By Peter Auf der Heyde Jul 23, 2007, 14:52 GMT
Nuerburg, Germany - Quentin Tarantino is reluctant to give too many details concerning his next project, a film about the Second World War.
US director Quentin Tarantino (L), actress Zoe Bell from New Zealand and Australian Formula One driver Mark Webber of Red Bull pose before the start of the F1 Grand Prix of Europe at the Nuerburgring 22 July 2007 in Nuerburg, Germany. EPA/GERO BRELOER
'I can't talk about it right now, but that is what I am doing. If I speak about it, I will jinx it, I will ruin it if I talk about it. I will talk about it when it is done,' Tarantino told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Taking a break while watching the European Grand Prix at the Nuerburgring as a guest of the Red Bull racing team, sports car fan Tarantino explained about the writing process for the screen:
'I always start from scratch, so I never know if it will work. I could write it, but it might not work out.'
The cult film director does give out just enough to keep interest going. 'It is sort of a spaghetti western set in World War Two. I am not going to call it this, but if it had a subtitle for it, it would be called: Once Upon a Time in Nazi-occupied France.'
Tarantino makes no excuses for going places most people would not dare travel.
Since first arriving on the cinema scene with Reservoir Dogs (1991), Tarantino has directed a number of films that have not only catapulted him into superstar status, they have also brought independent American film into the mainstream.
His films, like Pulp Fiction (1994), Jackie Brown (1997) and Kill Bill (Vol 1 2003, Vol 2 2004), follow complex story lines and are renowned for their use of brutality, often showing graphic scenes of violence.
Sitting in the Red Bull Racing drivers' lounge at Nuerburgring, Tarantino explains that the violence in his movies comes from within. 'It is the stuff I am drawn to. That is the stuff I like. You will notice, it is never tagged on. That is the character and that is actually where the story would go.'
He says that most other films fail to take their characters to the limit. 'To me, most movies don't go where organically they would go. They always have to stop and they always have to cheat, they always have to be watered down.'
He compares his films to novels. 'A lot of novels, you know, they will go anywhere. They can do anything, they can have the truth and the integrity of their story or of their situation because of their characters and I always try to do the same thing in my movies.
'There is no place I can't go, there is nothing my characters can't do, or won't do. There are a lot of things they won't do because they would not be in character, but if it is in character, if it is in their nature they will do it. I am not censoring them.'
The 44-year-old states the characters in his films go further than most.
'When I watch movies, I am definitely more bloodthirsty than most of the other filmmakers out there, because when I am watching movies I always base myself on the characters and they always stop short.'
'They do not do what I would do. I would go much further,' he adds, almost expressing a desire to metamorphose into his creations.
Tarantino draws a lot of inspiration from other films and film directors, controversially naming Third Reich propagandist Leni Riefenstahl as his favourite German director.
In his latest film Grindhouse: Death Proof, which was released in April 2007, Tarantino introduces a new dimension: car chases.
The film is about a serial killer, who chases and kills his victims with a car and in turn is later himself chased by a car. It was originally meant to be shown as a double feature with his Planet Terror, which was directed by his friend Robert Rodriguez, but after the idea bombed in America, Death Proof was released by itself in most European countries.
Even though it was savaged by critics in the US and made less than 12 million dollars on its opening weekend - it cost more than 50 million to produce - Tarantino is happy with the finished product. 'My fans should definitely watch it because it is the last thing that I have done and I am very proud of it,' he says.
For Tarantino, the biggest challenge were the car chase scenes in the film. 'I like car chase movies. To me one of the fun things of doing Death Proof was actually to try and do one of the best car chase scenes ever.
'I am a big fan of car chase scenes and everything, so this was my chance to throw my hat in the ring. I did not want this to be just an exciting chase, a good chase. I wanted this to be the best chases ever made. If not the best, at least in the top three.
'And it was exciting because I have never made that before, I had to figure out how to do it. And that's a scary place to put yourself as a filmmaker, but it is an exciting place. The same thing in Kill Bill. I had never dealt in that kind of martial arts stuff before, but I was going to have to teach myself how to do it and with car chases it was similar.'
The Knoxville, Tennessee-born Tarantino, who took the first steps towards becoming a director working as a sales assistant in a video store after dropping out of high school, enjoys racing and came to the Nuerburgring to watch the European Grand Prix.
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