Quentin Tarantino is one of Hollywood’s most influential creators who ushered in a unique and niche genre of filmmaking. Whether it is action, drama, comedy, or historical narratives, the maverick filmmaker has merged visual appeal and screenplay seamlessly to create multiple works of art that have stood the test of time. From Pulp Fiction, the Kill Bill series, Inglorious Basterds to Django Unchained, Tarantino has converted the gamut of genres and narratives.
The director though has also been known to express his honest opinions and views on many aspects of cinema and the kind of films that are being made in Hollywood. One of his controversial stances on the superhero phenomenon in films and the stupendous success of the MCU actors was met with criticism by two popular Marvel directors.
The Russo Brothers React To Quentin Tarantino’s Take On the MCU Stars
Quentin Tarantino has never been one to back away from calling a spade a spade. The talented filmmaker has, on numerous occasions, expressed his views on the state of Hollywood and the films coming out of the industry. One of his comments that created a stir was his controversial opinion on the “marvelization” of Hollywood and the influence of the MCU in creating superstars. The Pulp Fiction director felt that the characters were greater than the actors themselves.
“But they’re not movie stars. Right? Captain America is the star. Or Thor is the star. I mean, I’m not the first person to say that. I think that’s been said a zillion times…but it’s like, you know, it’s these franchise characters that become a star.”
The Russo brothers whose successful association with the MCU started with 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier and culminated with Avengers: Endgame, responded to Tarantino’s comment with an equally frank and forthright response. To quote the directors,
“I don’t know if Quentin feels like he was born to make a Marvel movie which is maybe why he would feel like a hired hand doing it. It depends on your relationship to the source material. What fulfills us the most is building a sense of community around our work.”
Reacting to The Russo brothers, Tarantino stood his ground saying that he while he liked the Marvel franchise and the characters, he wasn’t obsessed enough to take on the challenge of directing a movie based on them.
Quentin Tarantino Dissed Sam Mendes’ 1917
The MCU wasn’t the only thing on Quentin Tarantino’s radar for criticism. In 2019, the director’s old-school Hollywood drama Once Upon A Time in Hollywood competed with Sam Mendes’s war film 1917 in multiple categories at the Academy Awards. Mendes gained popularity for using a single-cut technique to shoot the entire film which ultimately went on to get top honors at the Oscars for Best Cinematography. But Quentin Tarantino begged to differ. Responding to comments that 1917 should have swept all awards that year, the director replied with his opinion on the one-shot take saying,
“You’re too impressed by that! I’m not saying they do a bad job of that… But if you’re going to do it, really f*king do it. Go 15 minutes per f*king take.”
Tarantino went on to add that he was an admirer of the film and Mendes’ work in it but argued that it used too many invisible cuts that should have instead been consolidated more firmly.
Source: The New Yorker
