Quentin Tarantino‘s Django Unchained is easily my most anticipated film left to come out this year. His films are constantly my most anticipated whenever he has a new one set to come out and in a new interview with Playboy he clearly recognizes and enjoys just how much his films are anticipated, “I want there to be anticipation. I was actually quite proud when I read that Django is one of the most anticipated movies coming out this year. It’s a black Western. Where’s the anticipation coming from? I guess a lot of it is me. That’s pretty f*cking awesome.”
So, with Django coming on December 25, Tarantino declares it his seventh film along with Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill, Death Proof and Inglourious Basterds and when asked about a previous comment saying he would likely retire at the age of 60 he responds, “I just don’t want to be an old-man filmmaker.”
Here’s the entire exchange:
PLAYBOY: You’ve threatened to retire at 60. Why put a timetable on it?
TARANTINO: Who knows what I’ll do? I just don’t want to be an old-man filmmaker. I want to stop at a certain point.
PLAYBOY: Why?
TARANTINO: Directors don’t get better as they get older. Usually the worst films in their filmography are those last four at the end. I am all about my filmography, and one bad film fucks up three good ones. I don’t want that bad out-of-touch comedy in my filmography, the movie that makes people think, Oh man, he still thinks it’s 20 years ago. When directors get out-of-date, it’s not pretty.
PLAYBOY: Stanley Kubrick was viable in his later years. Scorsese and Spielberg have made good movies in their 60s, and Woody Allen made Midnight in Paris in his 70s. Won’t fans want to see what’s on your mind as you continue to develop as a man?
TARANTINO: Maybe. If I have something to say, I’ll do it. I haven’t made any gigantic declarative statements. I just don’t want to be an old filmmaker. I’m on a journey that needs to have an end and not be about me trying to get another job. Even if it’s old and I’m washed up, I’d still want to do it. I want this artistic journey to have a climax. I want to work toward something.
PLAYBOY: When a director jumps the shark, doesn’t it have more to do with him getting fat and happy and losing his edge or not listening?
TARANTINO: Could be, but it’s also age. [laughs] The directorial histories don’t lie for the most part, but I’ll concentrate on a unique example: I hadn’t thought about how old Tony Scott was until he checked out. And I knew him. I thought, Wow, Tony was close to 70?
PLAYBOY: As a director, how will you know when you’re not capable of that anymore?
TARANTINO: Well, I guess that’s what I’m trying to figure out.
PLAYBOY: You don’t turn these things out once a year. How many films do you have left in you?
TARANTINO: You stop when you stop, but in a fanciful world, 10 movies in my filmography would be nice. I’ve made seven. If I have a change of heart, if I come up with a new story, I could come back. But if I stop at 10, that would be okay as an artistic statement.
I have no doubt that as long as Tarantino has stories to tell he’ll tell them. I would also suspect that if that meant stopping making films before he reaches ten he would, though I expect there will be far more in the future.
What I’m most disappointed about with this interview, however, is the lack of follow-up on the “old-man filmmaker” comment and him saying, “Usually the worst films in their filmography are those last four at the end.” Tarantino isn’t shy and I suspect he would have given some examples had he been pushed, but as is you can do your own speculation as to who he was likely referring to.
You can read the full interview right here.
