly,
everyone wanted to know--

What's he going to do next?

Newly blooded
Tarantino addicts turned

to the director's back catalog
in search of their next hit.

Just like Tarantino had done.

It's in. They've got it.

They combed
the video store shelves

in search of forgotten gems.

How about you go to the
movies with me tonight?

What are we gonna see?

And there they
found another Tarantino epic,

hiding in plain sight.

"True Romance," it's the
most personal Tarantino movie.

Do you like to get pie
after you see a good movie?

Because
this was another crime

caper scripted by Tarantino,

Many newly minted Tarantino
fans were about to discover

the director was no
overnight success.

"True Romance" was something

that Tarantino had
been working on.

it kind of pulled from other
things he'd already done.

This romantic
crime thriller had its roots

in both a script written

by Video Archives
collaborator, Roger Avary

and an unfinished
feature starring Craig Hamann
from 1987.

What's that?

He'd already
half-made effectively,

"My Best Friend's Birthday."

But I mean, he is Rockabilly.

He is, Rockabilly.

- Mean, nasty.
- Mean, nasty.

He couldn't give a
fuck about anything.

The main character in that,

which is very much based
on Tarantino himself,

became the character
of Clarence.

My life depended on it.

That's for adults.

There was a plot device
about the friend buying

a prostitute for him
for his birthday.

I'm not a whore,
I'm a call girl.

No, I'm a call girl and
there's a difference, you know?

Call girls, well
they're a lot more classier.

And then the
character of Alabama

was very much like Tarantino's
dream girl as well.

Is she a four-alarm fire
or what?

It all sounded like
a classic Tarantino picture.

I don't think so.

But just like
"Natural Born Killers,"

where this film would end up

was not where Quentin
Tarantino imagined it.

A film written by
Quentin Tarantino

and called "True Romance"
was the perfect vehicle.

Just not for Quentin Tarantino

because it became
a Tony Scott film.

Tony said, "You know what?

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

After
Tarantino sold the script

to the British
director of "Top Gun."

You can be my wingman anytime.

He earned about $30,000.

But
despite not directing,

True Romance's cast could
hardly have been more Tarantino.

Christian Slater
was the hot guy at the time.

You know what that's like?

And at the
center of the romance,

Patricia Arquette as
love-struck call girl, Alabama.

Mind if I smoke here?

My sister did "True Romance,"

but that scene,

where she's getting the
shit beat out of her

and that was very painful
to watch for the family

it was like, it was horrible.

But it's a kick-ass scene
and how she plays it.

Breathe.

Hi, how are you?

My name's Elliot.

That cast straddled

different kinds of stardom,
different kinds of acting,

different kinds of living.

But even with all
that experience,

this actor and his
castmates were challenged

by Tarantino's esoteric takes.

Elliot, your motivation
is to stay out of jail.

They sent me "True
Romance" and I was like,

"I don't even know
what's going on here."

I can't
believe I'm doing this.

After all, this was the
pre-Tarantino universe.

If you don't know Tarantino,

how are you gonna understand it?

I was like, this is
full of profanity.

You wanna fuck me?

Fuck you guys, man.

Who the fuck are you?

Where the fuck
did he come from?

And it's full of violence.

And I don't even know
how they go together.

I certainly didn't get
that it had this lyricism.

I had to come
all the way from the highways

and byways of
Tallahassee, Florida.

That lyricism found
its voice and subject matter

only Tarantino had the
courage to explore.

I couldn't understand, you know,

the big pussy eating
white boy monologue.

Or should
that be "exploit"?

What are you motherfuckers
talking about?

Floyd say
he don't be eating pussy.

It should be released
for acting classes.

'Cause the original script, the
pussy eating monologue...

Oh, hold on a second.

Big D, you saying you eat pussy?

Damn, motherfucker,
I eat everything.

...is at least two
and a half times

what it is in the finished film.

I eat the pussy,
I eat the butt,

I eat every motherfuckin' thang.

If you can't imagine an
extremely amazing actor

doing that, you don't know
what the hell you're reading.

Tony Scott shared
Tarantino's willingness

to push the boundaries of taste,

but not the
storytelling envelope.

