Quentin Tarantino Opens up About a Film He Considers Embarrassing

Quentin Tarantino has long been considered one of the greatest directors in modern history, known for creating some of the most memorable cinematic moments audiences have ever seen. However, like every hopeful artist, he had to start somewhere.

Before he was a household name, he spent five years in the 1980s working at the Video Archives store in Manhattan Beach. It was during his time at this Los Angeles rental shop that Tarantino developed his deep understanding of film history.

This period of intense movie-watching served as a practical education that would help him throughout his later career. In the 1994 BBC documentary Quentin Tarantino: Hollywood’s Boy Wonder, the director explained how his first attempts at making films did not exactly go according to plan.

He was 22 years old when he started working at the video store, and by the following year, he decided it was time to move from watching movies to making them. His first project was a comedy titled My Best Friend’s Birthday, which he described as being similar to a Martin Lewis type of film.

Though it was meant to be 70 minutes long, only 36 minutes of the black-and-white footage were ever finished. The film featured Tarantino himself in an acting role that he admitted was not very good.

In one clip, his character talks about a dark cloud hanging over his head and even mentions wanting to commit suicide before being saved by a funny cartoon. He played a character named Clarence who visits his friend Mickey to try to give him a birthday to remember after a bad breakup.

The production of My Best Friend’s Birthday was a long and difficult process that lasted three years. Tarantino had originally planned to use Super 8mm film, but he managed to borrow a better 16mm camera from a fellow director. Despite the effort, he eventually felt embarrassed when he looked back at the poor quality of the footage.

Ultimately, he realized that making a movie is the best kind of film school there is. This experience gave him the confidence to write True Romance, which he designed to be produced for a relatively small budget. He eventually sold the rights to that script to finance his actual debut, Reservoir Dogs, which launched his massive career in 1992.

As of early this year, the legendary filmmaker is still navigating the path toward his tenth and final directorial project. After famously scrapping his plans for The Movie Critic last year, he has shifted his focus toward other creative outlets. He recently finished writing a new stage play and has spent a significant amount of time on the set of The Adventures of Cliff Booth.

This upcoming film is a sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and is being directed by David Fincher for Netflix. While Tarantino wrote the screenplay, he decided not to direct it because he felt he would be walking down the same ground he had already covered. The movie stars Brad Pitt, who is returning as the titular stuntman, alongside Elizabeth Debicki and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

In a surprising twist, Tarantino has also returned to acting for the first time in decades. He recently wrapped production on a drama called Only What We Carry, directed by Jamie Adams. He plays a publisher named John Percy and stars alongside Simon Pegg, Sofia Boutella, and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Even with these projects, fans are still waiting for news on his official tenth film, which he says will be his last. He has mentioned in recent interviews at film festivals that he is in no hurry to rush into production. He wants to ensure his final movie is something entirely new and unexpected before he officially retires from the director’s chair.

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