1 00:00:09,134 --> 00:00:11,803 {\an8}In 1994, a film was released 2 00:00:11,928 --> 00:00:14,639 {\an8}that was destined to reset modern cinema. 3 00:00:14,764 --> 00:00:16,641 Let me take a wild guess here. 4 00:00:16,766 --> 00:00:19,477 "Pulp Fiction," it became a sensation across the world. 5 00:00:19,644 --> 00:00:23,189 Shit, negro, that's all you had to say. 6 00:00:23,314 --> 00:00:26,568 That movie made well over $200 million worldwide. 7 00:00:26,693 --> 00:00:29,195 It made Tarantino a rock star. 8 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,323 It was Star Wars for independent cinema. 9 00:00:32,490 --> 00:00:34,284 It had everyone asking a truly 10 00:00:34,409 --> 00:00:36,494 taran-tantalizing question. 11 00:00:36,661 --> 00:00:37,620 What's he gonna do next? 12 00:00:37,787 --> 00:00:39,372 Ms. Brown! 13 00:00:39,372 --> 00:00:40,582 But to understand where Tarantino 14 00:00:40,707 --> 00:00:42,417 was headed after "Pulp Fiction"... 15 00:00:42,542 --> 00:00:44,377 What the fuck is up with this shit? 16 00:00:44,502 --> 00:00:46,087 ...we first need to understand 17 00:00:46,212 --> 00:00:47,630 where he was coming from. 18 00:00:47,755 --> 00:00:49,632 {\an8}He grew up surrounded by black culture. 19 00:00:49,757 --> 00:00:51,676 - And go back... - Oh, I ain't here 20 00:00:51,801 --> 00:00:53,386 because they didn't try, lover. 21 00:00:53,386 --> 00:00:55,263 ...to a time when the Tarantino verse 22 00:00:55,388 --> 00:00:56,556 was still forming. 23 00:00:56,681 --> 00:00:58,558 You can't make movies like this. 24 00:00:58,683 --> 00:01:00,393 I can't tell you that was one of the best times I ever had. 25 00:01:00,518 --> 00:01:02,270 Not in the movies he directed. 26 00:01:02,395 --> 00:01:05,356 This is not the proper way that a script is written. 27 00:01:05,482 --> 00:01:07,233 You can forget about acting for the next 20 years. 28 00:01:07,233 --> 00:01:09,152 Your fucking career is over! 29 00:01:09,277 --> 00:01:10,695 But in the films he wrote, 30 00:01:10,820 --> 00:01:13,865 starting with a true romance in the early '90s. 31 00:01:13,990 --> 00:01:15,533 They sent me "True Romance" and I was like, 32 00:01:15,700 --> 00:01:17,410 "I don't even know what's going on here." 33 00:01:19,537 --> 00:01:22,290 Involving certain natural-born killers. 34 00:01:22,415 --> 00:01:24,626 We bought your script, now get out of here. 35 00:01:24,751 --> 00:01:26,461 That's not what I had in mind. 36 00:01:26,586 --> 00:01:27,754 That proved to be the wrong 37 00:01:27,879 --> 00:01:30,173 kind of knockout in 1994. 38 00:01:30,298 --> 00:01:33,301 Quentin took his fist and popped him. 39 00:01:33,426 --> 00:01:35,345 What do you have to say to your fans? 40 00:01:35,470 --> 00:01:37,472 You ain't seen nothing yet. 41 00:01:37,847 --> 00:01:40,892 Before things really started to change shape... 42 00:01:41,017 --> 00:01:43,394 Kill them all! 43 00:01:43,561 --> 00:01:44,938 ...in 1996. 44 00:01:44,938 --> 00:01:47,440 Is it a vampire movie? Is it a gangster movie? 45 00:01:47,565 --> 00:01:50,235 What you are doing is not how it's done. 46 00:01:50,401 --> 00:01:51,861 All this long before the film, 47 00:01:51,986 --> 00:01:53,571 - whose name... - Jackie Brown. 48 00:01:53,696 --> 00:01:54,823 ...announced the return 49 00:01:54,948 --> 00:01:56,741 of an almost forgotten star. 50 00:01:56,866 --> 00:01:59,661 She was like, "You wrote a movie for me to star in?" 51 00:02:32,694 --> 00:02:34,362 Following Pulp Fiction, 52 00:02:34,487 --> 00:02:37,782 Tarantino was not just a success story, but a disrupter. 53 00:02:37,907 --> 00:02:40,535 Rarely in our years on the movie beat has a new director 54 00:02:40,660 --> 00:02:44,747 become as hot as fast as Quentin Tarantino 55 00:02:44,873 --> 00:02:46,374 In Hollywood, 56 00:02:46,499 --> 00:02:48,209 the greatest form of flattery is imitation. 57 00:02:48,334 --> 00:02:52,297 {\an8}Not only did the film itself spawn loads of ripoffs 58 00:02:52,463 --> 00:02:54,257 I got an idea for a movie. 59 00:02:54,382 --> 00:02:57,343 But you had the other big studios looking at this film 60 00:02:57,468 --> 00:02:59,804 and going, well, we want in on that action. 61 00:02:59,929 --> 00:03:02,974 Three, two, one. 62 00:03:03,141 --> 00:03:07,312 {\an8}It started this whole wave of nonlinear storytelling. 63 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:10,940 So you have big studios opening up 64 00:03:11,065 --> 00:03:12,525 like their own indie wings. 65 00:03:12,650 --> 00:03:13,693 Pretty smart. 66 00:03:14,402 --> 00:03:16,780 20th Century Fox started Fox Searchlight. 67 00:03:16,905 --> 00:03:18,740 Paramount started their own. 68 00:03:18,865 --> 00:03:22,535 It genuinely was a film that changed the movie industry. 69 00:03:22,535 --> 00:03:25,371 God damn, it's a pretty fucking good milkshake. 70 00:03:25,497 --> 00:03:26,831 - Told you. - And in this changed 71 00:03:26,956 --> 00:03:29,709 industry, its newly crowned king 72 00:03:29,709 --> 00:03:32,712 was being watched almost as keenly as his movies. 73 00:03:32,837 --> 00:03:36,007 {\an8}People could not wait to see the next Tarantino film. 74 00:03:36,174 --> 00:03:39,469 Luckily for fans, in the year of "Pulp Fiction," 75 00:03:39,594 --> 00:03:41,930 another Tarantino work hit screens. 76 00:03:42,055 --> 00:03:44,265 You believe in fate, Mallory? 77 00:03:44,390 --> 00:03:45,892 Maybe. 78 00:03:45,892 --> 00:03:51,314 It was bold, risque, and innovative. 79 00:03:51,439 --> 00:03:52,816 That hasn't been done in years. 80 00:03:52,941 --> 00:03:55,360 It just wasn't a movie made by him. 81 00:03:55,527 --> 00:03:57,779 This is not about you, you egomaniac. 82 00:03:57,904 --> 00:03:59,697 Oh, and one other thing... 83 00:03:59,823 --> 00:04:01,699 We have the road to hell in front of us. 84 00:04:01,825 --> 00:04:03,368 He personally despised it. 85 00:04:03,535 --> 00:04:05,036 What do you mean by that? 86 00:04:05,203 --> 00:04:06,663 Well, long before Quentin Tarantino made 87 00:04:06,830 --> 00:04:08,039 a name for himself-- 88 00:04:08,206 --> 00:04:09,499 One of Tarantino's earliest scripts 89 00:04:09,624 --> 00:04:11,084 was "Natural Born Killers." 90 00:04:11,084 --> 00:04:13,336 His work was already doing the rounds 91 00:04:13,461 --> 00:04:14,796 among Hollywood elites. 92 00:04:14,921 --> 00:04:16,840 He sold it to these up-and-coming producers, 93 00:04:16,965 --> 00:04:18,758 Don Murphy and Jane Hamsher. 94 00:04:18,883 --> 00:04:20,635 The money from his script sales 95 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,805 would go towards his first feature, "Reservoir Dogs." 96 00:04:23,930 --> 00:04:25,390 Uh-uh, I don't tip. 97 00:04:25,515 --> 00:04:27,016 You don't tip? 98 00:04:27,141 --> 00:04:30,562 Oliver Stone got the script, they put it in his hands. 99 00:04:30,687 --> 00:04:32,897 Eager to continue his Hollywood education, 100 00:04:33,064 --> 00:04:35,733 Tarantino assumed he could look forward to working 101 00:04:35,900 --> 00:04:38,319 with one of America's foremost directors. 102 00:04:38,444 --> 00:04:39,779 By this time, Oliver Stone 103 00:04:39,904 --> 00:04:41,406 is one of the most celebrated filmmakers 104 00:04:41,573 --> 00:04:43,116 with the Oscar-winning "Platoon." 105 00:04:43,116 --> 00:04:45,702 Hell is the impossibility of reason. 106 00:04:45,827 --> 00:04:47,662 And the director liked what he saw 107 00:04:47,787 --> 00:04:48,913 in Tarantino's work. 108 00:04:49,038 --> 00:04:50,415 He loved "Natural Born Killers." 109 00:04:50,582 --> 00:04:51,916 I won't forget about you. 110 00:04:52,584 --> 00:04:54,919 Instead, before a frame was shot, 111 00:04:55,044 --> 00:04:57,964 "Natural Born Killers" claimed its first victim, 112 00:04:57,964 --> 00:04:59,632 Tarantino's hopes. 113 00:04:59,757 --> 00:05:02,552 {\an8}Quentin went to Oliver's producer 114 00:05:02,677 --> 00:05:04,596 and the guy said, "Beat it." 115 00:05:04,762 --> 00:05:07,807 Producer Don Murphy felt Quentin's job was done. 116 00:05:07,807 --> 00:05:10,018 "We bought your script, now get out of here." 117 00:05:10,143 --> 00:05:11,811 "Thank you, goodbye. 118 00:05:11,936 --> 00:05:15,356 I'm now gonna make my movie how I want to make it." 119 00:05:15,482 --> 00:05:16,858 And true to his word, 120 00:05:16,983 --> 00:05:19,360 Stone's vision for the story was different. 121 00:05:19,486 --> 00:05:21,654 He could see in it some commentary 122 00:05:21,654 --> 00:05:24,574 that he could say about modern American media. 123 00:05:24,699 --> 00:05:28,703 We are talking about nothing less than television history. 124 00:05:28,828 --> 00:05:30,455 And he saw it as symptomatic 125 00:05:30,622 --> 00:05:33,875 of American culture going down the toilet. 126 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:34,959 You're scum, Wayne. 127 00:05:35,084 --> 00:05:36,461 You did it for ratings. 128 00:05:36,628 --> 00:05:38,004 Pretty soon Tarantino 129 00:05:38,004 --> 00:05:40,423 could see something else going down the toilet. 130 00:05:40,548 --> 00:05:42,800 They changed the script a lot. 131 00:05:42,926 --> 00:05:46,679 And as soon as Tarantino got wind that Stone was in fact, 132 00:05:46,679 --> 00:05:48,807 heavily rewriting, 133 00:05:48,932 --> 00:05:50,892 Tarantino actually went back to Murphy and Hamsher 134 00:05:51,017 --> 00:05:52,560 and said, "Can you stop this?" 135 00:05:52,685 --> 00:05:54,145 Uh, they refused. 136 00:05:54,270 --> 00:05:55,814 Powerless to save something recognizable 137 00:05:55,939 --> 00:05:57,524 from his script, 138 00:05:57,649 --> 00:06:00,151 {\an8}Tarantino publicly disowned "Natural Born Killers." 139 00:06:00,318 --> 00:06:03,780 {\an8}There was definitely a lot of animosity. 