After years of lectures on film history and world cinema, Quentin Tarantino isn’t just known for iconic movies like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. In addition to his status as a prominent director, Tarantino has also developed a strong reputation in popular culture for being a highly opinionated and extensively knowledgeable tastemaker. That’s precisely why his specially curated selections regularly make the rounds on social media, piquing the interest of film fans everywhere.
Due to the weight of his opinions on cinema, it’s always a big deal when Tarantino lavishes a particular movie with high praise. It’s practically unprecedented for him to refer to a cinematic masterpiece as “perfect”. However, that’s exactly what he did when he discussed seven iconic movies as the best works in the history of the medium. Including classics by Steven Spielberg and Woody Allen, it’s impossible to argue against his claims.
One celebrated American western also made the cut, earning the label of “perfect” from the Pulp Fiction director. Titled The Wild Bunch, Sam Peckinpah’s 1969 revisionist western had a significant impact on Tarantino because he first saw it at the age of 11. In his recent book, Cinema Speculation, the auteur revealed that his mother had taken him for a double feature of The Wild Bunch and Deliverance which changed his life.
Tarantino wrote: “But of all the double features I saw back then, none was as powerful, nor as controversial, as the time my mother took me with her on a date to see a double feature of The Wild Bunch and Deliverance. That particular double feature was controversial when I told people about it then. And it’s controversial when I tell people about it now”.
He added: “Some parents didn’t even want me playing with their children at school because of the wild movies I saw and talked about. I guess they were afraid I’d give their kids ideas, or spill the goods on the taboo images I witnessed. But make no mistake, when I tell the story of seeing The Wild Bunch and Deliverance at 11 — then and now — I’m fucking bragging!”.
“The Wild Bunch was released in 1969,” Tarantino continued. “And we didn’t go see it then. Maybe the age of six might have been a little too young for Peckinpah’s masterpiece (though a year later, I did see House of Dark Shadows, which had very similar imagery). But even though I didn’t see it, I definitely heard of it. My favourite uncle, Cliff, saw it and told us how amazing it was. And my Uncle Roger saw it, and had similar sentiments. So, for a time, The Wild Bunch became this infamous title in our household. A title that represented an outrageous movie. A movie too outrageous for me.”
At the time of its release, The Wild Bunch became the subject of much controversy due to its ultraviolent artistic vision as well as its extremely bleak portrayal of the human condition. Peckinpah’s approach to cinematic violence definitely played an essential role in the evolution of Tarantino’s sensibilities, especially since he’s widely recognised as a leading figure in the domain of arthouse action.
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