Tag: Eli wallach

The Tarantino Influences: The Rankings

The goal of this Tarantino project is to explore the movies that inspired the director. What I quickly realized is that this project could be infinite – given that thousands of movie references color Tarantino’s works. I’m stopping at 15 direct influences – fully knowing that these movies may not even be the best representations. Kill Bill alone likely features over 30 kung fu movie influences.

I think at the least, I represented enough different genres to make the project meaningful.

More importantly, I’m excited that these movies will naturally lead to further discoveries. For instance, I was not a huge fan of Branded to Kill – but I do want to explore more Japanese New Wave movies. Likewise, after watching The Great Silence and Django, I’m fully invested in Spaghetti Westerns. The next phase of this project will ultimately lead to a new writer/director, but for now I want to chase down the movies, directors, actors and genres that stem from this original group.

As for this collection of movies, here are my ratings – which again are based on my own preferences and personal enjoyment. I take into account technical aspects but I am unqualified to judge such things. But I also know that Kowalski is the most boring anti-hero in movie history and the Ecstasy of Gold scene is exhilarating. All fifteen of these movies offer something exceptional and likely shaped some small part of a Tarantino movie.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – 4.5/5

Band of Outsiders – 4.5/5

These are two movies that essentially changed movies. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was the best of a classic Sergio Leone series that proved the traditional American Western could be revitalized under a European lens. Yet in doing so, the movie created an American icon in Clint Eastwood and probably the most copied movie of its genre and time. Leone creates a beautiful, expansive atmosphere to drop his classic, archetypal characters into and they represent a struggle for morality that is brilliant and layered.

Band of Outsiders continues the guerrilla, self-referential ethos Jean-Luc Godard established with 1960’s Breathless. Godard’s story of would be teenage robbers is both an inventive homage to American crime movies and photograph of the existential confusion of youth. It’s a tongue in cheek critique of the narrative form, which gives us beautifully odd sequences such as the dance scene, moment of silence and running through the Louvre.

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The Tarantino Influences: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a 1966 Sergio Leone Western. The movie’s themes, style and cinematography are major influences on most of Tarantino’s works.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly tells the story of three drifters who are seeking a bounty of buried money. The three men form ephemeral alliances with each other during their pursuit, constantly scheming to secure the riches for themselves.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a unique entry for this project. The movie is continually cited as one of the greatest Westerns ever made, along with being a huge influence on Tarantino’s works – particularly during the second half of the director’s career. Although it’s possible that Tarantino references The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in all of his movies. Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown all borrow from the movie’s classic ending – a standoff in a Civil War cemetery. The atmosphere of Kill Bill, Volume 2 – particularly during the scenes with Budd and later Bill – are lifted entirely from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

The spacious scenery of the desert, which highlights Leone’s movie, is littered throughout Tarantino’s second half volume of movies. The opening scene of Inglorious Basterds borrows heavily from Leone’s introduction of Angel Eyes, while Django Unchained and Hateful Eight mimic the characters’ motivation and study ideas of trust.

On its surface, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a simple movie. The characters are all motivated by the same thing – yet take different routes to achieve their goals. They are simply characterized – Blondie is the good guy, Angel Eyes is bad and Tuco is ugly. Yet all three characters are con men and tricksters – each both adapting to and taking advantage of their landscape, which is being devastated by war.

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