He did kind of feel that
there were some changes

that needed to be made to it.

"True Romance" was
originally like told

in a non-linear way
so it kind of started

with Clarence killing the pimp

and then went back to
Clarence meeting Alabama.

What a wonderful philosophy.

And Scott just wanted
to make it more linear.

Or you
might say less Tarantino

as we would come to know him.

This isn't a good idea.

And
perhaps surprisingly...

Tarantino didn't have
a problem with that.

Okey-dokey, doggy-daddy.

Partly
because Tarantino knew

he had been accepted to his
own personal film school.

Tony took him under his wing

and Tony Scott became a mentor.

And
Quentin Tarantino

wasn't the only one being
schooled on the set.

I don't fucking believe this.

The stuff, dammit, I knew it!

Nobody had asked me if
I could drive stick.

Nobody thought to ask me.

I fucking knew it!

And yours truly was not only
learning how to drive a scene,

I was also learning
how to drive.

We're shooting out of sequence

where I'm driving
the Coke Whore.

And I knew just what to do.

So I said to the actress,
"Would you like be giving me

a blowjob, but your head
will be out of frame

and I'll just pull
your head up?"

And she's like, "I love it."

Oh fuck!

Fuck!

It's a good reveal.

But anyway, so we're doing that.

I'm cackling.

The more I cackle, the
more everybody loves it.

And we're having fun and
I'm doing this wild cackle.

And all of a sudden
somebody says to me,

"So now you need to
pull over and park

because the cop's
gonna come up."

Bronson needed to actually drive
the car for this wide shot.

And I said, "Oh.
How do you do that?"

And they said,

"Did no one ask you if
you could drive stick?"

I said, "No, I can't."

Oh fuck, this is how my
goddamn head examined

for driving like this.

And somebody said, "Okay,

we don't have any
stunt doubles here,

but there's an
electrician kind of looks

like he could be Bronson.

We could spray
paint his hair black

and then he could be Bronson."

And Tony said,

"He doesn't look anything
like fucking Bronson."

So they said, "Okay, well, what
if we put sunglasses on him?"

And Tony said,

"But Bronson wasn't fucking
wearing fucking sunglasses."

And so I said, "Look,
put sunglasses on him

and then in the shot,
I'll put them on

and then take them off

because I want to see
the rearview mirror.

So that's how we'll cover that."

And Quentin comes
up to me and says,

"I wanted that cackle
in this movie.

How did you know
that exact sound?

I said, "Well, you see,
she was well, never mind."

He goes, "I wanted that cackle."

As a writer,
Tarantino was learning

how to flow like
water around actors.

- Hi.
- You know, because we're all

afraid of writers on film.

Sometimes you want to
lighten up what you're doing

or sometimes you want to play

and you don't want to
feel like the writer

is getting mad at you.

So there's an art form so
that you can enjoy the fun

and not cramp anyone's style.

If after talking to
you he likes you,

wants to deal with you,
he'll deal with you.

He had that down pat.

If he doesn't,
he'll say, fuck you,

and he'll walk out of the room.

In Tony Scott,
Tarantino had a
sympathetic mentor

who was allowing him to stay
in touch with his own work.

And besides the money he
was paid for the script,

Tony let him contribute
to the dialogue

and he's making extra money

by helping him
with the dialogue.

Don't you want to
count your money?

But
there was a shootout

between the young
writer and his director

when it came to the
finale of "True Romance."

He had written it that
Clarence dies at the end.

And Scott was like, "Yeah,

I don't think he
should die at the end.

I think they should get
away and go to Mexico."

Tarantino absolutely disagreed.

He said, "Don't do that.

That would be wrong."

Scott stuck to his guns and
Tarantino said, "Well fine,

you can do it, but
I'm not rewriting it."

The rewrite
went to Roger Avary

Tarantino's Video
Archives writing buddy

and soon to be co-author
of "Pulp Fiction."

And he rewrote the ending
for a fee of about $1,000,

I think it was.

I look back
and I'm amazed

that my thoughts were
so clear and true.

But that wasn't
the end of the ending

for Tarantino.

