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Quentin Tarantino has made some of the most influential movies of the last 30 years . From the blinking gun duels ofReservoir Dogsto the post - modern fantasia ofOnce Upon a Time … in Hollywood , Tarantino is one of cinema ’s distinctive voices . He ’s also a very practiced film critic , and he ’s normally pretty good at shining a Light Within on an actor , writer , or theatre director who has been misunderstood or just simply forgotten about .
He ’s not perfect , though , and sometimes , he can say something that ’s just spare , well , stupid . For case , last year , he partake in his less - than - lucky horizon onAlfred Hitchcock , whose impressive filmography never impressed Tarantino . In particular , he did n’t care the third deed of the Master of Suspense ’s films , going on to criticize specific celluloid likeSuspicionandRear Window .
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A story twice told isn’t worth reading (or watching, in this case)
Whatever , Quentin . of late , the theater director put his fundament in his mouth again in an audience withAmerican Psychoauthor Brett Easton Ellis ’ ego - titled podcast , where he was asked if he had seen Denis Villeneuve ’s hit 2024 filmDune : Part Two . His response was surprising :
“ I saw [ David Lynch’s]Dunea pair of times . I do n’t need to see that story again . I do n’t necessitate to see spiciness worms . I do n’t need to see a picture show that says the word ‘ spicery ’ so dramatically . ”
It ’s fine to be not a sports fan of something — I thinkDune : Part Twois overestimate myself — but to not even watch it because another film maker tackled the storey before ? That ’s just wrong . And for those who have see both interlingual rendition , they know that Lynch ’s and Villeneuve ’s are completely dissimilar . They tell the same story , but the movies themselves are unlike experience . Lynch ’s bloated cinema is crazy and incoherent with its sulphurous - stumble visuals and zigzag - zaggy narrative while Villeneuve ’s two movies have an intimate , epic coming that emphasizes author Frank Herbert ’s original themes about the dangers of colonialism and deification of one ’s loss leader .
Ban all remakes? No way!
Tarantino did n’t stop there , though . His bias stretch beyond the Dune movies and to remaking in general . According to QT , if a story has been filmed before , it ’s not deserving watching .
“ It ’s one after another of this remake , and that remaking . People ask ‘ Have you seenRipley ? Have you seenShōgun ? ’ And I ’m like ‘ no , no , no , no . ’ There ’s six or seven Ripley rule book , if you do one again , why are you doing the same one that they ’ve done twice already ? I ’ve see that story twice before , and I did n’t really like it in either version , so I ’m not really interested in see it a third meter . If you did another storey , that would be interesting enough to give it a slam anyway . ”
Ooof . I do n’t know how a ego - confess cinephile can have a scene like that , especially in this era . I get Tarantino ’s overall point that there are too many remakes , but to battle that by not watching any of them is the wrong access . After all , Hollywood has been moil out remakes ever since it first began .
The 1939 classicThe Wizard of Ozis a remaking . So is the 1941 detective mysteryThe Maltese Falcon . ( In fact , that ’s the 2nd remaking of the same account ! ) There ’s more , of course , like the 1954 version ofA Star is Bornstarring Judy Garland , the 1978 version ofInvasion of the Body Snatchers , John Carpenter ’s brilliant take onThe Thing(which Tarantino is a devotee of ! ) , the 2007 redo of the Western3:10 to Yumawith Christian Bale and Russell Crowe — the list goes on and on .
Some remaking are better than others , of course . I would n’t advocate the Keanu Reeves version ofThe Day The Earth tolerate Stillover the superb 1951 original . But that ’s straight for all movies : some work , others do n’t . And remake have value beyond telling the same level . They can showcase the difference between the directors who made them or how each of them reflect the culture and values that produced them . All four Invasion of the Body Snatchers movies — yes , even the awful 2007 Nicole Kidman one — have something interesting to say and should ’ve absolutely been made even though they evidence the same story of foreign pod masses quiet invade America .
There’s something about Ripley
And he ’s missing out onRipley . As a fan of Patricia Highsmith ’s novel , all three versions — 1960’sPurple Noon , 1999’sThe Talented Mr. Ripley , and the 2024 Netflix miniseries — offer up wildly different interpretations of the same news report , which lead in each movie and show let a clear-cut look and feel from the others .
René Clément’sPurple Noonemployed a leisurely pace , and Alain Delon ’s stone - confront right looks , to showcase how the lifestyles of the blase and rich are just out of ambit for the desperate and poor . Anthony Minghella’sThe Talented Mr. Ripleyshowcases sunshine - drenched Italian aspect as a way to seduce the viewer and make the character ’s hide gay subtext a major defining character trait ( and something he finally , and tragically , denied ) . In contrast , Steve Zaillian’sRipleydrained all the color from the role ’s world — literally , through Robert Elswit ’s nappy grim - and - white cinematography — to uncover the fictional character ’s true nature : He ’s a rat , an imposter , who ’s all ride with no existent determination .
By making and remaking the same story , these directors found new way to explore Highsmith ’s characters and encounter unique close that said something different than what come before . Can you imagine if we just gotPurple Noonor the mute 1910 version ofThe Wizard of Ozthat did n’t have Garland ’s vocalization , the Technicolor glorification of the Yellow Brick Road , orOver the Rainbow ? If that ’s the cinematic reality QT wants to live in , he can have it . As for me , I may just determine Carpenter’sThe Thingagain and bask in its marvelous ice - inhuman nihilism .
