The 80 best phrases of Quentin Tarantino
If there is any film director who has eccentricity, originality and infinite creativity, it is Quentin Tarahntino. Born in the city of Knoxville, Tarantino trained to be an artist within the world of cinema, being his greatest talented writing and directing films with a tone of violence, drama and tragedy that have become stories of worship.
Among his most outstanding films are: ‘Once upon a time in Hollywood’, ‘Pulp Fiction’, the saga of ‘Kill Bill’, ‘Inglourious basterds’ or ‘Django’. Let's get closer to his way of seeing cinema and, above all, life.
- We recommend you read: "The 90 best phrases of Martin Scorsese"
Iconic Quentin Tarantino Quotes
To remember his work and his controversies, we bring below a series with the best phrases of Quentin Tarantino.
1. When people ask me if I went to film school, I always answer: no, I went to the cinema.
A phrase that reminds us that, to be experts in something, you have to experiment.
2. For me, movies and music go hand in hand.
Music is essential to the plot of a movie.
3. Good ideas will survive.
An idea that generates interest never dies.
4. Theft of any movie ever made.
Tarantino draws inspiration for the movies from various works by him.
5. For me violence is an aesthetic matter.
Tarantino is an expert in showing violence as part of art.
6. When I am making a movie, I am not doing anything else. Everything revolves around her. I do not have a wife. I do not have kids.
The director is fully committed to any project.
7. It is a basic standard in Japanese cinema to cut off someone's arm and use hoses with red water as veins, spreading blood everywhere.
A technique that he adopted.
8. Of course, Kill Bill is a violent movie. But it is a Tarantino movie. You don't go to Metallica and ask them to turn down the volume of the music.
A style that the director made his own.
9. The camera was invented for action and violence.
Talking about his passion for action in the movies.
10. I have always thought that my soundtracks work quite well, because they are basically the professional equivalent of a mix that I would do for you to listen to at home.
There is no doubt that the soundtrack in the Tarantino films is quite an aural experience.
11. My plan is to have a movie theater in a small town or something like that and I'll be a manager. I'll be the crazy old man from the movies.
Movies will always be part of his life.
12. Everything I learned as an actor, I have basically applied it to writing.
One curiosity is that it started with a passion for acting.
13. Saying you don't like violence in movies is like saying you don't like dance scenes in Minelli's movies.
There is something very attractive in the violence within the cinema.
14. Nothing can stand in my way… I have made the decision, until now, to go this way alone. This is my time to make movies.
A man who, when he was clear about what he wanted to do, did everything to make a living from it.
15. I don't believe in elitism. I don't think the audience is this foolish person inferior to me. I am the audience.
Tarantino takes the place of the audience.
16. I want to write novels, and I want to write and direct theater.
A dream that is part of his plans for the future.
17. When I am writing something, I try not to analyze how I am doing it, I just write.
Tarantino's writing is based on spontaneity.
18. I really think one of my strengths is storytelling.
And he is not mistaken.
19. I've loved movies as the number one thing in my life for so long that I can't remember a time when I didn't.
Cinema was always a constant in his youth.
20. When I'm writing a script, one of the first things I do is find the music that I'm going to put in the opening sequence.
For Tarantino, music is part of the unfolding of the story he wants to tell.
21. Just because you are a personality does not mean that you have a personality.
An important phrase to ponder.
22. Violence is one of the funniest things to watch.
Cinema manages to make violence entertaining.
23. I want to do a stage adaptation of 'Hateful Eight' because I really like the idea of other actors getting a chance to play my characters and see what happens with that.
One of his plans for the future.
24. Movies are my religion and God is my shepherd.
Showing his passion for filmmaking.
25. Trying to make a movie with no money is the best film school you can do.
Many film directors agree with this idea.
26. I am very fortunate to be in a position where I don't work to get paid.
If you love what you do, then you won't see it as work.
27. If he were not a director, he would be a film critic. It's the only thing else I'd be qualified for.
Always around the world of the seventh art.
28. Why do we think it is necessary to say bullshit to feel comfortable?
An excellent question to ponder.
29. To be a novelist, all I need is a pen and a sheet of paper.
It doesn't take much more to express ideas.
30. I love rumors! The facts can be misleading; the rumors, true or false, are very revealing.
People always have something to say.
31. I love history as a subject, it is like watching a movie.
A fan of history that he also uses as inspiration.
32. If you love movies enough you can make a good movie.
That phrase applies to anything you want to achieve.
33. People say that I have seen too many movies. In what other types of art is being an expert considered negative?
It is normal that you need to watch a lot of movies.
34. Right now this guy is the only one I trust. He's too murderous to be with the cops.
One of the iconic lines from Reservoir Dogs.
35. I have always considered myself a filmmaker who writes things for himself.
Every artist should be able to please himself above all else.
36. For me, the United States is just another market.
His strong opinion about the country.
37. Because I loved cinema so much, my parents wanted me to be a director when all I wanted was to be an actor.
A course that started in a very interesting way.
38. I like when someone tells me a story, and I really feel like it's becoming a lost art in American cinema.
Tarantino knows how to appreciate a good and interesting story.
39. I love history because for me it is like watching a movie.
A very beautiful way of looking at history.
40. Sergio Leone was a huge influence on me because of the spaghetti westerns.
An influence that can be perceived in his works.
41. If you are a movie fan, collecting videos is like smoking marijuana. Laser discs are like cocaine but 35mm copies are like heroin and when you start collecting them you start walking down the highway. I have a collection of which I am very proud.