Tarantino, when he
finally saw the movie, went,

"Okay, sure, that was
the right thing to do."

- You're so cool.
- They said it made

the film feel more like
a kind of a fairy tale.

And the
want of death would fade

like the stars at dawn.

The fairy tale
had no fairy tale ending
for the studio.

When "True Romance"
was released in 1993,

there was nothing
romantic about the truth.

A box office flop.

It barely edged
past its $12.5 million budget,

earning $13 million worldwide.

Well, in Tony Scott terms,
it was not successful.

But this
was a Tarantino film

that nobody saw through
his lens until the film

that changed everything
in October of 1994.

You know who we are?

Once "Pulp Fiction" comes out,

a lot of people went
back and saw "True Romance,"

people go, "Oh yeah, okay.

We see where this was gonna
go if we saw this first."

As I felt the touch of God.

And as if
by divine intervention,

following the release
of "Pulp Fiction,"

for "True Romance," video
stores rode the wave

and VHS rentals surged.

Becomes much bigger
through Tarantino's name.

Can't believe what
you're telling me.

It became a cult hit.

I am on this earth
to make good movies.

Nothing more and nothing--

Well, maybe less sometimes.

Ironically,

its cult status was
only conferred upon it

thanks to video store rentals.

And if you happened to wander
over to the horror section,

you might have found
another Tarantino terror

with even stranger origins.

What is this? It's nonlinear?

Is it a vampire movie?
Is it a gangster movie?

So nobody wanted to buy it.

Before
"Reservoir Dogs"

and "Pulp Fiction" put
Quentin Tarantino on the map

as a director...

Trying to forget anything
as intriguing as this

would be an exercise
in futility.

He was
already a writer

who wanted to be an actor.

What do they
look like, Jimmie?

Dorks.

And yet many
fans didn't know that.

At least not until 1996,
when, in one unusual film,

Tarantino combined
both of those passions.

It was going to be a
project for myself to direct.

It was a
script that predated

the Tarantino-verse
and had a champion

and longtime collaborator,
Robert Kurtzman.

I gave it to several
actors who just would,

they weren't interested in
being in "From Dusk Till Dawn"

because it was so
vulgar and over the top.

Welcome to slavery.

Actually,
that's another film.

This one was the story of two
outlaw brothers on the run

from the law who
wind up in a bar

that's hiding
something far worse.

But few even understood.

So nobody wanted to buy it.

But by 1994,

a forgotten Tarantino script
was like an icon unearthed.

And Miramax producer Bob
Weinstein saw an opportunity

to convert any
remaining doubters.

Miramax were the only people

that would back him.

Quentin Tarantino and
Roger Avary for "Pulp Fiction."

You know, they talked
about Miramax being the house

that Quentin built.

This has been a
very strange year.

And Tarantino
had a spiritual home

at the independent
production house.

Harvey loved Quentin.

He allowed him to make
movies the way he wanted to.

Even though Quentin

would not be making
this movie himself,

this time, his priorities
would be different.

Miramax green lit the movie,

but there were also red
warning lights flashing

at the house that Quentin built.

In 1995, Quentin was
dating actress Mira Sorvino

and she recounted to Tarantino

that Weinstein
began massaging her

and then chasing her
around a hotel room.

Quentin wrote it off as
Harvey being hung up on Mira

and assumed there wouldn't
be any more problems

as they were close
friends at the time.

That was one part of
a saga yet to attract

the glare of the spotlight

But for Robert Kurtzman,

Tarantino's
burgeoning reputation

was giving him his
day in the sun.

The fact that we were there

finally getting this thing
made, was just perfect for me.

Quentin's script
was based on Robert's

original short story.

Tarantino was paid
just $1,500 to write it

and had no interest in
directing his script.

Quentin was never going
to direct "...Dusk Till Dawn."

He had fun writing it.

I don't think he ever
wanted to direct it.

Because Tarantino
had something bigger in mind.

"The Holy Trinity."

Actor, writer, director.

And with Quentin
committed to performing

in front of the camera,

the road for unheralded
and uncredited director,

Robert Kurtzman was rockier.

Me as a director attached,

having no directing credits
might have kept them

from moving forward with it.