140 00:06:03,947 --> 00:06:05,615 And it all came to a head 141 00:06:05,740 --> 00:06:07,534 when the producers lawyered up. 142 00:06:07,534 --> 00:06:09,494 They tried to stop him from publishing the screenplay 143 00:06:09,661 --> 00:06:12,497 like his original screenplay before the changes. 144 00:06:12,622 --> 00:06:14,624 Why in the hell are you letting this scumbag do this, Dwight? 145 00:06:14,749 --> 00:06:16,209 {\an8}Quentin got his way winning 146 00:06:16,209 --> 00:06:18,461 {\an8}the right to publish his screenplay. 147 00:06:18,586 --> 00:06:21,714 {\an8}- And then... - There was a restaurant-- 148 00:06:21,714 --> 00:06:24,008 Cut to a West Hollywood restaurant, 149 00:06:24,175 --> 00:06:25,635 Interior. Day. 150 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:27,512 Quentin was leaving the restaurant 151 00:06:27,679 --> 00:06:30,849 and Quentin made eye contact with this guy. 152 00:06:31,015 --> 00:06:34,018 That guy was producer Don Murphy. 153 00:06:34,185 --> 00:06:36,521 And he goes, "Oh, hi, Quentin." 154 00:06:36,688 --> 00:06:38,481 {\an8}And Quentin just lost it. 155 00:06:38,648 --> 00:06:42,819 Quentin took his fist, which is about as big as my head. 156 00:06:42,944 --> 00:06:47,699 And popped him and dropped him on the floor with witnesses. 157 00:06:47,824 --> 00:06:50,535 He just was smacking him. You know? 158 00:06:50,660 --> 00:06:52,203 And dropped him on the ground 159 00:06:52,328 --> 00:06:55,165 and walked away and got sued. 160 00:06:55,290 --> 00:06:57,792 Fade out, fade in. 161 00:06:57,917 --> 00:07:01,212 A lawsuit followed and parties settled out of court. 162 00:07:01,379 --> 00:07:05,925 I know I heard Quentin say, "It was worth every penny." 163 00:07:06,801 --> 00:07:10,138 Stone's film was released to polarizing reviews. 164 00:07:10,263 --> 00:07:13,975 For Tarantino, this was unnatural born killers. 165 00:07:14,100 --> 00:07:17,061 He said, "Nah, they fucked up my script." 166 00:07:17,228 --> 00:07:19,647 Thought you'd be more creative than that. 167 00:07:19,773 --> 00:07:21,608 Even though... 168 00:07:21,608 --> 00:07:23,943 Quentin claimed he'd never seen "Natural Born Killers." 169 00:07:23,943 --> 00:07:26,112 So he got up, he walked out. 170 00:07:26,112 --> 00:07:27,947 It's seen enough. 171 00:07:27,947 --> 00:07:30,909 But audiences loved Stone's movie. 172 00:07:31,034 --> 00:07:34,204 The picture grossed 50 million at the box office 173 00:07:34,329 --> 00:07:36,998 from its budget of $30 million. 174 00:07:37,123 --> 00:07:39,834 Tarantino needed a greater vengeance. 175 00:07:39,959 --> 00:07:43,797 It came just two months later when a story told his way, 176 00:07:43,797 --> 00:07:47,217 as he'd written it, put him firmly on the map. 177 00:07:47,342 --> 00:07:50,929 And you will know my name is the Lord! 178 00:07:51,054 --> 00:07:53,681 Suddenly, everyone wanted to know-- 179 00:07:53,807 --> 00:07:55,225 What's he going to do next? 180 00:07:55,350 --> 00:07:57,894 Newly blooded Tarantino addicts turned 181 00:07:58,019 --> 00:08:01,606 to the director's back catalog in search of their next hit. 182 00:08:01,731 --> 00:08:03,233 Just like Tarantino had done. 183 00:08:03,358 --> 00:08:05,068 It's in. They've got it. 184 00:08:05,193 --> 00:08:07,153 They combed the video store shelves 185 00:08:07,153 --> 00:08:09,656 in search of forgotten gems. 186 00:08:09,656 --> 00:08:11,616 How about you go to the movies with me tonight? 187 00:08:11,783 --> 00:08:13,576 What are we gonna see? 188 00:08:13,701 --> 00:08:16,913 And there they found another Tarantino epic, 189 00:08:17,038 --> 00:08:18,832 hiding in plain sight. 190 00:08:18,957 --> 00:08:21,793 "True Romance," it's the most personal Tarantino movie. 191 00:08:21,918 --> 00:08:23,628 Do you like to get pie after you see a good movie? 192 00:08:23,795 --> 00:08:25,171 Because this was another crime 193 00:08:25,171 --> 00:08:27,215 caper scripted by Tarantino, 194 00:08:27,340 --> 00:08:30,760 Many newly minted Tarantino fans were about to discover 195 00:08:30,885 --> 00:08:33,763 the director was no overnight success. 196 00:08:33,888 --> 00:08:35,056 "True Romance" was something 197 00:08:35,181 --> 00:08:36,933 that Tarantino had been working on. 198 00:08:37,058 --> 00:08:38,977 it kind of pulled from other things he'd already done. 199 00:08:39,144 --> 00:08:41,271 This romantic crime thriller had its roots 200 00:08:41,396 --> 00:08:42,939 in both a script written 201 00:08:43,064 --> 00:08:46,067 by Video Archives collaborator, Roger Avary 202 00:08:46,192 --> 00:08:50,613 and an unfinished feature starring Craig Hamann from 1987. 203 00:08:51,072 --> 00:08:52,282 What's that? 204 00:08:52,407 --> 00:08:54,617 He'd already half-made effectively, 205 00:08:54,742 --> 00:08:55,785 "My Best Friend's Birthday." 206 00:08:55,910 --> 00:08:57,620 But I mean, he is Rockabilly. 207 00:08:57,745 --> 00:08:59,289 He is, Rockabilly. 208 00:08:59,414 --> 00:09:01,124 - Mean, nasty. - Mean, nasty. 209 00:09:01,249 --> 00:09:02,917 He couldn't give a fuck about anything. 210 00:09:03,042 --> 00:09:04,627 The main character in that, 211 00:09:04,752 --> 00:09:06,337 which is very much based on Tarantino himself, 212 00:09:06,504 --> 00:09:08,339 became the character of Clarence. 213 00:09:08,465 --> 00:09:10,216 My life depended on it. 214 00:09:10,216 --> 00:09:11,968 That's for adults. 215 00:09:12,093 --> 00:09:14,804 There was a plot device about the friend buying 216 00:09:14,929 --> 00:09:16,973 a prostitute for him for his birthday. 217 00:09:17,098 --> 00:09:18,766 I'm not a whore, I'm a call girl. 218 00:09:18,892 --> 00:09:20,935 No, I'm a call girl and there's a difference, you know? 219 00:09:21,060 --> 00:09:23,104 Call girls, well they're a lot more classier. 220 00:09:23,229 --> 00:09:25,023 And then the character of Alabama 221 00:09:25,148 --> 00:09:27,692 was very much like Tarantino's dream girl as well. 222 00:09:27,859 --> 00:09:29,819 Is she a four-alarm fire or what? 223 00:09:29,944 --> 00:09:32,739 It all sounded like a classic Tarantino picture. 224 00:09:32,739 --> 00:09:34,324 I don't think so. 225 00:09:34,449 --> 00:09:36,409 But just like "Natural Born Killers," 226 00:09:36,409 --> 00:09:38,119 where this film would end up 227 00:09:38,244 --> 00:09:41,206 was not where Quentin Tarantino imagined it. 228 00:09:46,252 --> 00:09:48,004 A film written by Quentin Tarantino 229 00:09:48,129 --> 00:09:51,674 and called "True Romance" was the perfect vehicle. 230 00:09:52,801 --> 00:09:54,093 Just not for Quentin Tarantino 231 00:09:54,093 --> 00:09:56,137 because it became a Tony Scott film. 232 00:09:56,262 --> 00:09:57,347 Tony said, "You know what? 233 00:09:57,472 --> 00:09:59,641 {\an8}I'm going to do 'True Romance.'" 234 00:09:59,766 --> 00:10:01,226 After Tarantino sold the script 235 00:10:01,351 --> 00:10:03,686 to the British director of "Top Gun." 236 00:10:03,812 --> 00:10:05,271 You can be my wingman anytime. 237 00:10:05,438 --> 00:10:09,192 {\an8}He earned about $30,000. 238 00:10:09,317 --> 00:10:11,069 But despite not directing, 239 00:10:11,194 --> 00:10:14,739 True Romance's cast could hardly have been more Tarantino. 240 00:10:14,906 --> 00:10:17,158 Christian Slater was the hot guy at the time. 241 00:10:17,283 --> 00:10:18,868 You know what that's like? 242 00:10:19,035 --> 00:10:20,662 And at the center of the romance, 243 00:10:20,787 --> 00:10:24,624 Patricia Arquette as love-struck call girl, Alabama. 244 00:10:24,791 --> 00:10:25,792 Mind if I smoke here? 245 00:10:25,792 --> 00:10:27,252 My sister did "True Romance," 246 00:10:27,418 --> 00:10:28,878 {\an8}but that scene, 247 00:10:29,003 --> 00:10:30,630 {\an8}where she's getting the shit beat out of her 248 00:10:32,298 --> 00:10:34,384 and that was very painful to watch for the family 249 00:10:34,509 --> 00:10:36,302 it was like, it was horrible. 250 00:10:36,469 --> 00:10:39,597 But it's a kick-ass scene and how she plays it. 251 00:10:39,764 --> 00:10:41,933 Breathe. 252 00:10:42,100 --> 00:10:43,726 Hi, how are you? 253 00:10:43,852 --> 00:10:45,061 My name's Elliot. 254 00:10:45,186 --> 00:10:48,106 {\an8}That cast straddled 255 00:10:48,523 --> 00:10:51,151 {\an8}different kinds of stardom, different kinds of acting, 256 00:10:51,276 --> 00:10:53,153 {\an8}different kinds of living. 257 00:10:53,278 --> 00:10:55,238 But even with all that experience, 258 00:10:55,363 --> 00:10:58,074 this actor and his castmates were challenged 259 00:10:58,199 --> 00:11:00,869 by Tarantino's esoteric takes. 260 00:11:00,994 --> 00:11:04,706 Elliot, your motivation is to stay out of jail. 261 00:11:04,831 --> 00:11:06,332 They sent me "True Romance" and I was like, 262 00:11:06,457 --> 00:11:08,835 "I don't even know what's going on here." 263 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:11,212 I can't believe I'm doing this. 264 00:11:11,337 --> 00:11:14,757 After all, this was the pre-Tarantino universe. 265 00:11:14,883 --> 00:11:15,925 If you don't know Tarantino, 266 00:11:16,050 --> 00:11:17,302 how are you gonna understand it? 267 00:11:17,469 --> 00:11:19,762 I was like, this is full of profanity. 268 00:11:19,929 --> 00:11:21,014 You wanna fuck me? 269 00:11:21,014 --> 00:11:22,015 Fuck you guys, man. 270 00:11:22,182 --> 00:11:23,349 Who the fuck are you? 271 00:11:23,475 --> 00:11:24,767 Where the fuck did he come from? 272 00:11:24,893 --> 00:11:26,144 And it's full of violence. 273 00:11:30,940 --> 00:11:32,358 And I don't even know how they go together. 274 00:11:32,525 --> 00:11:34,778 I certainly didn't get that it had this lyricism. 275 00:11:34,903 --> 00:11:36,863 I had to come all the way from the highways 276 00:11:36,863 --> 00:11:39,824 and byways of Tallahassee, Florida. 