Revolutionizing Cinema History: Quentin Tarantino's Vision Unveiled

New details are surfacing about what could potentially be Quentin Tarantino's final film. Insight from Paul Schrader and excerpts from Cinema Speculation are providing clues about how the filmmaker intends to make cinematic history with The Movie Critic.

Tarantino is notorious for altering historical narratives in his films, as seen in Inglourious Basterds and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The latter features Leonardo Di Caprio's character inserted into classic films and TV shows, even replacing Steve McQueen in The Great Escape with Rick Dalton.

The writer-director has announced that his upcoming film, titled The Movie Critic, will be his final project. Rumors are spreading about the movie's plot, which is said to revolve around a movie critic. In a recent interview with screenwriter Paul Schrader, it was revealed that the film will include nods to past films, with Tarantino aiming to playfully incorporate the 1977 action classic Rolling Thunder.

How Quentin Tarantino plans to change cinema history in The Movie Critic

In a Le Monde interview (via The Playlist), Schrader discloses that Tarantino asked him to film a segment of his original Rolling Thunder script, which had been rewritten by Heywood Gould.

“Quentin will incorporate clips from 1970s films,” Schrader explains. “He will also create his own interpretations of films from that period. He sought my permission to film the ending [of Rolling Thunder], directed by John Flynn, as I had originally written it before it was significantly altered.”

Revolving around Charles Rane (William Devane), a Vietnam veteran who returns home as a hero, Rolling Thunder sees him receiving a pile of silver dollars for his service. However, a group of thieves steal Rane’s reward, resulting in the death of his wife and child. This sets the stage for a revenge tale as Rane teams up with his old war buddy Johnny (Tommy Lee Jones) to seek justice in Mexico.

What Quentin Tarantino plans to change in Rolling Thunder

Tarantino devotes a whole chapter to the film in his 2022 non-fiction book Cinema Speculation, where he describes "Rolling Thunder" as an incredibly raw and intense film. He remarks that it was rated a hard R in 1977, but Schrader's script was even more intense, violent, and cynical. Tarantino praises the climax as "so f**king brilliant" that he still wishes to see it brought to life in a movie.

Tarantino is a big fan of Rolling Thunder and admires Heywould Gould's handling of Paul Schrader's script. However, he believes that the original screenplay, which depicted Charlie Rane as a racist who despises Mexicans, was toned down. According to Tarantino, the robbery in the film provides Rane with an opportunity to pursue his targets with a pretext.

Tarantino explains that the producers had Heywood Gould change the killers from all Mexican to half of them Mexican. He calls the switch a "societal compromise" and emphasizes that this change could factor into anything he does with the material. However, the biggest issue Tarantino has with the finished film is the ending. He describes how Paul Schrader's blood-soaked climax in which Charlie and Johnny track the killers to a Mexican whorehouse and go on a killing spree flips the genre script, as they wipe out everybody. In Flynn's film, Charlie and Johnny end up killing many more than the four that came to his house, mostly because they take up arms against them, but not all.

Tarantino is known for embracing onscreen violence and would probably correct the perceived mistake by including one detail in the climax: "In an unbelievable twist - that I can't believe they didn't put in the movie - both Charlie and Johnny speak to each other in Vietnamese during the shootout. By the end of the script, Schrader's message is clear. A message that nobody at Fox wanted to convey.

“So Schrader’s savage critique of fascist Revengeamatic flicks was turned by its makers into a savage fascist Revengeamatic.”

The epilogue that never was…

If Tarantino were to remake elements of Rolling Thunder, it could potentially involve a racist main character and likely have a more intense, possibly even more violent ending, with American characters conversing in Vietnamese. Additionally, a possible addition could be an epilogue that was written but never filmed, featuring Charlie and Linda, the woman who accompanies him on his quest for revenge. Here's how John Flynn described the scene to Tarantino, as per Cinema Speculation:

Linda Forchet waits on a bench for a bus to take her back to San Antone, unaware that Charlie is silently observing her from his big red Cadillac convertible parked nearby. The audience is left to decide whether he is contemplating taking her with him, ensuring she gets home safely, or simply taking one last look at the woman who loves him. As Linda boards the bus bound for El Paso, Charlie drives deeper into Mexico alone after turning his Cadillac around.

Tarantino stated that he told Flynn that the current ending of the film, in which Charlie and Johnny leave the blood-soaked brothel, is "one of my favorite closing shots in cinema history." However, if he were to reshoot that ending for The Movie Critic, it wouldn't be surprising to see the epilogue that never was...

For additional information on The Movie Critic, visit this link.

Editor's P/S

As a Gen Z netizen, I am eagerly anticipating Quentin Tarantino's upcoming film, "The Movie Critic." Tarantino's unique style and ability to blend genres and historical narratives have made him one of the most influential filmmakers of our time. The fact that this may be his final project only adds to the excitement and intrigue surrounding it.

The concept of incorporating elements from past films, particularly the 1977 action classic "Rolling Thunder," is particularly intriguing. Tarantino's passion for cinema and his deep knowledge of film history make him the perfect person to pay homage to classic movies while also putting his own unique spin on them. The idea of reimagining the ending of "Rolling Thunder" and exploring the original, more intense version of the script is especially exciting.