And despite eight
years nursing the project,

he decided to cede
the director's chair.

At that point, I just wanted
to see the movie get made.

It wasn't meant
for me to direct.

Now Miramax still
had to find a director fluent

in Tarantino.

What's the matter
with you? Are you crazy?

Brave enough
to handle the material.

- Way ahead of you.
- And direct the man himself.

- Hi.
- Robert Rodriguez

had done "Mariachi."

They got completely
different styles,

but there's no way they they
don't learn from each other.

They enjoy each other's movies.

Finding a director
for "From Dusk Till Dawn"

was never the production's
biggest personnel problem.

In those days it was
like horror wasn't

for serious actors, you know?

We're having such a hard
time finding somebody to play

the brother to Quentin
'cause I want it to be someone

who could actually look like
he could be his brother,

yet be a great actor.

Somehow,
that man happened to be

one of the best looking
men in Hollywood,

a man Tarantino had directed,

a TV dreamboat named
George Clooney.

Look at you
working on a Sunday.

Quentin had directed "ER"
at that point, I believe.

And now that
Tarantino was a star,

the director drew more
serious actors into his orbit.

Everybody be cool.

You, be cool.

Including
Selma Hayek,

- Juliet Lewis...
- Need some company?

...and Harvey Keitel.

Has anybody here read a
real book about vampires

or are we just remembering
what some movie said?

Because most of those people
they had connections with.

Robert's own
connection with Tarantino

would see him retain a
hand in his dream project.

I was a co-producer on it.

KNB got to do the effects.

Tarantino
go-to, KNB FX,

was hired to do the makeup
and prosthetic effects.

A relationship that would endure
well past the vampire fest

of "From Dusk Till Dawn."

That made up for
everything and the fact

that we were there finally
getting this thing made

was just perfect for me.

Principal
photography kicked
off in June 1995,

forging scenes fans
would never forget.

And now, for your
viewing pleasure.

Kneel and worship at the feet
of Santanico Pandemonium.

And speaking of--

- Worship at the feet.
- Right.

"From Dusk Till Dawn" wouldn't
have been a Tarantino script

without his unique trademarks.

He loves feet.

He likes a woman with
a nice set of feet.

This tequila-soaked moment
marks the turning point

of a film about to undergo
its own metamorphosis.

Richie, get back on the clock.

It just twists and
then it's all out mayhem.

From a
violent crime caper

to an alien vampire flick in a
space of a few frames of CGI.

Richie, look out!

When the vampires attack,
all that's written there,

it just says,
"And all hell ensues."

Robert
Kurtzman finally got to see

his short story turned
into a film when,

"From Dusk Till Dawn" was
released in January of 1996.

Audiences embraced
its dual personalities

with a $25 million box office
against $19 million spent.

Tarantino takes this outline

for this cool
vampire crime movie

and with the help of his
friend Rob Rodriguez,

turns it into a
another cult classic

that may have even
launched the movie career

of George Clooney.

Those acts of God
really stick it in

and break it off, don't they?

But what
about the director

who had got to act
in the film he wrote?

I think he's a better
director than he is an actor,

but I thought he did
a great job in "...Dusk."

Hi, how are you doing?

Enjoying it? I hope so.

But regardless
of how well he performed

on camera in the
wake of "Pulp Fiction,"

Tarantino fans had
only one question...

What's he going to do next?

That
decision was complicated

by the immense spotlight
"Pulp Fiction" had cast

- over its director.
- What is it?

"Pulp Fiction"

is so huge,
how do you even follow it?

It's beautiful.

Answering
that question

would set the trajectory of
Quentin Tarantino's career.

People talk about
difficult second album.

You ain't asking
the right questions.

In this case, it was
difficult third movie.

Three years
on from "Pulp Fiction,"

Tarantino was in no rush
to build on the momentum

from his breakout hit.

The answer to the question fans

and critics alike were asking...

If "Pulp Fiction" is so huge,
how do you even follow it?

That's what I've been
sitting here contemplating.

Still, inevitably,
in the crime genre,

his next project could
trace its origins

to a crime committed by
Quentin Tarantino himself.