277 00:11:39,949 --> 00:11:43,119 That lyricism found its voice and subject matter 278 00:11:43,244 --> 00:11:45,955 only Tarantino had the courage to explore. 279 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:47,415 I couldn't understand, you know, 280 00:11:47,540 --> 00:11:50,835 the big pussy eating white boy monologue. 281 00:11:51,002 --> 00:11:52,754 Or should that be "exploit"? 282 00:11:52,879 --> 00:11:54,130 What are you motherfuckers talking about? 283 00:11:54,255 --> 00:11:56,716 Floyd say he don't be eating pussy. 284 00:11:56,841 --> 00:11:58,885 It should be released for acting classes. 285 00:11:58,885 --> 00:12:00,887 'Cause the original script, the pussy eating monologue... 286 00:12:01,054 --> 00:12:02,055 Oh, hold on a second. 287 00:12:02,055 --> 00:12:04,015 Big D, you saying you eat pussy? 288 00:12:04,182 --> 00:12:05,892 Damn, motherfucker, I eat everything. 289 00:12:06,017 --> 00:12:07,852 ...is at least two and a half times 290 00:12:07,977 --> 00:12:09,187 what it is in the finished film. 291 00:12:09,312 --> 00:12:10,730 I eat the pussy, I eat the butt, 292 00:12:10,730 --> 00:12:12,315 I eat every motherfuckin' thang. 293 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:15,485 If you can't imagine an extremely amazing actor 294 00:12:15,610 --> 00:12:17,946 doing that, you don't know what the hell you're reading. 295 00:12:18,071 --> 00:12:20,240 Tony Scott shared Tarantino's willingness 296 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,116 to push the boundaries of taste, 297 00:12:22,242 --> 00:12:24,160 but not the storytelling envelope. 298 00:12:24,285 --> 00:12:26,371 He did kind of feel that there were some changes 299 00:12:26,496 --> 00:12:28,039 that needed to be made to it. 300 00:12:28,164 --> 00:12:29,916 "True Romance" was originally like told 301 00:12:30,041 --> 00:12:33,169 in a non-linear way so it kind of started 302 00:12:33,294 --> 00:12:36,130 with Clarence killing the pimp 303 00:12:38,174 --> 00:12:41,094 and then went back to Clarence meeting Alabama. 304 00:12:41,511 --> 00:12:43,012 What a wonderful philosophy. 305 00:12:43,179 --> 00:12:45,223 And Scott just wanted to make it more linear. 306 00:12:45,390 --> 00:12:47,433 Or you might say less Tarantino 307 00:12:47,433 --> 00:12:48,726 as we would come to know him. 308 00:12:48,893 --> 00:12:50,436 This isn't a good idea. 309 00:12:50,436 --> 00:12:52,272 And perhaps surprisingly... 310 00:12:52,397 --> 00:12:54,107 Tarantino didn't have a problem with that. 311 00:12:54,274 --> 00:12:55,817 Okey-dokey, doggy-daddy. 312 00:12:55,942 --> 00:12:57,694 Partly because Tarantino knew 313 00:12:57,861 --> 00:13:00,864 he had been accepted to his own personal film school. 314 00:13:01,030 --> 00:13:02,866 {\an8}Tony took him under his wing 315 00:13:03,032 --> 00:13:05,285 {\an8}and Tony Scott became a mentor. 316 00:13:05,410 --> 00:13:07,078 And Quentin Tarantino 317 00:13:07,203 --> 00:13:10,123 wasn't the only one being schooled on the set. 318 00:13:10,123 --> 00:13:11,249 I don't fucking believe this. 319 00:13:11,374 --> 00:13:12,959 The stuff, dammit, I knew it! 320 00:13:13,084 --> 00:13:15,295 Nobody had asked me if I could drive stick. 321 00:13:15,420 --> 00:13:16,379 Nobody thought to ask me. 322 00:13:16,546 --> 00:13:18,423 I fucking knew it! 323 00:13:18,548 --> 00:13:21,843 And yours truly was not only learning how to drive a scene, 324 00:13:21,968 --> 00:13:24,471 I was also learning how to drive. 325 00:13:24,471 --> 00:13:25,972 We're shooting out of sequence 326 00:13:26,097 --> 00:13:27,223 where I'm driving the Coke Whore. 327 00:13:27,390 --> 00:13:29,184 And I knew just what to do. 328 00:13:29,309 --> 00:13:32,061 So I said to the actress, "Would you like be giving me 329 00:13:32,187 --> 00:13:33,980 a blowjob, but your head will be out of frame 330 00:13:34,105 --> 00:13:35,064 and I'll just pull your head up?" 331 00:13:35,231 --> 00:13:36,191 And she's like, "I love it." 332 00:13:36,316 --> 00:13:38,318 Oh fuck! 333 00:13:38,443 --> 00:13:39,486 Fuck! 334 00:13:39,486 --> 00:13:40,820 It's a good reveal. 335 00:13:40,820 --> 00:13:42,322 But anyway, so we're doing that. 336 00:13:42,447 --> 00:13:44,032 I'm cackling. 337 00:13:44,157 --> 00:13:45,825 The more I cackle, the more everybody loves it. 338 00:13:45,950 --> 00:13:48,077 And we're having fun and I'm doing this wild cackle. 339 00:13:51,331 --> 00:13:52,999 And all of a sudden somebody says to me, 340 00:13:53,166 --> 00:13:55,168 "So now you need to pull over and park 341 00:13:55,293 --> 00:13:57,128 because the cop's gonna come up." 342 00:13:57,253 --> 00:13:59,923 Bronson needed to actually drive the car for this wide shot. 343 00:14:00,590 --> 00:14:03,051 And I said, "Oh. How do you do that?" 344 00:14:03,176 --> 00:14:04,552 And they said, 345 00:14:04,677 --> 00:14:05,845 "Did no one ask you if you could drive stick?" 346 00:14:06,012 --> 00:14:07,388 I said, "No, I can't." 347 00:14:07,514 --> 00:14:09,140 Oh fuck, this is how my goddamn head examined 348 00:14:09,265 --> 00:14:10,183 for driving like this. 349 00:14:10,308 --> 00:14:11,851 And somebody said, "Okay, 350 00:14:12,018 --> 00:14:13,353 we don't have any stunt doubles here, 351 00:14:13,478 --> 00:14:15,939 but there's an electrician kind of looks 352 00:14:16,064 --> 00:14:17,398 like he could be Bronson. 353 00:14:17,524 --> 00:14:19,359 We could spray paint his hair black 354 00:14:19,359 --> 00:14:21,319 and then he could be Bronson." 355 00:14:21,486 --> 00:14:23,154 And Tony said, 356 00:14:23,279 --> 00:14:25,073 "He doesn't look anything like fucking Bronson." 357 00:14:25,198 --> 00:14:28,159 So they said, "Okay, well, what if we put sunglasses on him?" 358 00:14:28,326 --> 00:14:30,120 And Tony said, 359 00:14:30,245 --> 00:14:32,455 "But Bronson wasn't fucking wearing fucking sunglasses." 360 00:14:32,622 --> 00:14:35,208 And so I said, "Look, put sunglasses on him 361 00:14:35,208 --> 00:14:37,877 and then in the shot, I'll put them on 362 00:14:38,044 --> 00:14:39,420 and then take them off 363 00:14:39,546 --> 00:14:40,547 because I want to see the rearview mirror. 364 00:14:40,547 --> 00:14:43,174 So that's how we'll cover that." 365 00:14:43,299 --> 00:14:45,301 And Quentin comes up to me and says, 366 00:14:45,426 --> 00:14:47,554 "I wanted that cackle in this movie. 367 00:14:50,515 --> 00:14:52,183 How did you know that exact sound? 368 00:14:52,308 --> 00:14:54,394 I said, "Well, you see, she was well, never mind." 369 00:14:54,394 --> 00:14:55,979 He goes, "I wanted that cackle." 370 00:14:56,146 --> 00:14:58,106 As a writer, Tarantino was learning 371 00:14:58,231 --> 00:15:00,650 how to flow like water around actors. 372 00:15:00,942 --> 00:15:02,318 - Hi. - You know, because we're all 373 00:15:02,443 --> 00:15:04,070 afraid of writers on film. 374 00:15:04,195 --> 00:15:05,405 Sometimes you want to lighten up what you're doing 375 00:15:05,405 --> 00:15:07,073 or sometimes you want to play 376 00:15:07,198 --> 00:15:08,533 and you don't want to feel like the writer 377 00:15:08,658 --> 00:15:10,410 is getting mad at you. 378 00:15:10,535 --> 00:15:13,329 So there's an art form so that you can enjoy the fun 379 00:15:13,455 --> 00:15:15,915 and not cramp anyone's style. 380 00:15:16,082 --> 00:15:18,126 If after talking to you he likes you, 381 00:15:18,251 --> 00:15:19,586 wants to deal with you, he'll deal with you. 382 00:15:19,752 --> 00:15:21,171 He had that down pat. 383 00:15:21,296 --> 00:15:23,256 If he doesn't, he'll say, fuck you, 384 00:15:23,256 --> 00:15:25,091 and he'll walk out of the room. 385 00:15:26,217 --> 00:15:29,262 In Tony Scott, Tarantino had a sympathetic mentor 386 00:15:29,262 --> 00:15:32,015 who was allowing him to stay in touch with his own work. 387 00:15:32,182 --> 00:15:35,435 And besides the money he was paid for the script, 388 00:15:35,435 --> 00:15:37,979 Tony let him contribute to the dialogue 389 00:15:38,104 --> 00:15:39,355 and he's making extra money 390 00:15:39,481 --> 00:15:41,232 by helping him with the dialogue. 391 00:15:41,357 --> 00:15:43,193 Don't you want to count your money? 392 00:15:43,359 --> 00:15:44,652 But there was a shootout 393 00:15:44,778 --> 00:15:46,529 between the young writer and his director 394 00:15:46,654 --> 00:15:49,199 when it came to the finale of "True Romance." 395 00:15:51,409 --> 00:15:53,953 {\an8}He had written it that Clarence dies at the end. 396 00:15:56,164 --> 00:15:57,540 And Scott was like, "Yeah, 397 00:15:57,665 --> 00:15:59,209 I don't think he should die at the end. 398 00:15:59,334 --> 00:16:01,377 I think they should get away and go to Mexico." 399 00:16:03,171 --> 00:16:04,631 Tarantino absolutely disagreed. 400 00:16:04,798 --> 00:16:05,757 He said, "Don't do that. 401 00:16:05,882 --> 00:16:07,634 That would be wrong." 402 00:16:07,634 --> 00:16:10,011 Scott stuck to his guns and Tarantino said, "Well fine, 403 00:16:10,136 --> 00:16:12,514 you can do it, but I'm not rewriting it." 404 00:16:12,639 --> 00:16:14,599 The rewrite went to Roger Avary 405 00:16:14,766 --> 00:16:17,435 Tarantino's Video Archives writing buddy 406 00:16:17,602 --> 00:16:20,063 and soon to be co-author of "Pulp Fiction." 407 00:16:20,188 --> 00:16:22,607 {\an8}And he rewrote the ending for a fee of about $1,000, 408 00:16:22,774 --> 00:16:24,150 I think it was. 409 00:16:24,150 --> 00:16:26,277 I look back and I'm amazed 410 00:16:26,444 --> 00:16:28,613 that my thoughts were so clear and true. 411 00:16:28,738 --> 00:16:31,115 But that wasn't the end of the ending 412 00:16:31,282 --> 00:16:32,742 for Tarantino. 