Blessed are those who get to watch Quentin Tarantino movies for the first time in their life. He is the major figure in today's film industry, and is also one of the most mentioned names in film essays.
Why are Tarantino movies so good? He has many distinct styles like non-linear plot, close-up shots, deep rich colors, extremely well-written monologues, pop culture references, and — you guessed it — great casting.
Quentin Tarantino is also a history buff. He has an encyclopedic knowledge about cinema. You can watch him talk about just camera movements for three hours and never get bored.
Which brings me to today…
In this article, I've rounded up the 25 best Quentin Tarantino quotes from multiple interviews and essays. These quotes will surely help you to improve your script-writing and filmmaking process.
But before we jump into the quotes, here is Tarantino's short bio:
Quentin Tarantino – Biography
Quentin Tarantino's step-dad introduced him to the beauty-of-cinema.
Later, he dropped out from his high school and worked at a video rental store in California. He also attended acting classes around the same time.
After several failed attempts to sell his script, he kick started his career with Reservoir Dogs in 1992.
Two years later he co-wrote and directed Pulp Fiction which earned him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and grossed over $200 million worldwide.
In recent years, he has collaborated with Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, two of Hollywood's most prominent actors.
Tarantino said he'd retire after his 10th film to end his career on a high note.
Considering the Kill Bill saga as a singular movie, he has directed only 9 movies and the next one will be his last, perhaps (hope I'm wrong).
Net Worth
As of 2023, Quentin Tarantino has a net worth of $120 million. He lives in a quiet neighborhood in northern Tel Aviv, Israel, with his wife Daniella Pick and two children.
Best Quentin Tarantino Quotes About Writing
When asked about his writing process in an interview, Tarantino said that his method is to write the draft like a piece of literature. Then he formats it into a script.
This is how he created the Academy Awards winning script of Pulp Fiction.
For those looking to follow in his footsteps, here are his best quotes about writing:
1. "Failure brings great rewards in the life of an artist."
2. "I've always considered myself a filmmaker who writes stuff for himself to do."
3. "Everything I learned as an actor, I have basically applied to writing."
4. "A writer should have this little voice inside, saying: tell the truth."
5. "Don't write what you think people want to read. Find your voice and write about what's in your heart."
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6. "It's a writer's job not just to write about himself but to look at the rest of humanity and explore it."
7. "My head is a sponge. I listen to what everyone says, I watch little idiosyncratic behavior; people tell me a joke, and I remember it. People tell me an interesting story in their life, and I remember it."
8. "When I'm writing a script, one of the first things I do is find the music I'm going to play for the opening sequence."
9. "As a writer, I demand the right to write any character in the world that I want to write. I demand the right to be them, I demand the right to think of them and I demand the right to tell the truth as I see they are."
10. "I don't write their dialogue, I get my characters talking to each other."
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Best Quentin Tarantino Quotes About Filmmaking
Known for his non-linear storyline and graphic violence, Quentin Tarantino won numerous accolades for his prowess as a filmmaker including Palme d'Or.
In his directing style, he frequently borrows from old masters like Sergio Leone and Brian De Palma as well. My favorite movie from his œuvre is Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.
Here are some of his best quotes about filmmaking:
11. "I didn't go to film school; I went to films."
12. "I consider myself a student of cinema. It's almost like I am going for my professorship in cinema, and the day I die is the day I graduate. It is a lifelong study."
13. "I don't believe in elitism. I don't think the audience is this dumb person lower than me. I am the audience."
14. "When I make a movie, I want it to be everything to me; like I'd die for it."
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15. "If you want to make a movie, make it. Don't wait for a grant, don't wait for the perfect circumstances, just make it."
16. "Filmmaking can be a democratic process. In which other people, other than rich white men, can make movies."
17. "In the 50s, audiences accepted a level of artifice that the audiences in 1966 would chuckle at. And the audiences of 1978 would chuckle at what the audience of 1966 said was okay, too. The trick is to try to be way ahead of that curve, so they're not chuckling at your movies 20 years down the line."
18. "I've been making movies for 20 years, and as great as some of those decisions I made in the first ten years were, I probably wouldn't make them again."
19. "I see the movie in my mind. Before I make the movie, I watch the movie. I've got a genuine vision. That's how I see it."
20. "Trying to make a feature film yourself with no money is the best film school you can do."
21. "I steal from every movie ever made."
22. "I'm not a Hollywood basher because enough good movies come out of the Hollywood system every year to justify its existence, without any apologies."
23. "My movies are painfully personal, but I'm never trying to let you know how personal they are. It's my job to make it be personal, and also to disguise that so only I or the people who know me know how personal it is."
24. "I want to risk hitting my head on the ceiling of my talent. I want to really test it out and say: ok you're not that good. You just reached the level here. I don't ever want to fail, but I want to risk failure every time out of the gate."
25. "You don't have to know how to make a movie. If you truly love cinema with all your heart and with enough passion, you can't help but make a good movie."
Final Thoughts
Quentin Tarantino is one of the best directors in Hollywood.
Although, he is heavily criticized for glorifying violence and extreme profanity. But I vehemently disagree. Someone must challenge the set of rules; the fixed set of successful-movie-making formulas.
And challenging those formulas doesn't always mean inventing a new formula; but to borrow from different sets of formulas and incorporate them into your own work to create something new. Just like how Tarantino often borrows from different genres and mixes them together.
With that said, I hope you enjoyed reading this article. Feel free to copy any of the quotes (NOT more than 50 words) with a backlink to this page.
What are your favorite Quentin Tarantino quotes? Let me know in the comments.♦️