Quentin Tarantino’s knowledge of both art and genre cinema is extensive and well-documented: one need only glance at the screening schedule of his Los Angeles movie house the New Beverly for evidence of his idiosyncratic tastes (indeed, Tarantino’s theatre is perhaps the only conceivable venue that would screen the original “3:10 to Yuma” with “Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie” within the same week). Tarantino boldly declined enrollment to film school as a young man and instead worked at a video-rental outlet in Manhattan Beach, devouring everything from Monte Hellman to Brian DePalma, the Shaw Brothers to the French New Wave.
Some may cite what they see as a lack of originality in Tarantino’s execution, but I’ve always thought of him more as a purveyor of cinematic mixtapes, collecting shards and flotsam from foreign, drive-in and B-movie cinema to create his own uniquely bloody gumbo. It’s no secret that Q.T. borrows liberally from other films, and in case you weren’t already convinced, the below supercut focuses on Tarantino’s abundance of cinematic influences.
There’s some no-brainers here: we’re all familiar with the outré “Lady Snowblood” doff-of-the-cap in “Kill Bill Vol. 1,” and anyone with an even passing knowledge of Tarantino’s work won’t be surprised to learn that the now-famous dance sequence in “Pulp Fiction” was allegedly inspired by a similar scene in Godard’s seminal “Band of Outsiders." There’s also a curious if undeniable shot in the dreamy, B&W prologue of “Kill Bill Vol. 2” that appears to be lifted directly from “The Searchers,” although QT has been vocal about his dislike for that film’s director John Ford. Elsewhere, there are visual cues to Ringo Lam’s “City on Fire” (a film Tarantino was once accused of trying to copy outright), Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” and the O.G. 1966 spaghetti western “Django.”
Scored to the rollicking “Little Green Bag” by the George Baker Selection (a choice cut from the “Reservoir Dogs” soundtrack), the video is a must-watch for Q.T. buffs, and it’ll be interesting to see which pictures serve as inspiration for the upcoming “The Hateful Eight.”
Check out the supercut below. Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight” will screen in glorious 70mm in theaters later this year.