413 00:16:32,867 --> 00:16:34,536 Tarantino, when he finally saw the movie, went, 414 00:16:34,661 --> 00:16:36,996 "Okay, sure, that was the right thing to do." 415 00:16:37,121 --> 00:16:39,207 - You're so cool. - They said it made 416 00:16:39,332 --> 00:16:41,960 the film feel more like a kind of a fairy tale. 417 00:16:42,126 --> 00:16:43,503 And the want of death would fade 418 00:16:43,628 --> 00:16:45,547 like the stars at dawn. 419 00:16:45,755 --> 00:16:48,758 The fairy tale had no fairy tale ending for the studio. 420 00:16:48,883 --> 00:16:51,719 When "True Romance" was released in 1993, 421 00:16:51,845 --> 00:16:54,597 there was nothing romantic about the truth. 422 00:16:54,764 --> 00:16:56,516 {\an8}A box office flop. 423 00:16:56,724 --> 00:16:59,769 It barely edged past its $12.5 million budget, 424 00:16:59,894 --> 00:17:02,188 earning $13 million worldwide. 425 00:17:02,355 --> 00:17:05,400 Well, in Tony Scott terms, it was not successful. 426 00:17:05,525 --> 00:17:07,110 But this was a Tarantino film 427 00:17:07,235 --> 00:17:10,196 that nobody saw through his lens until the film 428 00:17:10,321 --> 00:17:13,533 that changed everything in October of 1994. 429 00:17:13,533 --> 00:17:14,701 You know who we are? 430 00:17:14,701 --> 00:17:16,661 Once "Pulp Fiction" comes out, 431 00:17:16,828 --> 00:17:20,081 a lot of people went back and saw "True Romance," 432 00:17:20,206 --> 00:17:21,791 people go, "Oh yeah, okay. 433 00:17:21,916 --> 00:17:24,085 We see where this was gonna go if we saw this first." 434 00:17:24,210 --> 00:17:26,296 As I felt the touch of God. 435 00:17:26,421 --> 00:17:28,381 And as if by divine intervention, 436 00:17:28,506 --> 00:17:30,508 following the release of "Pulp Fiction," 437 00:17:30,633 --> 00:17:33,678 for "True Romance," video stores rode the wave 438 00:17:33,845 --> 00:17:36,055 and VHS rentals surged. 439 00:17:36,055 --> 00:17:38,474 Becomes much bigger through Tarantino's name. 440 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:39,726 Can't believe what you're telling me. 441 00:17:39,893 --> 00:17:42,061 It became a cult hit. 442 00:17:42,228 --> 00:17:44,063 I am on this earth to make good movies. 443 00:17:44,189 --> 00:17:45,315 Nothing more and nothing-- 444 00:17:45,482 --> 00:17:46,566 Well, maybe less sometimes. 445 00:17:46,733 --> 00:17:48,485 Ironically, 446 00:17:48,610 --> 00:17:51,237 its cult status was only conferred upon it 447 00:17:51,237 --> 00:17:53,198 thanks to video store rentals. 448 00:17:53,364 --> 00:17:56,326 And if you happened to wander over to the horror section, 449 00:17:56,451 --> 00:17:58,787 you might have found another Tarantino terror 450 00:17:58,912 --> 00:18:00,830 with even stranger origins. 451 00:18:00,955 --> 00:18:02,499 What is this? It's nonlinear? 452 00:18:02,665 --> 00:18:05,293 {\an8}Is it a vampire movie? Is it a gangster movie? 453 00:18:05,418 --> 00:18:07,253 {\an8}So nobody wanted to buy it. 454 00:18:12,425 --> 00:18:14,093 Before "Reservoir Dogs" 455 00:18:14,219 --> 00:18:16,387 and "Pulp Fiction" put Quentin Tarantino on the map 456 00:18:16,513 --> 00:18:18,181 as a director... 457 00:18:18,306 --> 00:18:19,474 Trying to forget anything as intriguing as this 458 00:18:19,599 --> 00:18:21,392 would be an exercise in futility. 459 00:18:21,559 --> 00:18:22,769 He was already a writer 460 00:18:22,894 --> 00:18:24,229 who wanted to be an actor. 461 00:18:24,395 --> 00:18:26,439 What do they look like, Jimmie? 462 00:18:26,564 --> 00:18:28,149 Dorks. 463 00:18:28,274 --> 00:18:30,193 {\an8}And yet many fans didn't know that. 464 00:18:30,318 --> 00:18:34,239 {\an8}At least not until 1996, when, in one unusual film, 465 00:18:34,364 --> 00:18:37,408 {\an8}Tarantino combined both of those passions. 466 00:18:37,534 --> 00:18:40,245 {\an8}It was going to be a project for myself to direct. 467 00:18:40,370 --> 00:18:41,579 It was a script that predated 468 00:18:41,746 --> 00:18:44,249 the Tarantino-verse and had a champion 469 00:18:44,374 --> 00:18:47,502 and longtime collaborator, Robert Kurtzman. 470 00:18:47,627 --> 00:18:49,838 I gave it to several actors who just would, 471 00:18:49,963 --> 00:18:51,756 they weren't interested in being in "From Dusk Till Dawn" 472 00:18:51,881 --> 00:18:54,342 because it was so vulgar and over the top. 473 00:18:54,467 --> 00:18:57,262 Welcome to slavery. 474 00:18:57,387 --> 00:18:59,180 Actually, that's another film. 475 00:18:59,305 --> 00:19:01,724 This one was the story of two outlaw brothers on the run 476 00:19:01,850 --> 00:19:03,810 from the law who wind up in a bar 477 00:19:03,810 --> 00:19:05,854 that's hiding something far worse. 478 00:19:07,689 --> 00:19:09,482 But few even understood. 479 00:19:09,482 --> 00:19:11,109 So nobody wanted to buy it. 480 00:19:11,276 --> 00:19:13,069 But by 1994, 481 00:19:13,236 --> 00:19:18,324 a forgotten Tarantino script was like an icon unearthed. 482 00:19:18,491 --> 00:19:21,828 And Miramax producer Bob Weinstein saw an opportunity 483 00:19:21,828 --> 00:19:24,164 to convert any remaining doubters. 484 00:19:24,164 --> 00:19:26,207 {\an8}Miramax were the only people 485 00:19:26,332 --> 00:19:27,792 {\an8}that would back him. 486 00:19:27,959 --> 00:19:30,545 Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary for "Pulp Fiction." 487 00:19:30,670 --> 00:19:32,547 {\an8}You know, they talked about Miramax being the house 488 00:19:32,672 --> 00:19:34,132 {\an8}that Quentin built. 489 00:19:34,299 --> 00:19:37,385 {\an8}This has been a very strange year. 490 00:19:37,510 --> 00:19:39,804 And Tarantino had a spiritual home 491 00:19:39,929 --> 00:19:42,140 at the independent production house. 492 00:19:42,307 --> 00:19:44,184 Harvey loved Quentin. 493 00:19:44,350 --> 00:19:48,271 He allowed him to make movies the way he wanted to. 494 00:19:48,396 --> 00:19:49,689 Even though Quentin 495 00:19:49,814 --> 00:19:51,483 would not be making this movie himself, 496 00:19:51,608 --> 00:19:54,360 this time, his priorities would be different. 497 00:19:57,739 --> 00:19:59,699 Miramax green lit the movie, 498 00:19:59,699 --> 00:20:02,327 but there were also red warning lights flashing 499 00:20:02,452 --> 00:20:04,454 at the house that Quentin built. 500 00:20:04,579 --> 00:20:08,500 In 1995, Quentin was dating actress Mira Sorvino 501 00:20:08,625 --> 00:20:10,293 and she recounted to Tarantino 502 00:20:10,418 --> 00:20:12,504 that Weinstein began massaging her 503 00:20:12,629 --> 00:20:15,340 and then chasing her around a hotel room. 504 00:20:15,507 --> 00:20:18,468 Quentin wrote it off as Harvey being hung up on Mira 505 00:20:18,635 --> 00:20:20,887 and assumed there wouldn't be any more problems 506 00:20:21,012 --> 00:20:22,889 as they were close friends at the time. 507 00:20:23,014 --> 00:20:25,683 That was one part of a saga yet to attract 508 00:20:25,850 --> 00:20:27,352 the glare of the spotlight 509 00:20:27,477 --> 00:20:28,811 But for Robert Kurtzman, 510 00:20:28,937 --> 00:20:30,855 Tarantino's burgeoning reputation 511 00:20:31,022 --> 00:20:33,274 was giving him his day in the sun. 512 00:20:33,399 --> 00:20:35,193 The fact that we were there 513 00:20:35,318 --> 00:20:40,198 finally getting this thing made, was just perfect for me. 514 00:20:40,323 --> 00:20:42,659 {\an8}Quentin's script was based on Robert's 515 00:20:42,784 --> 00:20:44,244 original short story. 516 00:20:44,369 --> 00:20:47,247 Tarantino was paid just $1,500 to write it 517 00:20:47,247 --> 00:20:49,541 and had no interest in directing his script. 518 00:20:49,707 --> 00:20:51,501 Quentin was never going to direct "...Dusk Till Dawn." 519 00:20:51,626 --> 00:20:52,961 He had fun writing it. 520 00:20:53,086 --> 00:20:55,004 I don't think he ever wanted to direct it. 521 00:20:55,130 --> 00:20:57,298 Because Tarantino had something bigger in mind. 522 00:20:57,423 --> 00:20:59,509 "The Holy Trinity." 523 00:20:59,634 --> 00:21:01,719 {\an8}Actor, writer, director. 524 00:21:01,886 --> 00:21:03,680 And with Quentin committed to performing 525 00:21:03,805 --> 00:21:05,223 in front of the camera, 526 00:21:06,850 --> 00:21:10,436 the road for unheralded and uncredited director, 527 00:21:10,436 --> 00:21:12,480 Robert Kurtzman was rockier. 528 00:21:12,605 --> 00:21:14,357 Me as a director attached, 529 00:21:14,482 --> 00:21:16,359 having no directing credits might have kept them 530 00:21:16,484 --> 00:21:18,820 from moving forward with it. 531 00:21:18,945 --> 00:21:21,281 And despite eight years nursing the project, 532 00:21:21,406 --> 00:21:23,950 he decided to cede the director's chair. 533 00:21:23,950 --> 00:21:27,912 At that point, I just wanted to see the movie get made. 534 00:21:28,079 --> 00:21:29,914 It wasn't meant for me to direct. 535 00:21:30,039 --> 00:21:32,625 Now Miramax still had to find a director fluent 536 00:21:32,750 --> 00:21:34,294 in Tarantino. 537 00:21:34,419 --> 00:21:35,795 What's the matter with you? Are you crazy? 538 00:21:35,795 --> 00:21:37,505 Brave enough to handle the material. 539 00:21:37,630 --> 00:21:41,342 - Way ahead of you. - And direct the man himself. 540 00:21:41,468 --> 00:21:42,510 {\an8}- Hi. - Robert Rodriguez 541 00:21:42,635 --> 00:21:44,345 {\an8}had done "Mariachi." 542 00:21:46,764 --> 00:21:48,725 They got completely different styles, 543 00:21:48,850 --> 00:21:51,603 but there's no way they they don't learn from each other. 544 00:21:51,728 --> 00:21:53,521 They enjoy each other's movies. 545 00:21:53,646 --> 00:21:55,982 Finding a director for "From Dusk Till Dawn" 546 00:21:56,107 --> 00:21:58,777 was never the production's biggest personnel problem. 547 00:21:58,943 --> 00:22:01,237 In those days it was like horror wasn't 548 00:22:01,404 --> 00:22:03,364 for serious actors, you know? 549 00:22:03,490 --> 00:22:05,533 We're having such a hard time finding somebody to play 550 00:22:05,658 --> 00:22:07,327 the brother to Quentin 'cause I want it to be someone 551 00:22:07,452 --> 00:22:08,620 who could actually look like he could be his brother, 552 00:22:08,787 --> 00:22:10,330 yet be a great actor. 