True Romance - Review

In this 1993 film from Tony Scott, Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) falls in love with a prostitute (Patricia Arquette), kills her former pimp, steals a suitcase full of cocaine and travels to L.A in hopes of selling the lot and living in luxury for the rest of his life. As can be expected from a film written by Quentin Tarantino, things are never as simple as they seem, with pursuits, deception and violence never being too far away, True Romance is an action packed crime thriller that does not fail to deliver in terms of excitement.

There is something awfully endearing about watching a film written by such a prolific figure in modern cinema before their 'big break', Tarantino shows his love for a big plot and even bigger characters in this feature that was released only one year after his magnificent Reservoir Dogs hit the festival circuit and blew critics away. The sky is never the limit with Tarantino's scriptwriting, and the Hollywood norm is never going to be followed wholly, with scenarios put in just for the fun of it, characters introduced just to be killed off and the N-word used as frequently as the name of our protagonist, the film delivers a script that could only be written by something with an intense passion for cinema. With many hints at the ideas brewing in Tarantino's head that would be put on film in his later films such as Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, parts of the script seem like Tarantino testing the waters of Hollywood to see the reactions to his graphic imagination. Writing the script was market research for Tarantino, a mere peek into some of the ideas he had for future films that he could take the whole credit for.

There is a disconnection felt when we are watching our protagonist's adventures. Speeding through the US with a case full of cocaine, being pursued by big time gangsters and taking it all in their stride, this film is not one that is easily relatable to. This lack of connection with Alabama and Clarence means that some scenes seem too stretched out or too exaggerated, I tried really hard to understand their motives throughout and gain a sense of perspective but found myself repeatedly lost. The lack of understanding, intentional or not, fits rather beautifully with the thematic side of the film, however, this journey that the characters are on is like a dream for them and why the Hell should they filter their enjoyment for us to feel engaged? When looking at this case, the characters seem to have depth, and their diegesis, although seen from our perspective through a non-understanding eye, is captivating and exciting. 

The film packs so much into the two hour running time, action, adventure, crime, romance and thriller are just some of the genres the film touches upon. With spectacular performances from Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken and Christian Slater, and a 30 second appearance from Samuel L. Jackson, it appears that many Hollywood big shots were more than happy to get on board with this film, and with many of them it was the first of many collaborations with Quentin Tarantino. Tony Scott brings everything together in a compact and enjoyable way, making quite a complex and scattered script into an easy to watch crime thriller, this film is cemented as one of my favourites of the 90s. 

The Film Tag

There is no witty or original name for this tag, I'm afraid. I think the idea of tags are really fun, and after searching for many film-related ones and coming to no real success, I decided to make my own. Feel free to post your own answers even if I haven't tagged you!

If you could choose one (dead or alive) director & two (dead or alive) actors/actresses to collaborate on a film project who would they be? 

→ Alfred Hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock. There could be no other answer to this question, he is the absolute master of cinema in my eyes, delivering amazingly engaging films from his first in the late 1920s to his last in the late 1970s. I would want him to be in the mindset he was in during the 1950s, however, where most of my favourite Hitchcock films were produced and I feel that creatively he was at his best.
Cillian Murphy would work brilliantly with Hitchcock's style, his acting ability constantly surprises me and I love his work. I would also love to see Jessica Chastain in the leading female role, showing her versatility in her constant changes of characters from The Tree of Life to Zero Dark Thirty, she would fully deserve a role in this production.

A film from your favourite director that you think is underrated.

→ Since Hitchcock directed around 53 feature films in his career span, there are so many gems that get out-shined by the handful of films he made that are projected to a legendary status. While the likes of Psycho and The Birds are brilliant in their own right, smaller films such as Family Plot are often disregarded as mediocre films, when the truth of the matter is Family Plot is a hilarious final film from Hitchcock. The comedy is brilliant, the suspense is mastered and the film boasts one of my favourite scripts to come from Camp Hitchcock. With the film being very, very '70s, the style would be one that people, without knowing, would never think of as being a Hitchcock film, yet is as enjoyable as one of his most recognisable.

