Quentin Tarantino may not be the most prolific filmmaker in the business — eight mainline feature films in almost 25 years, if you lump Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 together — but such is the legacy of the esteemed director that Tarantino is never too far from cinematic conversation.
That proved to be the case at the Jerusalem Film Festival, where the helmer was at hand to discuss his most recent feature, The Hateful Eight, along with his reasons for almost pulling the plug on Inglorious Basterds.
But first, Tarantino once again reaffirmed his plans to call time on his decorated career behind the lens after his tenth feature film, meaning there’s still room for two movies beyond The Hateful Eight. Early reports may have questioned the filmmaker’s early retirement, but Tarantino remains staunch, though he did tease that he could well return to the movie world at, say, 75 with “another story to tell.”
When reflecting on Inglorious Basterds in particular, Tarantino then conceded that he almost canned the movie because he struggled to find an actor capable of portraying Hans Landa — possibly the best character he’s ever written, according to the man himself.
“It was obvious that he [Christoph Waltz] was the guy; he could do everything. He was amazing, he gave us our movie back. I’m looking for that take where an actor just kicks into something — actors describe it as flying, they’re not them anymore, it’s the reason they become actors.”
Quentin Tarantino’s love affair with cinema, at least from behind the lens, is coming to an end and as things stand, the director has claimed he has enough in the tank for two new features.