553 00:22:10,455 --> 00:22:11,789 Somehow, that man happened to be 554 00:22:11,956 --> 00:22:13,917 one of the best looking men in Hollywood, 555 00:22:14,042 --> 00:22:15,877 a man Tarantino had directed, 556 00:22:16,002 --> 00:22:19,297 a TV dreamboat named George Clooney. 557 00:22:19,464 --> 00:22:22,008 Look at you working on a Sunday. 558 00:22:22,133 --> 00:22:24,803 {\an8}Quentin had directed "ER" at that point, I believe. 559 00:22:26,513 --> 00:22:28,640 And now that Tarantino was a star, 560 00:22:28,807 --> 00:22:31,726 the director drew more serious actors into his orbit. 561 00:22:31,851 --> 00:22:32,852 Everybody be cool. 562 00:22:32,977 --> 00:22:35,063 You, be cool. 563 00:22:35,188 --> 00:22:38,358 Including Selma Hayek, 564 00:22:38,358 --> 00:22:40,485 - Juliet Lewis... - Need some company? 565 00:22:40,652 --> 00:22:42,278 ...and Harvey Keitel. 566 00:22:42,403 --> 00:22:43,988 Has anybody here read a real book about vampires 567 00:22:44,155 --> 00:22:46,908 or are we just remembering what some movie said? 568 00:22:47,033 --> 00:22:49,953 Because most of those people they had connections with. 569 00:22:50,078 --> 00:22:51,955 Robert's own connection with Tarantino 570 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:54,999 would see him retain a hand in his dream project. 571 00:22:55,166 --> 00:22:56,334 I was a co-producer on it. 572 00:22:56,501 --> 00:22:58,378 KNB got to do the effects. 573 00:22:58,378 --> 00:23:01,339 Tarantino go-to, KNB FX, 574 00:23:01,506 --> 00:23:04,801 was hired to do the makeup and prosthetic effects. 575 00:23:04,968 --> 00:23:08,680 A relationship that would endure well past the vampire fest 576 00:23:08,847 --> 00:23:10,932 of "From Dusk Till Dawn." 577 00:23:11,057 --> 00:23:13,852 That made up for everything and the fact 578 00:23:13,977 --> 00:23:16,813 that we were there finally getting this thing made 579 00:23:16,938 --> 00:23:18,898 was just perfect for me. 580 00:23:19,023 --> 00:23:21,860 Principal photography kicked off in June 1995, 581 00:23:22,026 --> 00:23:24,779 forging scenes fans would never forget. 582 00:23:24,904 --> 00:23:27,699 And now, for your viewing pleasure. 583 00:23:27,824 --> 00:23:33,329 Kneel and worship at the feet of Santanico Pandemonium. 584 00:23:33,454 --> 00:23:35,039 And speaking of-- 585 00:23:35,165 --> 00:23:37,375 - Worship at the feet. - Right. 586 00:23:37,500 --> 00:23:40,044 "From Dusk Till Dawn" wouldn't have been a Tarantino script 587 00:23:40,170 --> 00:23:42,005 without his unique trademarks. 588 00:23:43,715 --> 00:23:45,091 {\an8}He loves feet. 589 00:23:45,216 --> 00:23:47,010 {\an8}He likes a woman with a nice set of feet. 590 00:23:47,135 --> 00:23:49,846 This tequila-soaked moment marks the turning point 591 00:23:49,971 --> 00:23:54,142 of a film about to undergo its own metamorphosis. 592 00:23:54,267 --> 00:23:55,935 Richie, get back on the clock. 593 00:23:55,935 --> 00:23:59,397 It just twists and then it's all out mayhem. 594 00:23:59,522 --> 00:24:01,399 From a violent crime caper 595 00:24:01,524 --> 00:24:05,904 to an alien vampire flick in a space of a few frames of CGI. 596 00:24:06,654 --> 00:24:08,406 Richie, look out! 597 00:24:08,573 --> 00:24:11,659 When the vampires attack, all that's written there, 598 00:24:11,785 --> 00:24:13,912 it just says, "And all hell ensues." 599 00:24:16,956 --> 00:24:18,625 Robert Kurtzman finally got to see 600 00:24:18,750 --> 00:24:20,710 his short story turned into a film when, 601 00:24:20,835 --> 00:24:24,589 "From Dusk Till Dawn" was released in January of 1996. 602 00:24:24,756 --> 00:24:27,175 Audiences embraced its dual personalities 603 00:24:27,300 --> 00:24:31,679 with a $25 million box office against $19 million spent. 604 00:24:31,805 --> 00:24:33,640 Tarantino takes this outline 605 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:37,143 for this cool vampire crime movie 606 00:24:37,143 --> 00:24:38,978 and with the help of his friend Rob Rodriguez, 607 00:24:38,978 --> 00:24:41,064 turns it into a another cult classic 608 00:24:41,189 --> 00:24:42,899 that may have even launched the movie career 609 00:24:43,024 --> 00:24:44,526 of George Clooney. 610 00:24:44,651 --> 00:24:45,860 Those acts of God really stick it in 611 00:24:45,985 --> 00:24:47,445 and break it off, don't they? 612 00:24:47,612 --> 00:24:48,947 But what about the director 613 00:24:49,072 --> 00:24:51,616 who had got to act in the film he wrote? 614 00:24:51,783 --> 00:24:53,910 I think he's a better director than he is an actor, 615 00:24:54,077 --> 00:24:57,122 but I thought he did a great job in "...Dusk." 616 00:24:57,247 --> 00:24:58,957 Hi, how are you doing? 617 00:24:59,124 --> 00:25:01,251 Enjoying it? I hope so. 618 00:25:01,376 --> 00:25:03,211 But regardless of how well he performed 619 00:25:03,336 --> 00:25:05,797 on camera in the wake of "Pulp Fiction," 620 00:25:05,922 --> 00:25:08,508 Tarantino fans had only one question... 621 00:25:08,508 --> 00:25:09,884 What's he going to do next? 622 00:25:10,009 --> 00:25:11,553 That decision was complicated 623 00:25:11,678 --> 00:25:14,639 by the immense spotlight "Pulp Fiction" had cast 624 00:25:14,806 --> 00:25:17,016 - over its director. - What is it? 625 00:25:17,183 --> 00:25:19,102 {\an8}"Pulp Fiction" 626 00:25:19,227 --> 00:25:21,479 {\an8}is so huge, how do you even follow it? 627 00:25:21,646 --> 00:25:22,939 It's beautiful. 628 00:25:23,064 --> 00:25:24,816 Answering that question 629 00:25:24,941 --> 00:25:28,027 would set the trajectory of Quentin Tarantino's career. 630 00:25:28,153 --> 00:25:30,446 People talk about difficult second album. 631 00:25:30,572 --> 00:25:32,907 You ain't asking the right questions. 632 00:25:33,032 --> 00:25:35,577 In this case, it was difficult third movie. 633 00:25:40,623 --> 00:25:42,542 Three years on from "Pulp Fiction," 634 00:25:42,542 --> 00:25:45,170 Tarantino was in no rush to build on the momentum 635 00:25:45,336 --> 00:25:46,754 from his breakout hit. 636 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:48,673 The answer to the question fans 637 00:25:48,798 --> 00:25:50,758 and critics alike were asking... 638 00:25:50,884 --> 00:25:54,721 {\an8}If "Pulp Fiction" is so huge, how do you even follow it? 639 00:25:54,846 --> 00:25:57,015 That's what I've been sitting here contemplating. 640 00:25:57,140 --> 00:25:59,726 Still, inevitably, in the crime genre, 641 00:25:59,851 --> 00:26:02,020 his next project could trace its origins 642 00:26:02,187 --> 00:26:05,648 to a crime committed by Quentin Tarantino himself. 643 00:26:07,108 --> 00:26:08,818 Not quite that serious. 644 00:26:08,943 --> 00:26:10,862 He'd loved Elmore Leonard ever since he was a kid. 645 00:26:11,029 --> 00:26:15,200 In fact, he got caught shoplifting an Elmore Leonard novel 646 00:26:15,325 --> 00:26:16,993 when he was a teenager. 647 00:26:17,118 --> 00:26:19,996 I see bits and pieces of Elmore Leonard's style 648 00:26:20,121 --> 00:26:22,790 extremely prevalent right up to "Jackie Brown." 649 00:26:22,916 --> 00:26:24,209 No longer shoplifting, 650 00:26:24,334 --> 00:26:25,919 Tarantino had access 651 00:26:25,919 --> 00:26:28,546 to best-selling novelist Elmore Leonard's work 652 00:26:28,671 --> 00:26:30,006 in its many different forms... 653 00:26:30,131 --> 00:26:32,091 He picked up a galley-- 654 00:26:32,091 --> 00:26:35,136 ...including unedited manuscripts or galleys. 655 00:26:35,261 --> 00:26:38,014 So it's before it's published for "Rum Punch." 656 00:26:38,139 --> 00:26:40,016 But this would be his first adaptation 657 00:26:40,141 --> 00:26:42,143 rather than an original script. 658 00:26:42,268 --> 00:26:44,103 - So-- - As soon as he took it on, 659 00:26:44,103 --> 00:26:46,064 he started changing things. 660 00:26:46,189 --> 00:26:49,943 And he moved it to the part of California that he lived. 661 00:26:49,943 --> 00:26:51,569 Embracing Leonard's story 662 00:26:51,694 --> 00:26:53,196 of a leaned-on flight attendant 663 00:26:53,321 --> 00:26:57,033 who hatches a plot to escape her gunrunner boss 664 00:26:57,158 --> 00:26:59,244 {\an8}and taking it to the streets of his own youth. 665 00:26:59,369 --> 00:27:02,288 {\an8}Growing up in the South Bay, it's a perfect melting pot. 666 00:27:02,413 --> 00:27:04,582 {\an8}He grew up surrounded by black culture. 667 00:27:04,749 --> 00:27:06,709 {\an8}His neighborhood, his high school. 668 00:27:06,876 --> 00:27:08,253 What you mean, walk the earth? 669 00:27:08,378 --> 00:27:10,296 You know, like Cain in Kung Fu. 670 00:27:10,421 --> 00:27:13,675 And he was an excellent student of all forms. 671 00:27:14,509 --> 00:27:17,846 ♪ Jungle boogie, jungle boogie ♪ 672 00:27:17,971 --> 00:27:21,933 {\an8}You can just hum the first bar of any tune 673 00:27:22,058 --> 00:27:26,938 {\an8}from any black performer, and he knew what it was. 674 00:27:27,772 --> 00:27:29,774 Little wonder Tarantino 675 00:27:29,899 --> 00:27:31,818 took Elmore Leonard's white protagonist 676 00:27:31,943 --> 00:27:35,113 and turned her into a black woman for Jackie Brown. 677 00:27:36,406 --> 00:27:38,616 And not just any black woman. 678 00:27:38,741 --> 00:27:41,327 You know just the words that turn me on. 679 00:27:41,327 --> 00:27:47,292 Pam Grier, she was such a huge, huge, huge part 680 00:27:47,459 --> 00:27:50,837 of Blaxploitation films. 681 00:27:50,962 --> 00:27:54,966 My name's Coffy. LuBelle Coffy is my little sister. 682 00:27:55,091 --> 00:27:57,093 Actress Pam Grier was an icon 683 00:27:57,218 --> 00:27:58,261 in the black community. 684 00:27:58,386 --> 00:28:00,138 It seems like I'm in a dream. 