America 1987

Chapter 72 Hollywood Stories

So even though he didn't write the script himself, he discussed and deeply understood the main characters' personality traits and psychological activities with David.

David highly approves of his wholehearted creative attitude and professionalism; only creators like him can present audiences with works full of spirit and energy.

"It's a pity that it takes too much time," David said, flipping through the character biographies written by the other party based on their several discussions with him and his own study of the script. "It's also very mentally taxing. If you're going to shoot like this, I estimate you won't be able to make many movies in your lifetime."

"It's alright," Quentin, sitting across from him, poured them both a glass of whiskey. "I don't plan on making many movies anyway."

Yes, that makes sense. In the original timeline, Quentin Tarantino did indeed state publicly on several occasions that he would only direct 10 films in his lifetime and then retire after that.

As for why?

"Most directors' last film is terrible, and this was true for many directors from Hollywood's Golden Age. Therefore, it's rare to end one's career with a decent film."

"So your goal is 10 films?"

"Yes, that's right. This number is enough for me to maintain a good acting record, while also preventing me from 'crossing the line' due to skill decline."

Quentin took a big gulp of his strong liquor and proudly gave an example: "If Hitchcock had retired from filmmaking in 1963 instead of 1976, his last works would be even greater today."

Well, that's very "Quentin Tarantino." David didn't dwell on that topic, but instead shifted to his creative methodology: "So what are your standards when making a film, and under what circumstances do you feel you've done enough to be shown on the big screen?"

"If it's not my movie, I won't make it," Quentin replied after a moment's thought. "The standard is to be able to understand a character, to shape him in my mind, to empathize with him, and to convey that feeling in my own way so that the audience can feel it."

"Image? Character image?"

"Well, not entirely, but you can understand it that way."

Goodness, this looks like an emotional flow creative method, David thought to himself.

Before he transmigrated, he had learned through the internet that the other party originally planned to use a film called "The Film Critic" as his tenth and final work, set in the 1970s, with a male film critic as the protagonist.

However, it seems that it was later shelved because of concerns that ordinary audiences would not be able to accept it. It seems that the profit pressure and polarized reviews of "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" did indeed damage the other party's confidence to some extent.

"Would you dare to film a real person who actually existed in the real world, and one with exceptionally high fame and influence, and create a screen image based on them?"

"Hmm?" Quentin was a little confused for a moment, not quite understanding why the other person's topic had jumped so drastically. However, after thinking about it carefully, he said, "Dare? Of course I dare. If possible, I will try to make a movie like that in the future."

Just as I expected, no wonder he dared to make fun of Bruce Lee in movies later on. David stroked his chin and looked at him with some admiration.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is probably Quentin Tarantino's most culturally controversial film, bar none.

Bruce Lee was portrayed as an arrogant, boastful, and provocative person, and even had a fictional stuntman, Cliff, fight him to a draw, intentionally downplaying his actual combat abilities.

Unsurprisingly, he was publicly attacked by Shannon Lee's daughter and accused of "white supremacy and looking down on Asian superstars."

In the end, not only was the original release plan in the Eastern Continent temporarily canceled, resulting in the loss of the world's second largest film market at the time, but the domestic market rating also plummeted. The Douban rating continued to decline for three months, falling from 8.9 at the time of its release to 7.3, making it the worst-performing feature film among the nine directed films.

"What about Bruce Lee? If you were to make a movie about Bruce Lee, how would you portray him?" David couldn't help but ask.

He was genuinely curious as to why the other party harbored such malice towards Brother Long, to the point that he portrayed him as a clown-like character in the movie.

He was a dragon enthusiast in his youth, liking both dragons, and a Quentin Tarantino fan in college, but he wasn't an extremely fanatical or mindless fan. Therefore, he asked this question simply out of curiosity.

In this era, Bruce Lee's fame in the United States was no less than that in the East China Sea. In addition, Quentin Tarantino himself was a movie enthusiast, so he did not ask questions such as who Bruce Lee was.

"Bruce Lee?" This question successfully piqued Quentin's interest. After thinking about it carefully, he replied, "Anyway, I won't deify him. I will 'reconstruct' a flawed real person based on my own research."

Yes, that's true. Quentin Tarantino doesn't like to create perfect, flawless characters in his movies. He always likes to add some minor flaws to make the atmosphere of the film as cheerful as possible.

Even in a very serious World War II Nazi Jewish subject like "Inglourious Basterds," he dared to film a near-absurd plot where "Hitler is shot in a movie theater." His style of drastically altering real history and satirizing celebrities is indeed consistent with his approach.

"Hmm," David put down his wine glass and offered a friendly reminder, "If you're going to do research, it's best not to rely on just one source of information, as that can easily lead to biases."

"Of course, I certainly won't just look at one document, but thank you for the reminder, David."

According to Quentin Tarantino himself, when filming "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," he mainly referenced Linda Lee's memoir "Bruce Lee: Only I Know," and stated that "it was the first biography I had ever read in my life."

Then, he had Bruce Lee in the movie say something incredible like "I can cripple Ali".

However, the original quote in the book is "In street fighting without rules, his leg techniques could pose a threat to Ali," which is a typical example of taking things out of context.

"Okay, let's not talk about Bruce Lee anymore," David said, knowing when to stop, and returned to the original topic. "You said that when you make movies, you're creating characters. Are you referring to all the characters, or just the main characters?"

"Yes, if I have enough time, I will try my best to develop all the characters well."

How would you shape it?

"Truly digest the character, grasp the psychological activities of each character, and be able to immerse yourself in whichever character you want. That's pretty much it. Characters created in this way will be appreciated by the audience, even if they are just chatting casually."

No wonder Pulp Fiction made those two hitmen talk so much nonsense; they must have been confident in that.

Through casual conversation with Quentin, David roughly understood the other man's core creative theories.

There is a world in my mind, and I bring those well-digested characters into this world, allowing them to intersect and collide.

Then observe how it evolves, identify interesting evolutionary patterns, and let it develop on its own under a laissez-faire approach.

It seems like a very high level of understanding, but David doesn't entirely agree with it—film is not a documentary. The latter only needs to be realistic and believable, while the former also needs to have contradictions, conflicts, and enough dramatic tension.