Not quite that serious.

He'd loved Elmore Leonard
ever since he was a kid.

In fact, he got
caught shoplifting an
Elmore Leonard novel

when he was a teenager.

I see bits and pieces
of Elmore Leonard's style

extremely prevalent right
up to "Jackie Brown."

No
longer shoplifting,

Tarantino had access

to best-selling novelist
Elmore Leonard's work

in its many different forms...

He picked up a galley--

...including unedited
manuscripts or galleys.

So it's before it's
published for "Rum Punch."

But this would be
his first adaptation

rather than an original script.

- So--
- As soon as he took it on,

he started changing things.

And he moved it to the part
of California that he lived.

Embracing
Leonard's story

of a leaned-on flight attendant

who hatches a plot to
escape her gunrunner boss

and taking it to the
streets of his own youth.

Growing up in the South Bay,
it's a perfect melting pot.

He grew up surrounded
by black culture.

His neighborhood,
his high school.

What you mean, walk the earth?

You know, like
Cain in Kung Fu.

And he was an
excellent student of all forms.

♪ Jungle boogie,
jungle boogie ♪

You can just hum the
first bar of any tune

from any black performer,
and he knew what it was.

Little
wonder Tarantino

took Elmore Leonard's
white protagonist

and turned her into a black
woman for Jackie Brown.

And not just any black woman.

You know just the
words that turn me on.

Pam Grier, she was such
a huge, huge, huge part

of Blaxploitation films.

My name's Coffy. LuBelle
Coffy is my little sister.

Actress
Pam Grier was an icon

in the black community.

It seems like I'm in a dream.

And I'm still in
this dream, Howard.

She was everything
in the '70s.

I mean, everything.

It really has been a
long time, hasn't it?

And Quentin had
already paid his own tribute

in the most Tarantino of ways.

What's the name of the
chick who played Christie Love?

- Pam Grier.
- No, it wasn't Pam Grier.

Pam Grier was the other one.

Pam Grier did the film.

Now a filmmaker
wielding real clout

He was determined
to make Pam Grier

a name no one would
confuse with another.

Really, really wanted
Pam Grier in the role.

And the way
Tarantino managed to woo her

was like a scene straight
out of one of his movies.

What if I say no?

My eldest brother Warrington
was dating Pam at the time

and they were waiting in line

at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.

My brother looks over and
sees Quentin Tarantino

and Quentin said, "Oh, I'm
writing a script for you."

When did you decide?

Cut to Pam
Grier's house sometime later,

where she has
received a package.

Open, it's the script.

And she reads the script
and calls Quentin and is like,

"Well, what part am
I supposed to play?"

He says, "You're Jackie
Brown. It's you."

You earned it

The script
was a love letter

to his screen idol
and original pinup.

What you doing sitting
out here in the dark?

No!

Speaking of pinups.

She shows up to his office

and Tarantino had to
take down some posters

because he's embarrassed

because his office is littered
with Pam Grier's posters.

No, I thought he put
'em up because I was coming.

- Yeah.
- And he says, "No.

I'm gonna take 'em down

because you was coming."
You know?

While all of
this made sense to Tarantino--

Tarantino's worried that
he's gonna come across

as a fanboy, and she's worried

that she's not gonna be
good enough for his movie--

And for a lot of people,
it's a little bit like,

"Well, who's Pam Grier?"

Didn't exactly set the world
on fire, did you, Jackie?

You've got the kind of people

that might have
seen "Pulp Fiction."

I said, goddamn!

And they have
no idea who Pan Grier is.

You sure I can't
twist your arm?

His choice
of supporting actor

to play opposite Pam--

I'll send you a postcard.

was another rescued from
the obscurity of a bygone era.

You have to prepare to die.

Do not provoke me.

So you've got
Pam Grier as Jackie

and the other role
which is the character

of a bail bondsman, Max Cherry.

Robert Forster.

Most people coming to it,
they're like, "Who's that guy?"

Robert Forster,

because he really wasn't
getting much work,

didn't have an agent.

Tarantino had to track him
down at a restaurant in LA

and said, "Hey, I would like
you to be in this new movie

I'm putting together,

and I'd like you to play
the male lead in the film."