685 00:28:00,889 --> 00:28:02,807 And I'm still in this dream, Howard. 686 00:28:02,932 --> 00:28:05,226 She was everything in the '70s. 687 00:28:05,351 --> 00:28:06,895 I mean, everything. 688 00:28:07,020 --> 00:28:09,189 It really has been a long time, hasn't it? 689 00:28:09,189 --> 00:28:11,649 And Quentin had already paid his own tribute 690 00:28:11,775 --> 00:28:14,235 in the most Tarantino of ways. 691 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:16,279 What's the name of the chick who played Christie Love? 692 00:28:16,404 --> 00:28:18,239 - Pam Grier. - No, it wasn't Pam Grier. 693 00:28:18,364 --> 00:28:19,991 Pam Grier was the other one. 694 00:28:20,158 --> 00:28:21,743 Pam Grier did the film. 695 00:28:21,868 --> 00:28:24,329 Now a filmmaker wielding real clout 696 00:28:24,454 --> 00:28:26,206 He was determined to make Pam Grier 697 00:28:26,331 --> 00:28:28,958 a name no one would confuse with another. 698 00:28:29,083 --> 00:28:32,837 {\an8}Really, really wanted Pam Grier in the role. 699 00:28:32,962 --> 00:28:35,256 And the way Tarantino managed to woo her 700 00:28:35,381 --> 00:28:37,884 was like a scene straight out of one of his movies. 701 00:28:37,884 --> 00:28:39,385 What if I say no? 702 00:28:39,719 --> 00:28:41,930 {\an8}My eldest brother Warrington was dating Pam at the time 703 00:28:42,055 --> 00:28:43,181 {\an8}and they were waiting in line 704 00:28:43,306 --> 00:28:44,974 at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. 705 00:28:45,099 --> 00:28:46,851 My brother looks over and sees Quentin Tarantino 706 00:28:47,018 --> 00:28:49,145 and Quentin said, "Oh, I'm writing a script for you." 707 00:28:49,270 --> 00:28:51,022 When did you decide? 708 00:28:51,189 --> 00:28:53,107 Cut to Pam Grier's house sometime later, 709 00:28:53,233 --> 00:28:54,984 where she has received a package. 710 00:28:55,109 --> 00:28:56,778 Open, it's the script. 711 00:28:56,903 --> 00:28:58,238 And she reads the script and calls Quentin and is like, 712 00:28:58,363 --> 00:28:59,864 "Well, what part am I supposed to play?" 713 00:29:00,031 --> 00:29:02,367 He says, "You're Jackie Brown. It's you." 714 00:29:02,492 --> 00:29:04,035 You earned it 715 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:05,370 The script was a love letter 716 00:29:05,537 --> 00:29:07,330 to his screen idol and original pinup. 717 00:29:07,455 --> 00:29:09,207 What you doing sitting out here in the dark? 718 00:29:09,374 --> 00:29:11,000 No! 719 00:29:11,167 --> 00:29:12,794 Speaking of pinups. 720 00:29:12,919 --> 00:29:14,295 She shows up to his office 721 00:29:14,420 --> 00:29:16,381 {\an8}and Tarantino had to take down some posters 722 00:29:16,506 --> 00:29:18,299 {\an8}because he's embarrassed 723 00:29:18,424 --> 00:29:20,718 because his office is littered with Pam Grier's posters. 724 00:29:20,885 --> 00:29:22,679 No, I thought he put 'em up because I was coming. 725 00:29:22,804 --> 00:29:23,847 - Yeah. - And he says, "No. 726 00:29:23,972 --> 00:29:25,056 I'm gonna take 'em down 727 00:29:25,223 --> 00:29:26,808 because you was coming." You know? 728 00:29:26,933 --> 00:29:29,185 While all of this made sense to Tarantino-- 729 00:29:29,310 --> 00:29:31,479 Tarantino's worried that he's gonna come across 730 00:29:31,604 --> 00:29:33,398 as a fanboy, and she's worried 731 00:29:33,565 --> 00:29:35,692 that she's not gonna be good enough for his movie-- 732 00:29:35,817 --> 00:29:37,902 And for a lot of people, it's a little bit like, 733 00:29:38,027 --> 00:29:39,821 "Well, who's Pam Grier?" 734 00:29:39,946 --> 00:29:41,322 Didn't exactly set the world on fire, did you, Jackie? 735 00:29:41,448 --> 00:29:42,824 You've got the kind of people 736 00:29:42,949 --> 00:29:44,284 that might have seen "Pulp Fiction." 737 00:29:44,409 --> 00:29:46,286 I said, goddamn! 738 00:29:46,411 --> 00:29:48,413 And they have no idea who Pan Grier is. 739 00:29:48,580 --> 00:29:50,248 You sure I can't twist your arm? 740 00:29:50,415 --> 00:29:52,041 His choice of supporting actor 741 00:29:52,167 --> 00:29:53,751 to play opposite Pam-- 742 00:29:53,918 --> 00:29:55,670 I'll send you a postcard. 743 00:29:55,795 --> 00:29:58,381 was another rescued from the obscurity of a bygone era. 744 00:29:58,506 --> 00:29:59,966 You have to prepare to die. 745 00:29:59,966 --> 00:30:01,718 Do not provoke me. 746 00:30:01,843 --> 00:30:03,094 So you've got Pam Grier as Jackie 747 00:30:03,261 --> 00:30:04,387 and the other role which is the character 748 00:30:04,554 --> 00:30:07,015 of a bail bondsman, Max Cherry. 749 00:30:07,140 --> 00:30:08,933 Robert Forster. 750 00:30:09,058 --> 00:30:10,935 Most people coming to it, they're like, "Who's that guy?" 751 00:30:11,102 --> 00:30:12,437 Robert Forster, 752 00:30:12,562 --> 00:30:13,771 because he really wasn't getting much work, 753 00:30:13,897 --> 00:30:15,440 didn't have an agent. 754 00:30:15,607 --> 00:30:17,734 Tarantino had to track him down at a restaurant in LA 755 00:30:17,901 --> 00:30:20,987 and said, "Hey, I would like you to be in this new movie 756 00:30:21,112 --> 00:30:22,780 I'm putting together, 757 00:30:22,906 --> 00:30:24,741 and I'd like you to play the male lead in the film." 758 00:30:24,866 --> 00:30:26,493 You're taking a hell of a chance. 759 00:30:26,493 --> 00:30:28,369 Tarantino wasn't the only man on a mission. 760 00:30:28,495 --> 00:30:31,414 At least one screen legend was hunting him. 761 00:30:31,539 --> 00:30:33,333 I wouldn't go so far as to say that. 762 00:30:33,458 --> 00:30:37,003 It's a common thing with actors of De Niro's caliber 763 00:30:37,003 --> 00:30:38,755 that they will read a script 764 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:41,090 and they will identify a role in that script 765 00:30:41,216 --> 00:30:42,967 that they want to play. 766 00:30:43,092 --> 00:30:44,385 And he had a role in mind 767 00:30:44,511 --> 00:30:46,137 that recalled De Niro's early penchant 768 00:30:46,304 --> 00:30:48,389 for playing the deadbeat outsider. 769 00:30:48,515 --> 00:30:50,016 Don't say anything else, okay? 770 00:30:50,141 --> 00:30:54,145 Seeing him as this loser, criminal, pothead 771 00:30:54,270 --> 00:30:55,855 was a change of pace. 772 00:30:55,980 --> 00:30:56,981 Want a MET-Rx? 773 00:30:59,234 --> 00:31:01,402 Perhaps the only clue this film was a follow-up 774 00:31:01,528 --> 00:31:05,365 - to "Pulp Fiction" was-- - The very best there is. 775 00:31:05,365 --> 00:31:08,034 Samuel L. Jackson was willing to move heaven 776 00:31:08,159 --> 00:31:09,953 and earth to make sure he appeared 777 00:31:10,078 --> 00:31:11,830 in a second Tarantino film. 778 00:31:11,996 --> 00:31:15,291 My ass may be dumb, but I ain't no dumbass. 779 00:31:15,416 --> 00:31:18,503 It was an opportunity he wanted to be part of. 780 00:31:18,628 --> 00:31:21,297 Or at least move himself and his makeup artist... 781 00:31:21,422 --> 00:31:24,008 I was Samuel L. Jackson's personal makeup artist. 782 00:31:24,175 --> 00:31:27,345 ...between San Francisco and Los Angeles, repeatedly. 783 00:31:27,512 --> 00:31:31,224 We would shoot five days a week in Northern California. 784 00:31:31,224 --> 00:31:32,976 Where Jackson was working 785 00:31:33,101 --> 00:31:35,895 on Barry Levinson's sci-fi thriller, "Sphere." 786 00:31:35,895 --> 00:31:38,857 We're not dead, but they don't know. 787 00:31:38,982 --> 00:31:41,151 And fly down to LA on a Friday night, 788 00:31:41,276 --> 00:31:43,278 then fly back on a Sunday night. 789 00:31:43,403 --> 00:31:45,155 And we did that for about a month. 790 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:46,865 We couldn't figure out, 791 00:31:47,031 --> 00:31:48,950 "Are we going to LA or we going to San Francisco?" 792 00:31:49,075 --> 00:31:51,911 Because it was just non-stop. 793 00:31:52,036 --> 00:31:54,539 Tarantino had assembled amongst his most mature 794 00:31:54,706 --> 00:31:56,249 and experienced casts. 795 00:31:56,374 --> 00:31:57,375 Pam Grier, when she got cast in the role, 796 00:31:57,500 --> 00:31:59,002 she was 47 years old. 797 00:31:59,127 --> 00:32:01,129 I'm not saying another goddamn word. 798 00:32:01,254 --> 00:32:03,590 The character Max Cherry is a guy in his 50s? 799 00:32:03,590 --> 00:32:05,216 I'm 56 years old. 800 00:32:05,383 --> 00:32:08,261 I can't blame anybody for anything I do. 801 00:32:08,386 --> 00:32:11,222 Which would make Jackie Brown an unusual animal. 802 00:32:11,389 --> 00:32:14,267 {\an8}Jackie Brown is ultimately a middle-aged love story. 803 00:32:14,434 --> 00:32:16,060 It was a high-stakes gamble. 804 00:32:16,227 --> 00:32:17,937 Because now he's the wunderkind. 805 00:32:18,104 --> 00:32:21,357 I'm certain Quentin felt that pressure upon himself. 806 00:32:27,113 --> 00:32:28,156 For the film based 807 00:32:28,281 --> 00:32:30,200 on Elmore Leonard's "Rum Punch," 808 00:32:30,325 --> 00:32:33,578 Tarantino was making several changes to the original novel. 809 00:32:33,703 --> 00:32:37,081 {\an8}He was actually quite nervous about making these changes. 810 00:32:37,207 --> 00:32:39,209 Whatever you're into, you seem to be getting away with it, 811 00:32:39,334 --> 00:32:41,586 so more power to you. 812 00:32:41,753 --> 00:32:43,213 But he wasn't sure about diverging 813 00:32:43,338 --> 00:32:46,257 from what, for him, was his holy text. 814 00:32:46,382 --> 00:32:49,052 Because he was so nervous, he didn't tell Leonard about it 815 00:32:49,177 --> 00:32:52,055 until literally days before he was about to start shooting. 816 00:32:52,180 --> 00:32:55,558 And he sat down with Elmore Leonard and went, "Yeah, okay, 817 00:32:55,683 --> 00:32:57,560 I've kind of made all these changes." 