Tarantino is a true movie collector.
42. I want to exceed your expectations. I want to make you fly.
Exploit the imagination of him and his audience.
43. My only responsibility is with my characters and they come from where I have been.
Fully committed to telling a good story.
44. Computer-generated images spoiled the vehicle crash sequences. When you watched movies from the seventies they were real cars and disastrous impacts of real metals.
Tarantino is not a fan of special effects within the cinema.
45. It's very important that all the movies I make raise money because I want the people who have faith in me to get their money back.
The director not only has an obligation to his stories, but to those who support him.
46. Something stopped me a bit at school. Anything that doesn't interest me, I can't even feign interest.
Apparently he was not very adept at things that did not attract his attention.
47. I don't think music works as a 'band-aid' for the mistakes of a movie. If it is included it is to accompany the sequence or to take it to another dramatic level.
Music helps tell the story within the film.
48. I don't think you should stay on stage until people beg you to get off. I like the idea of leaving them wanting more.
The director always prefers open endings.
49. The thing to do to make a good movie like Reservoir Dogs is to work like a pro. A psychopath is a professional.
One of the films that he appreciates the most.
50. There are my 'real-real' movies, which I started with Street Dogs, and then there are my 'movies-from-movies'.
His different ways of making movies.
51. If he really considered me a writer, I wouldn't be writing screenplays. I'd be writing novels.
Tarantino considers himself a screenwriter, not a writer.
52. My mother took me to see Carnal Knowledge and The Wild Bunch and all these kinds of movies when I was a kid.
Since he was a child he was always exposed to films of various plots.
53. If you want to make a movie, make it. Don't expect a donation or the best of circumstances. Just do it.
Never wait for someone to make your goals come true.
54. I don't think there is anything to fear. Failure brings great rewards in the life of an artist.
Failure always brings valuable lessons.
55. Revenge is a dish best served cold.
The phrase that characterized Kill Bill.
56. In any case, and to clear up doubts, I am neither a racist nor a slave owner.
Tarantino always spoke out clearly about his posture.
57. Novelists have always had complete freedom to tell their story in whatever way they saw fit. And that's what I'm trying to do.
Taking inspiration from the writers' writing style.
58. I will never be afraid to say something, what I write is about what I know.
A man who never shuts up about anything.
59. A writer must have this little voice inside of you that says: Tell the truth. He reveals some secrets here.
An important factor for every writer.
60. I'm not going to talk about this matter (weapons). I don't have an opinion on it. Whatever you say, I'm sure it would be misunderstood.
A great way to get off a topic you don't want to touch.
61. I will never make movies for doing it. I would not like to see myself fall down the slope of creative decrepitude.
He always has a reason to make a movie.
62. Movies aren't about the weekend they open, and in the grand scheme of things, that's probably the most unimportant moment in a movie's life.
Movies have a very special meaning for the director.
63. It's my version of the truth that I know, that's part of my talent; put the way people actually speak into the things that I write.
Everyone has their own way of seeing the truth.
64. It's nice to be invited to parties and to be able to work and celebrate a job well done with your colleagues.
It's always heartwarming to celebrate with the people you appreciate the most.
65. I've spent my life answering the question: Now what? And right now I feel like the question is more pertinent than ever, because I really don't have an answer.
There is a point where we don't immediately know what to do next.
66. I've always thought that John Travolta is one of the best movie stars Hollywood has produced.
A phrase that shows admiration for Travolta.
67. If you were a poet, would you be criticized for knowing too much about Sappho or Aristotle?
Every expert needs to be involved in his niche, even during his hobbies.
68. Don't write what you think people want to read. Find your voice and write about what is in your heart.
A beautiful phrase that serves as motivation.
69. Maybe for the first time. There are no other film genres waiting for me to take over. I myself feel that I have closed a stage.
Your job is done.
70. I am very happy with the way I write. I think I do well.
It is always necessary to reach that point where we are happy with what we do.
71. Reservoir Dogs is a small movie and that is the real achievement of it.
Another phrase that reminds us of the director's love for this film.
72. I want to risk hitting my head on the roof of my talent. I really want to give it a try and say: Ok, you're not that good. You have just reached your highest level.
Sometimes it is necessary to challenge our own limits.
73. Well, it is true that I am not a big fan of that type of historical-biographical film, but there are few filmmakers of his generation whom I respect more than Spielberg.
Tarantino knows his place in the seventh art.
74. I'm not a Hollywood bastard because enough good movies come out of the Hollywood system every year to justify their existence, without any apology.
Tarantino maintains his honest stance within Hollywood.
75. I hope to continue making movies for 15 more years. I'm not going to be a stupid old director. My idea is to make a movie theater in a small town and be the operator, an old movie addict.
In his future he sees only one thing: continue making movies.
76. I never want to fail, but I want to risk failing every time I walk out the door.
Nobody wants to fail, but we must not let this paralyze us.
77. I have been forced to answer for the violence in my films for 20 years. Let's say I gave up trying to explain it a long time ago. Who wants to understand it, well ...
There comes a point where it is simply better to let everyone have their own opinion on something.
78. I am a historian in my own mind.
Something more than a film director.
79. My films are painfully personal, but I never try to tell you how personal they are. It's my job to make it personal, and also to dress it up so that only I or the people who know me know how personal it is.
Every artist places a bit of himself within his works.
80. I prefer to think that all the things I have done are relevant and that they will be remembered in 20 to 30 years… For the rest, I have dedicated my life to cinema.
Without a doubt, Tarantino's work will be remembered by many.