You're taking
a hell of a chance.

Tarantino wasn't
the only man on a mission.

At least one screen
legend was hunting him.

I wouldn't go so
far as to say that.

It's a common thing with
actors of De Niro's caliber

that they will read a script

and they will identify
a role in that script

that they want to play.

And he
had a role in mind

that recalled De
Niro's early penchant

for playing the
deadbeat outsider.

Don't say anything else, okay?

Seeing him as this
loser, criminal, pothead

was a change of pace.

Want a MET-Rx?

Perhaps the only
clue this film was a follow-up

- to "Pulp Fiction" was--
- The very best there is.

Samuel L. Jackson
was willing to move heaven

and earth to make
sure he appeared

in a second Tarantino film.

My ass may be dumb,
but I ain't no dumbass.

It was an opportunity
he wanted to be part of.

Or at least move
himself and his makeup artist...

I was Samuel L. Jackson's
personal makeup artist.

...between San Francisco
and Los Angeles, repeatedly.

We would shoot five days
a week in Northern California.

Where
Jackson was working

on Barry Levinson's
sci-fi thriller, "Sphere."

We're not dead,
but they don't know.

And fly down to LA
on a Friday night,

then fly back on a Sunday night.

And we did that
for about a month.

We couldn't figure out,

"Are we going to LA or we
going to San Francisco?"

Because it was just non-stop.

Tarantino
had assembled amongst
his most mature

and experienced casts.

Pam Grier, when she
got cast in the role,

she was 47 years old.

I'm not saying
another goddamn word.

The character Max Cherry
is a guy in his 50s?

I'm 56 years old.

I can't blame anybody
for anything I do.

Which would make
Jackie Brown an unusual animal.

Jackie Brown is ultimately
a middle-aged love story.

It was a
high-stakes gamble.

Because now he's
the wunderkind.

I'm certain Quentin felt
that pressure upon himself.

For the film based

on Elmore Leonard's "Rum Punch,"

Tarantino was making several
changes to the original novel.

He was actually quite nervous
about making these changes.

Whatever you're into, you
seem to be getting away with it,

so more power to you.

But he wasn't
sure about diverging

from what, for him,
was his holy text.

Because he was so nervous,
he didn't tell Leonard about it

until literally days before he
was about to start shooting.

And he sat down with Elmore
Leonard and went, "Yeah, okay,

I've kind of made
all these changes."

And Leonard was
like, "Yeah, so what?

Go make the movie
you want to make."

They say
never meet your heroes,

but Tarantino was making
a career out of that.

That would be
one point of view.

For Quentin, for Sam, for
Robert, for all of us on set.

That's Pam Grier.

- Come on.
- You got something for me?

Honesty, I think everybody
on the set was fangirling.

But with towering
talent all over the set,

even experienced practitioners
were treading carefully.

I mean it, don't say
one fucking word, okay?

The crew was definitely
afraid of Robert De Niro.

I know Quentin was
a little nervous.

Not so nervous,

he would stand there
staring at his feet.

- Speaking of feet...
- De Niro asked him what shoes

the character wears, and
Quentin had the answer.

From there, it was kind
of smooth, smooth sailing.

Adding to
the pressure of working

with the biggest names,

Tarantino was working with
unfamiliar collaborators.

Why I didn't do "Jackie Brown?"

Because they
didn't choose me.

Like his new
cinematographer chosen

to replace Andrzej Sekula.

Tarantino, he wanted a bit
of a different feel for this.

Guillermo Navarro
was hired to provide just that

after lighting Tarantino himself

on the set of
"From Dusk Till Dawn."

How you like them apples?

Far out.

With
shooting about to begin,

Tarantino's team was learning
to work with the rhythms

of his esteemed cast.

I had racks and racks of
clothes. Robert De Niro's,

we got to the shoes,
we got to the pants,

and a black T-shirt, but
he didn't have the shirt.

When he was walking out,

I had a rack that he wasn't
even supposed to see.

And it was an old shirt
that I had given my brother.

Robert De Niro went
over to it and he said,

"What is that shirt?"