818 00:32:57,685 --> 00:32:59,354 And Leonard was like, "Yeah, so what? 819 00:32:59,479 --> 00:33:01,105 Go make the movie you want to make." 820 00:33:01,272 --> 00:33:02,982 They say never meet your heroes, 821 00:33:02,982 --> 00:33:06,152 but Tarantino was making a career out of that. 822 00:33:06,277 --> 00:33:08,113 That would be one point of view. 823 00:33:08,238 --> 00:33:12,575 {\an8}For Quentin, for Sam, for Robert, for all of us on set. 824 00:33:12,700 --> 00:33:14,577 {\an8}That's Pam Grier. 825 00:33:14,702 --> 00:33:17,163 {\an8}- Come on. - You got something for me? 826 00:33:17,288 --> 00:33:21,167 Honesty, I think everybody on the set was fangirling. 827 00:33:21,292 --> 00:33:23,878 But with towering talent all over the set, 828 00:33:24,003 --> 00:33:27,006 even experienced practitioners were treading carefully. 829 00:33:27,132 --> 00:33:29,134 I mean it, don't say one fucking word, okay? 830 00:33:29,300 --> 00:33:32,095 {\an8}The crew was definitely afraid of Robert De Niro. 831 00:33:33,680 --> 00:33:34,973 {\an8}I know Quentin was a little nervous. 832 00:33:35,140 --> 00:33:36,474 Not so nervous, 833 00:33:36,599 --> 00:33:38,476 he would stand there staring at his feet. 834 00:33:38,601 --> 00:33:41,187 - Speaking of feet... - De Niro asked him what shoes 835 00:33:41,187 --> 00:33:43,940 the character wears, and Quentin had the answer. 836 00:33:44,065 --> 00:33:47,360 From there, it was kind of smooth, smooth sailing. 837 00:33:47,485 --> 00:33:48,987 Adding to the pressure of working 838 00:33:49,112 --> 00:33:50,655 with the biggest names, 839 00:33:50,822 --> 00:33:53,908 Tarantino was working with unfamiliar collaborators. 840 00:33:54,033 --> 00:33:55,994 {\an8}Why I didn't do "Jackie Brown?" 841 00:33:56,161 --> 00:33:58,288 {\an8}Because they didn't choose me. 842 00:33:58,413 --> 00:34:00,373 Like his new cinematographer chosen 843 00:34:00,498 --> 00:34:02,417 to replace Andrzej Sekula. 844 00:34:02,542 --> 00:34:06,504 Tarantino, he wanted a bit of a different feel for this. 845 00:34:06,671 --> 00:34:09,924 Guillermo Navarro was hired to provide just that 846 00:34:10,049 --> 00:34:11,968 after lighting Tarantino himself 847 00:34:12,093 --> 00:34:14,179 on the set of "From Dusk Till Dawn." 848 00:34:14,345 --> 00:34:15,930 How you like them apples? 849 00:34:16,055 --> 00:34:18,016 Far out. 850 00:34:18,725 --> 00:34:20,393 With shooting about to begin, 851 00:34:20,518 --> 00:34:23,021 Tarantino's team was learning to work with the rhythms 852 00:34:23,188 --> 00:34:25,064 of his esteemed cast. 853 00:34:25,190 --> 00:34:27,525 {\an8}I had racks and racks of clothes. Robert De Niro's, 854 00:34:27,692 --> 00:34:29,986 {\an8}we got to the shoes, we got to the pants, 855 00:34:30,111 --> 00:34:32,655 {\an8}and a black T-shirt, but he didn't have the shirt. 856 00:34:32,780 --> 00:34:34,532 When he was walking out, 857 00:34:34,657 --> 00:34:37,410 I had a rack that he wasn't even supposed to see. 858 00:34:37,535 --> 00:34:40,205 And it was an old shirt that I had given my brother. 859 00:34:40,371 --> 00:34:42,207 Robert De Niro went over to it and he said, 860 00:34:42,332 --> 00:34:44,000 "What is that shirt?" 861 00:34:44,125 --> 00:34:46,503 And Robert said, "That's the shirt I have to wear." 862 00:34:46,628 --> 00:34:48,379 Much like his director, 863 00:34:48,505 --> 00:34:51,382 De Niro knew how he wanted to embody his character, 864 00:34:51,549 --> 00:34:54,010 and he wasn't pulling punches. 865 00:34:54,135 --> 00:34:55,970 I'll knock you the fuck out. 866 00:34:56,095 --> 00:34:58,681 At one point I was fitting him for a shoulder holster 867 00:34:58,806 --> 00:35:01,184 and in the process of, you know, 868 00:35:01,309 --> 00:35:03,144 adjusting that shoulder holster, 869 00:35:03,269 --> 00:35:06,147 one of the straps was vertical and I went to cinch it up. 870 00:35:06,272 --> 00:35:10,068 And so my hands are right here, I popped him in the jaw. 871 00:35:10,193 --> 00:35:12,153 Without missing a microsecond, 872 00:35:12,278 --> 00:35:14,280 he got me with his left in the gut. 873 00:35:14,405 --> 00:35:16,783 He's holding his jaw, I'm doubled over. 874 00:35:16,783 --> 00:35:20,745 And we just looked at each other and started laughing. 875 00:35:20,912 --> 00:35:23,123 But to get punched by Raging Bull, 876 00:35:23,289 --> 00:35:25,583 that was a career-defining moment for me. 877 00:35:25,708 --> 00:35:26,751 And hurts Robinson again, 878 00:35:26,876 --> 00:35:28,002 hooks the left hand to the jaw. 879 00:35:28,128 --> 00:35:29,462 For Pam Grier, 880 00:35:29,587 --> 00:35:31,422 a career-defining moment was beckoning, 881 00:35:31,589 --> 00:35:34,134 but first, she would need to become fluent 882 00:35:34,134 --> 00:35:35,718 in a new language. 883 00:35:35,844 --> 00:35:37,428 Start adding these motherfucking figures up, 884 00:35:37,554 --> 00:35:39,097 tell me this ain't the business to be in. 885 00:35:39,264 --> 00:35:41,057 Tarantino. 886 00:35:41,182 --> 00:35:42,767 If you don't know Tarantino, how are you gonna understand it? 887 00:35:42,892 --> 00:35:44,227 Shit work my nerves, you and that motherfucker 888 00:35:44,352 --> 00:35:45,603 being so buddy-buddy. 889 00:35:45,728 --> 00:35:47,272 Some of these bigger dialogue scenes. 890 00:35:47,438 --> 00:35:48,690 Hey, if I wasn't so buddy-buddy 891 00:35:48,815 --> 00:35:50,442 with that motherfucker, this wouldn't work. 892 00:35:50,608 --> 00:35:52,110 There were moments in time where you could feel 893 00:35:52,277 --> 00:35:53,611 she was like, "Oh my god, this is hard." 894 00:35:53,736 --> 00:35:55,321 You wanna see some motherfucking silly? 895 00:35:55,321 --> 00:35:56,573 If I have to tell you to shut up one more time, 896 00:35:56,698 --> 00:35:58,324 I'm gonna shut you up. 897 00:35:58,449 --> 00:36:00,785 But in Tarantino, Grier had not just a fan 898 00:36:00,952 --> 00:36:03,121 or a friend, but an ally. 899 00:36:03,246 --> 00:36:05,790 {\an8}Quentin always from day one was very good at working 900 00:36:05,957 --> 00:36:09,169 {\an8}with actors because Quentin was an actor. 901 00:36:09,294 --> 00:36:12,463 And he found simple devices to support his lead. 902 00:36:12,589 --> 00:36:15,341 For the scene in the Cockatoo Inn with Sam Jackson-- 903 00:36:15,341 --> 00:36:17,802 I'm gonna have to remember this place, it's all right. 904 00:36:17,969 --> 00:36:19,762 Sam's rolling off this, that, that, that. 905 00:36:19,888 --> 00:36:21,472 You tell him anything else? 906 00:36:21,598 --> 00:36:22,599 And Pam was having a little bit of time, 907 00:36:22,724 --> 00:36:25,059 so Quentin had her eat pretzels. 908 00:36:25,185 --> 00:36:26,519 Actually it was popcorn. 909 00:36:26,644 --> 00:36:28,563 Had her do something completely natural. 910 00:36:28,688 --> 00:36:29,606 So he said, "Just eat the pretzels." 911 00:36:29,731 --> 00:36:31,649 Popcorn. 912 00:36:31,775 --> 00:36:33,860 But it don't matter because they already know I'm meeting you. 913 00:36:33,860 --> 00:36:35,653 The Cockatoo Inn 914 00:36:35,820 --> 00:36:38,573 was just one of the real locations Tarantino insisted on 915 00:36:38,698 --> 00:36:40,492 in the pursuit of authenticity. 916 00:36:40,658 --> 00:36:43,453 In terms of town, you do feel Southern California, 917 00:36:43,578 --> 00:36:45,205 specifically the South Bay. 918 00:36:45,205 --> 00:36:47,457 And for his ode to Blaxploitation, 919 00:36:47,582 --> 00:36:50,710 he wanted to shoot just as a Blaxploitation film would. 920 00:36:50,835 --> 00:36:52,462 - Yeah. - Hey. 921 00:36:52,921 --> 00:36:56,216 He wanted to be constrained not only by budget, 922 00:36:56,341 --> 00:36:58,635 but by the spaces we shot. 923 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:01,554 He wanted that for Jackie Brown's apartment. 924 00:37:01,679 --> 00:37:04,098 How are you doing, Miss Jackie? 925 00:37:04,224 --> 00:37:05,308 - Come on in. - That was 926 00:37:05,433 --> 00:37:07,727 a small apartment in Compton. 927 00:37:07,727 --> 00:37:09,312 Bet they asked you a whole shitload 928 00:37:09,437 --> 00:37:10,814 of questions about it, huh? 929 00:37:10,939 --> 00:37:13,191 Ordell's little surfer girl apartment... 930 00:37:13,316 --> 00:37:15,276 - Hey girl. - Hola. 931 00:37:15,401 --> 00:37:17,153 ...was actually an apartment. 932 00:37:17,278 --> 00:37:20,532 He wanted the constraints to protect himself 933 00:37:20,698 --> 00:37:23,660 from becoming too big for his britches. 934 00:37:23,785 --> 00:37:24,786 Wanna fuck? 935 00:37:25,578 --> 00:37:27,747 But this was more authenticity 936 00:37:27,872 --> 00:37:30,625 than his cinematographer could work out how to shoot. 937 00:37:30,750 --> 00:37:32,377 He's like, "I don't know, I don't know how to shoot it. 938 00:37:32,544 --> 00:37:34,295 I don't know, I don't know how to shoot." 939 00:37:34,420 --> 00:37:38,216 Very small, second story, looking out at the ocean. 940 00:37:38,341 --> 00:37:39,717 We're shooting on short sticks. 941 00:37:39,884 --> 00:37:41,886 There was no room for the dolly, even the peewee. 942 00:37:42,011 --> 00:37:43,805 But he figured it out. 943 00:37:43,930 --> 00:37:46,724 The pursuit of realism could also be expensive. 944 00:37:46,891 --> 00:37:48,601 How expensive? 945 00:37:48,768 --> 00:37:50,812 Did he tell you about that half million he's got down in Mexico? 946 00:37:51,521 --> 00:37:55,483 Quentin insists on realism in his props. 947 00:37:55,608 --> 00:37:57,443 I'm gonna have me over a million. 948 00:37:57,569 --> 00:37:59,737 So at one point, we did have a half a million dollars 949 00:37:59,904 --> 00:38:01,573 in cash in our possession. 950 00:38:01,698 --> 00:38:03,408 That's real hard currency. 951 00:38:03,575 --> 00:38:05,535 Which was a little nerve-wracking. 952 00:38:05,660 --> 00:38:08,496 Half a million dollars will always be missed. 