Your favourite adaptation of a book on screen. 

→ I am absolutely in love with Baz Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet, with the film being one of my most watched. There is always issues and arguments whenever a director chooses to adapt any of Shakespeare's works, however  I think that Luhrmann is a truly visionary director, and the combination of his love for challenging the canon, incorporating music so effortlessly into his films and his unique style makes his films extremely enoyable.

The last film you watched & the next film you plan on watching.

→ The last film I watched was Coraline, yesterday, and the next film I plan on watching is Annie Hall, this afternoon.

Do you own any interesting film memorabilia? Stories behind them?

→ 'Interesting' is subjective, however in my bedroom at my childhood home I have posters of Pulp Fiction and Taxi Driver, two of my favourite films growing up. In my room in London I have a picture of Alfred Hitchcock, and in my attic somewhere I have a huge, and I mean HUGE, poster that I got when I went to the Oz the Great and Powerful premiere a few months back. It's really big.

Favourite past (dead), present (living) and future (upcoming) directors.

→ Past: Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick.
Present: David Lynch, Wes Anderson, Baz Luhrmann, Nicolas Winding Refn.
Upcoming: Adam Leon, Jonathon Levine.

Someone you would like to see a film made about. Who would direct it? Who would star in it?

→ I'm extremely interested in the Royal Family, so I feel like films about them are always fun to watch. I would love to watch a film portraying a fictional dramatisation of the rumours surrounding Prince Charles having an affair with Camilla. I'm not sure that would be allowed, but I think it would be an interesting film. The reason I mention it being a fictional dramatisation is that I'm pretty sure it would be illegal to claim it was based on a real life story. I think Spielberg would be a solid choice to direct the film, with him showing he can make heavy dialogue in films interesting and moving, which I feel that a film of this type would need. Another good choice to direct the film would be Tom Hooper.

So that is the end of the questions on this tag, I enjoyed thinking about the questions and writing my answers, and if you think you will, too, don't hesitate to copy the questions and answer them yourself.

REVIEW: JACKIE BROWN.

I am obsessed with the films of Quentin Tarantino. He is a genius and without a doubt one of the top living filmmakers in the world, his films are full of depth and his camerawork and screenwriting are always top notch. Like all films, there are flaws to be found when looking closely at his films, however the positives always outweigh the negatives easily and I always find myself engrossed in the characters and world he creates.
Tonight I watched Tarantino's third feature film, Jackie Brown.

It is clear from the start that the film is inspired heavily by '70s crime thrillers. The music, the mise en scene, the cinematography, the everything. The film is heavily stylised, which is enjoyable and different to watch from a film that was produced in the late '90s. Introducing a specific genre and taking inspiration from films that perhaps the Tarantino Generation are not comfortable and familiar with was a risk to take, however the film pulls it off beautifully, capturing and adapting the best bits of '70s cinema for a modern audience.

The film sees one of Tarantino's first female leads, with the amazing Pam Grier starring as the title character, Jackie Brown. A sexy, intelligent middle aged woman in a badass crime thriller is such an anti-typecast character that I cannot believe the film hasn't become a cult-sensation like more of Tarantino's earlier films such as Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs.
Always being one to add in complications and characters who are created simply to be killed off, Tarantino throws the audience into a world of deceit, casual drug use and murder that feels like a whirlwind tour of everything your parents tell you not to do as a child.

The film could be a little shorter, with seemingly unnecessarily long scenes at some moments, but with cinematography that is worth the casual dialogue and monotonous actions that the characters take every so often. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, it is well-rounded, as are all Tarantino films, and the substance matches the style, a factor that I thought was going to be an issue after watching the first half of the film, thankfully however, the second half is much more action packed, tense and dramatic.