And Robert said, "That's
the shirt I have to wear."

Much like
his director,

De Niro knew how he wanted
to embody his character,

and he wasn't
pulling punches.

I'll knock you the fuck out.

At one point I was fitting
him for a shoulder holster

and in the process of, you know,

adjusting that shoulder holster,

one of the straps was vertical
and I went to cinch it up.

And so my hands are right
here, I popped him in the jaw.

Without missing a microsecond,

he got me with his
left in the gut.

He's holding his jaw,
I'm doubled over.

And we just looked at each
other and started laughing.

But to get punched
by Raging Bull,

that was a career-defining
moment for me.

And hurts Robinson again,

hooks the left hand to the jaw.

For Pam Grier,

a career-defining
moment was beckoning,

but first, she would
need to become fluent

in a new language.

Start adding these
motherfucking figures up,

tell me this ain't
the business to be in.

Tarantino.

If you don't know Tarantino,
how are you gonna understand it?

Shit work my nerves,
you and that motherfucker

being so buddy-buddy.

Some of these
bigger dialogue scenes.

Hey, if I wasn't
so buddy-buddy

with that motherfucker,
this wouldn't work.

There were moments in
time where you could feel

she was like, "Oh my
god, this is hard."

You wanna see some
motherfucking silly?

If I have to tell you to
shut up one more time,

I'm gonna shut you up.

But in Tarantino,
Grier had not just a fan

or a friend, but an ally.

Quentin always from day
one was very good at working

with actors because
Quentin was an actor.

And he found simple
devices to support his lead.

For the scene in the
Cockatoo Inn with Sam Jackson--

I'm gonna have to remember
this place, it's all right.

Sam's rolling off
this, that, that, that.

You tell him anything else?

And Pam was having
a little bit of time,

so Quentin had her eat pretzels.

Actually
it was popcorn.

Had her do something
completely natural.

So he said, "Just
eat the pretzels."

Popcorn.

But it don't matter because they
already know I'm meeting you.

The Cockatoo Inn

was just one of the real
locations Tarantino insisted on

in the pursuit of authenticity.

In terms of town, you do
feel Southern California,

specifically the South Bay.

And for his
ode to Blaxploitation,

he wanted to shoot just as
a Blaxploitation film would.

- Yeah.
- Hey.

He wanted to be constrained
not only by budget,

but by the spaces we shot.

He wanted that for
Jackie Brown's apartment.

How are you
doing, Miss Jackie?

- Come on in.
- That was

a small apartment in Compton.

Bet they asked
you a whole shitload

of questions about it, huh?

Ordell's little
surfer girl apartment...

- Hey girl.
- Hola.

...was actually an apartment.

He wanted the constraints
to protect himself

from becoming too
big for his britches.

Wanna fuck?

But this
was more authenticity

than his cinematographer
could work out how to shoot.

He's like, "I don't know, I
don't know how to shoot it.

I don't know, I don't
know how to shoot."

Very small, second story,
looking out at the ocean.

We're shooting on short sticks.

There was no room for the
dolly, even the peewee.

But he figured it out.

The pursuit of
realism could also be expensive.

How expensive?

Did he tell you about that half
million he's got down in Mexico?

Quentin insists on
realism in his props.

I'm gonna have
me over a million.

So at one point, we did
have a half a million dollars

in cash in our possession.

That's
real hard currency.

Which was a little
nerve-wracking.

Half a million dollars
will always be missed.

We mostly hid
it in plain sight

and everybody assumed
it was a prop,

but there were three people
watching it the whole time.

Because what
better way to raise the tension

than by raising the stakes.

I think it just-- It ups the
stakes to a different level,

and there's a subtle
performance difference,

and that's the difference
between Quentin
and everyone else.

When shooting
wrapped on "Jackie Brown"

in August of 1997, despite
the euphoria of completion...

Let's give it up for
Jackie Brown--

...Tarantino went
into a funk.

He was always so upset
the last day of shooting.

You wouldn't even
be able to find him.

Would "Jackie
Brown"'s change in pace...

There was this weight
of expectation of like,

this is what a Tarantino
movie should be.