953 00:38:08,621 --> 00:38:10,373 We mostly hid it in plain sight 954 00:38:10,498 --> 00:38:12,333 and everybody assumed it was a prop, 955 00:38:12,458 --> 00:38:14,752 but there were three people watching it the whole time. 956 00:38:14,919 --> 00:38:18,381 Because what better way to raise the tension 957 00:38:18,506 --> 00:38:20,341 than by raising the stakes. 958 00:38:20,467 --> 00:38:22,927 I think it just-- It ups the stakes to a different level, 959 00:38:23,094 --> 00:38:25,180 and there's a subtle performance difference, 960 00:38:25,305 --> 00:38:28,600 and that's the difference between Quentin and everyone else. 961 00:38:28,725 --> 00:38:30,518 When shooting wrapped on "Jackie Brown" 962 00:38:30,643 --> 00:38:34,814 in August of 1997, despite the euphoria of completion... 963 00:38:34,814 --> 00:38:37,317 Let's give it up for Jackie Brown-- 964 00:38:39,444 --> 00:38:41,237 ...Tarantino went into a funk. 965 00:38:41,362 --> 00:38:43,907 He was always so upset the last day of shooting. 966 00:38:44,032 --> 00:38:45,617 You wouldn't even be able to find him. 967 00:38:45,784 --> 00:38:47,911 Would "Jackie Brown"'s change in pace... 968 00:38:48,036 --> 00:38:50,246 There was this weight of expectation of like, 969 00:38:50,371 --> 00:38:52,457 this is what a Tarantino movie should be. 970 00:38:52,624 --> 00:38:54,209 ...bring this rock star director 971 00:38:54,334 --> 00:38:55,919 back down to Earth? 972 00:38:56,044 --> 00:38:58,379 It's about the journey, it's not about the destination. 973 00:38:58,505 --> 00:38:59,881 I'll send you a postcard. 974 00:39:05,762 --> 00:39:07,555 When shooting on Tarantino's 975 00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:10,934 long-anticipated follow-up to "Pulp Fiction" concluded, 976 00:39:11,100 --> 00:39:13,603 it was more than just the end of principal photography 977 00:39:13,770 --> 00:39:14,896 for the director. 978 00:39:15,772 --> 00:39:18,483 {\an8}There was a certain closeness that he had with all of us. 979 00:39:18,650 --> 00:39:19,651 {\an8}We were family. 980 00:39:22,070 --> 00:39:23,530 He'd get depressed. 981 00:39:23,530 --> 00:39:26,199 He was so upset about it all the time. 982 00:39:26,366 --> 00:39:28,451 But with his cast and crew dispersing, 983 00:39:28,576 --> 00:39:30,370 Tarantino would naturally embrace 984 00:39:30,495 --> 00:39:31,955 {\an8}one of the most important members 985 00:39:32,121 --> 00:39:33,873 {\an8}of his extended film family. 986 00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:35,792 {\an8}She's what makes his movies sing 987 00:39:35,917 --> 00:39:37,502 {\an8}in the final product of them. 988 00:39:37,627 --> 00:39:39,254 Longtime editor Sally Menke. 989 00:39:39,379 --> 00:39:40,755 He's a great writer, great director, 990 00:39:40,880 --> 00:39:42,465 and she happened to be that great editor 991 00:39:42,590 --> 00:39:44,300 finishing that last section that you need 992 00:39:44,425 --> 00:39:46,970 in the making of a movie. She is in a class above. 993 00:39:47,137 --> 00:39:48,721 I can do it, Max. 994 00:39:48,721 --> 00:39:50,557 I just can't do it without you. 995 00:39:51,266 --> 00:39:54,018 His editor would play a more conventional role 996 00:39:54,143 --> 00:39:57,272 in defining the shape of "Jackie Brown" for one simple reason. 997 00:39:57,397 --> 00:39:59,607 {\an8}It's also Tarantino's most linear movie. 998 00:39:59,732 --> 00:40:01,317 Let's go! 999 00:40:01,484 --> 00:40:03,570 Mostly absent his trademark violence, 1000 00:40:06,656 --> 00:40:09,409 Tarantino engaged in a different gear. 1001 00:40:11,578 --> 00:40:14,747 {\an8}We don't always build a supersonic race car. 1002 00:40:14,747 --> 00:40:17,458 {\an8}Sometimes we build something that's stylish. 1003 00:40:17,584 --> 00:40:20,879 {\an8}It cruises. And "Jackie Brown" cruised. 1004 00:40:21,004 --> 00:40:22,547 Accept no substitutes. 1005 00:40:22,714 --> 00:40:23,840 Mostly thanks to its focus on 1006 00:40:24,007 --> 00:40:25,717 a different kind of journey. 1007 00:40:25,842 --> 00:40:27,760 The biggest thing that struck me was the love story 1008 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:29,679 between Robert Forster and Pam Grier. 1009 00:40:29,804 --> 00:40:32,307 Ain't nothing wrong with that. 1010 00:40:32,432 --> 00:40:34,934 It's a love story about two middle-aged people 1011 00:40:34,934 --> 00:40:37,645 {\an8}who found each other, but can't be together. 1012 00:40:37,771 --> 00:40:40,440 - I didn't use you, Max. - I didn't say you did. 1013 00:40:41,816 --> 00:40:43,526 "Jackie Brown" was released in the US 1014 00:40:43,651 --> 00:40:46,821 on Christmas Day of 1997, and for the crew, 1015 00:40:46,946 --> 00:40:48,990 all their Christmases had come at once. 1016 00:40:49,115 --> 00:40:50,992 We were pumped. 1017 00:40:51,117 --> 00:40:52,744 I mean, the whole crew walked out of there just like, "Wow." 1018 00:40:52,869 --> 00:40:53,870 I love "Jackie Brown." 1019 00:40:53,995 --> 00:40:55,622 I think it's a great film. 1020 00:40:55,747 --> 00:40:57,457 Well, I must have made quite an impression. 1021 00:40:57,457 --> 00:40:59,042 Audiences agreed, 1022 00:40:59,167 --> 00:41:02,295 rewarding producers with a nearly 3.5 times return 1023 00:41:02,295 --> 00:41:03,797 on their investment. 1024 00:41:03,922 --> 00:41:07,634 A $12 million gamble that led to 39 million 1025 00:41:07,634 --> 00:41:09,010 at the box office. 1026 00:41:09,135 --> 00:41:11,387 There was this weight of expectation. 1027 00:41:11,513 --> 00:41:14,098 For any independent film this would be stellar. 1028 00:41:14,224 --> 00:41:16,518 So it's the long shadow of "Pulp Fiction." 1029 00:41:16,643 --> 00:41:18,561 Don't put me in this position, all right? 1030 00:41:18,686 --> 00:41:20,772 - All right. - But "Jackie Brown" 1031 00:41:20,939 --> 00:41:23,483 would only ever be compared to one film. 1032 00:41:23,483 --> 00:41:26,736 Because it made less than half what "Pulp Fiction" made 1033 00:41:26,903 --> 00:41:29,614 and because people weren't rapturous about it 1034 00:41:29,739 --> 00:41:32,325 in the way that they were about "Pulp Fiction." 1035 00:41:32,492 --> 00:41:34,953 Look, Miss Brown, we don't give a fuck about you. 1036 00:41:35,119 --> 00:41:36,830 It's not violent enough for a lot of people. 1037 00:41:36,830 --> 00:41:39,082 What the fuck happened to you, man? 1038 00:41:39,249 --> 00:41:41,459 They were so used to what they saw in his other films. 1039 00:41:41,584 --> 00:41:43,419 Who cares about this love story, this crime story, 1040 00:41:43,545 --> 00:41:44,504 that's all talking? 1041 00:41:44,504 --> 00:41:45,588 Ray, I was frantic. 1042 00:41:45,713 --> 00:41:47,423 What was I supposed to do? 1043 00:41:47,549 --> 00:41:49,592 But this being his first adaptation, 1044 00:41:49,717 --> 00:41:51,761 it was not the full-noise Tarantino, 1045 00:41:51,886 --> 00:41:54,347 which the man himself was fine with. 1046 00:41:54,472 --> 00:41:57,392 I didn't de-emphasize the violence in "Jackie Brown" 1047 00:41:57,517 --> 00:42:01,688 any more than I emphasized the violence in "Pulp Fiction." 1048 00:42:01,688 --> 00:42:03,982 In revisiting Blaxploitation, 1049 00:42:04,107 --> 00:42:08,361 Tarantino had again reanimated more than just a lost genre. 1050 00:42:08,528 --> 00:42:12,115 {\an8}Quentin has revitalized so many people's careers. 1051 00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:15,368 And sure enough, Forster ended up getting 1052 00:42:15,368 --> 00:42:17,787 an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. 1053 00:42:17,954 --> 00:42:20,039 Robert Forster in Jackie Brown. 1054 00:42:20,039 --> 00:42:21,624 Newly rediscovered, 1055 00:42:21,749 --> 00:42:23,835 Forster's career developed a second wind. 1056 00:42:24,002 --> 00:42:25,461 How hot are you? 1057 00:42:25,628 --> 00:42:26,629 While Tarantino's favorite 1058 00:42:26,754 --> 00:42:28,548 received no such accolade, 1059 00:42:28,548 --> 00:42:32,469 Pam Grier went on to conquer new spaces on "The L Word." 1060 00:42:35,138 --> 00:42:36,764 I was not surprised 1061 00:42:36,890 --> 00:42:38,725 {\an8}that she didn't get an Oscar nomination, no. 1062 00:42:38,892 --> 00:42:43,396 Black actors at that time was still climbing that mountain 1063 00:42:43,521 --> 00:42:46,816 {\an8}to be seen just as actors and not just black actors. 1064 00:42:46,941 --> 00:42:49,527 What the fuck did Ordell ever do for us, huh? 1065 00:42:49,694 --> 00:42:50,904 Tarantino himself said at the time 1066 00:42:50,904 --> 00:42:52,614 that he was thoroughly disappointed 1067 00:42:52,739 --> 00:42:54,407 she didn't get an Oscar nomination. 1068 00:42:54,407 --> 00:42:57,076 Yeah, but I'm not in jail, and at least I try. 1069 00:42:57,243 --> 00:42:58,536 Like "Jackie Brown," 1070 00:42:58,661 --> 00:42:59,954 Tarantino's next outing 1071 00:43:00,079 --> 00:43:02,832 would center on a female protagonist... 1072 00:43:02,957 --> 00:43:05,710 {\an8}And this guy clearly thinks chicks are badass. 1073 00:43:05,835 --> 00:43:08,838 ...but take the director back to his own musings. 1074 00:43:10,089 --> 00:43:11,674 While they were making Pulp Fiction, 1075 00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:13,885 they started kind of talking about this idea. 1076 00:43:14,010 --> 00:43:15,428 Back to his own muse. 1077 00:43:15,553 --> 00:43:17,138 Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman 1078 00:43:17,263 --> 00:43:19,516 are a wonderful combination. 1079 00:43:19,641 --> 00:43:21,184 But could Uma and Quentin... 1080 00:43:21,309 --> 00:43:23,686 - Bad idea. - ...soak up the pressure... 1081 00:43:23,853 --> 00:43:27,649 - A female revenge film. - ...and deliver a hit 1082 00:43:27,774 --> 00:43:29,526 for this rock star director? 1083 00:43:29,651 --> 00:43:31,611 I am gonna kill Bill.