The American director receives the Lifetime Achievement Award and meets the audience in a sold-out Sala Sinopoli
Yesterday, October 19, 2021, was all about Quentin Tarantino at Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome: after the press conference in the afternoon, the American filmmaker meet the audience in the evening and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the legendary horror director Dario Argento.
During a long-awaited Close Encounter with the audience, moderated by Artistic Director Antonio Monda, Tarantino talked about his influences, told the fans behind-the-scenes stories about his films and declared his love for Italian cinema, sharing a personal dream: shooting at Cinecittà Studios in Rome. «That would be special and wonderful. I need to come up with the right story.»
In a sold out Sala Sinopoli, the American filmmaker focused more than once on his passion for Italian cinema, especially for 70s’ and 80s’ films.
«I was lucky enough to come of age in the 70s: Italian exploitation movies were still released theatrically in the U.S. In the 80s all the movies were released on video and I enjoyed them. Spaghetti Westerns and gialli are great movies. When I looked at those movies, it seemed that there was a sense of operatic grandeur to them. They were bigger than life.». The director also added that he would like to include some Spaghetti Western elements in one of his projects: «I’ve got an idea, but it’s not my next movie: I want to shoot it in the spaghetti western style, with everyone speaking a different language» said the director.
Tarantino also shared with the audience the first film he remember seeing: Deadlier Than The Male, a British spy movie by Ralph Thomas. He said he was about 5 years old, and that he bought the film only many years later, when he started his film collection: «All of a sudden, about midway through, that scene comes on and I go: “Oh my God! This was the first movie I f**king saw!».
During the encounter/interview, Tarantino talked about Warren Beatty, his first choice to play the role of Bill in Kill Bill and he recalled John Travolta’s contributions for the dance scene with Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction: «I choreographed it, but John brought some interesting ideas to the set.»
Tarantino recently published his first book, a novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: the book (also released in Italian) received positive reviews from The New York Times and The Guardian. The director is scheduled to publish a second book about films of the New Hollywood era, inspired by film critic Pauline Kael.
