Quentin Tarantino Was Completely Obsessed With This Director

Quentin Tarantino is a filmmaker whose identity is inseparable from his role as a supreme fan of the medium. While he has solidified his place in history with landmarks like Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds, he has never hidden the fact that his own work is a dialogue with the directors he worships.

Among his most prominent influences are masters like Sergio Leone and Jean-Luc Godard, but few filmmakers have captured his imagination quite as intensely as Brian De Palma.

Tarantino has spoken candidly about his youthful obsession with De Palma, admitting that during his twenties, he would obsess about his stuff with the same intensity a sports fan has for a star athlete.

This wasn’t a casual interest; he meticulously maintained De Palma scrapbooks, filled with every review and interview he could find. Whenever a new film was set to premiere, he would count down the days with religious devotion, ensuring he was the first person in line for the very first screening.

For Tarantino, seeing a De Palma film like Scarface for the first time was an experience so sacred that he preferred to attend alone, not wanting any outside opinions to interfere with his initial absorption of the story. However, his process didn’t end with a single viewing.

He would return for the midnight show that same evening, often bringing a companion so he could watch the film through their eyes. Having already processed the plot, this second viewing allowed him to dissect the technical mastery behind the lens and understand exactly how he did it.

Of all the works in De Palma’s storied career, the 1981 neo-noir thriller Blow Out holds the highest place in Tarantino’s esteem. Starring John Travolta as a sound technician who accidentally records a political assassination, the film is frequently cited by Tarantino as one of the greatest movies ever made.

He has even gone as far as to label it De Palma’s finest hour, while simultaneously praising Travolta for delivering one of the best performances of all time. As of February, Tarantino is taking a significant detour from his usual seat in the director’s chair.

He is currently living in London, where he is deep in rehearsals for his debut stage play, an original comedy scheduled to open in the West End later this year. While he has famously insisted he will only direct ten films, he has hinted that if this play is a smash hit, it may serve as the basis for his final cinematic project.

This move into theater comes after he officially scrapped his long-rumored tenth film, The Movie Critic, deciding that the concept didn’t feel right. Despite his focus on the stage, Tarantino’s presence is being felt across the movie slate, particularly with the upcoming release of The Adventures of Cliff Booth.

While David Fincher is directing this $200 million Netflix project, Tarantino penned the script, which sees Brad Pitt reprise his Oscar-winning role from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The film, which recently finished principal photography in Los Angeles, follows the legendary stuntman as a fixer in the late 1970s and is expected to be a major awards contender for its adapted screenplay.

Furthermore, Tarantino is making a rare return to acting with a substantial role in the indie drama Only What We Carry, which wrapped production late last year. Playing a character named John Percy, he stars alongside Simon Pegg and Sofia Boutella in a story that follows an instructor facing the ghosts of his past.

Between managing his recently acquired Vista Theatre in Hollywood and preparing for his West End debut, the legendary auteur continues to find new ways to engage with the art form that has defined his life.

Do you think Quentin Tarantino’s decision to let David Fincher direct The Adventures of Cliff Booth is a sign that he is truly ready to move on from directing? Share your thoughts in the comments.