...bring this
rock star director

back down to Earth?

It's about the journey, it's
not about the destination.

I'll send you a postcard.

When
shooting on Tarantino's

long-anticipated follow-up
to "Pulp Fiction" concluded,

it was more than just the
end of principal photography

for the director.

There was a certain closeness
that he had with all of us.

We were family.

He'd get depressed.

He was so upset about
it all the time.

But with his
cast and crew dispersing,

Tarantino would
naturally embrace

one of the most
important members

of his extended film family.

She's what makes
his movies sing

in the final product of them.

Longtime
editor Sally Menke.

He's a great writer,
great director,

and she happened to
be that great editor

finishing that last
section that you need

in the making of a movie.
She is in a class above.

I can do it, Max.

I just can't do it without you.

His editor would
play a more conventional role

in defining the shape of "Jackie
Brown" for one simple reason.

It's also Tarantino's
most linear movie.

Let's go!

Mostly absent
his trademark violence,

Tarantino engaged
in a different gear.

We don't always build
a supersonic race car.

Sometimes we build
something that's stylish.

It cruises.
And "Jackie Brown" cruised.

Accept no substitutes.

Mostly
thanks to its focus on

a different kind of journey.

The biggest thing that
struck me was the love story

between Robert Forster
and Pam Grier.

Ain't nothing wrong with that.

It's a love story about
two middle-aged people

who found each other,
but can't be together.

- I didn't use you, Max.
- I didn't say you did.

"Jackie Brown"
was released in the US

on Christmas Day of
1997, and for the crew,

all their Christmases
had come at once.

We were pumped.

I mean, the whole crew walked
out of there just like, "Wow."

I love "Jackie Brown."

I think it's a great film.

Well, I must have made
quite an impression.

Audiences agreed,

rewarding producers with
a nearly 3.5 times return

on their investment.

A $12 million gamble
that led to 39 million

at the box office.

There was this
weight of expectation.

For any independent
film this would be stellar.

So it's the long
shadow of "Pulp Fiction."

Don't put me in this
position, all right?

- All right.
- But "Jackie Brown"

would only ever be
compared to one film.

Because it made less than
half what "Pulp Fiction" made

and because people
weren't rapturous about it

in the way that they were
about "Pulp Fiction."

Look, Miss Brown, we
don't give a fuck about you.

It's not violent enough
for a lot of people.

What the fuck
happened to you, man?

They were so used to what
they saw in his other films.

Who cares about this love
story, this crime story,

that's all talking?

Ray, I was frantic.

What was I supposed to do?

But this being
his first adaptation,

it was not the
full-noise Tarantino,

which the man himself
was fine with.

I didn't de-emphasize the
violence in "Jackie Brown"

any more than I emphasized
the violence in "Pulp Fiction."

In revisiting
Blaxploitation,

Tarantino had again reanimated
more than just a lost genre.

Quentin has revitalized
so many people's careers.

And sure enough,
Forster ended up getting

an Oscar nomination for
Best Supporting Actor.

Robert
Forster in Jackie Brown.

Newly rediscovered,

Forster's career
developed a second wind.

How hot are you?

While
Tarantino's favorite

received no such accolade,

Pam Grier went on to conquer
new spaces on "The L Word."

I was not surprised

that she didn't get an
Oscar nomination, no.

Black actors at that time was
still climbing that mountain

to be seen just as actors
and not just black actors.

What the fuck did Ordell
ever do for us, huh?

Tarantino himself
said at the time

that he was thoroughly
disappointed

she didn't get an
Oscar nomination.

Yeah, but I'm not in
jail, and at least I try.

Like
"Jackie Brown,"

Tarantino's next outing

would center on a
female protagonist...

And this guy clearly
thinks chicks are badass.

...but take the director back
to his own musings.

While they were
making Pulp Fiction,

they started kind of
talking about this idea.

Back
to his own muse.

Quentin Tarantino
and Uma Thurman

are a wonderful combination.

But could
Uma and Quentin...

- Bad idea.
- ...soak up the pressure...

- A female revenge film.
- ...and deliver a hit

for this rock star director?

I am gonna kill Bill.