The premise of Trunk Shots Cinema is simple: I wanted to rank the movies of great writer/directors, then review the movies that inspired them. The first writer/director is Quentin Tarantino. I chose Tarantino for two reasons: 1) his movies are packed with endless references of eclectic directors and genres and 2) he’s the reason I discovered a love for movies in the first place.
What I’ve learned during this project is that a truly comprehensive review of Tarantino influences would encompass hundreds of movies. Kill Bill alone likely features 20-30 kung fu movies. While it would be fascinating to follow this path, I think it’s more interesting to employ Tarantino and other directors as a starting point to discovering new genres and styles.
For example, Klaus Kinski in The Great Silence leads to a direct discovery of Sergio Corbucci but also charts a path toward Werner Herzog and German New Cinema, which was inspired by the French New Wave and on and on.
Or in other words, it’s possible to use Tarantino as the impetus to trace the history of movies – which is a project I’m eager to continue.