From where does Tarantino filch his ideas?

Question

I've seen Quentin Tarantino being interviewed and admitting that he takes ideas from other films. The well-known slow motion walk of Mr. White, Mr. Orange, Mr. Brown, Nice Guy Eddie etc. early in Reservoir Dogs is remarkably similar to that of Alex and his three droogs in a scene from Clockwork Orange. Is that where it came from, or did Stanley Kubrik also copy the idea from an earlier film? Do you have any other examples of Tarantino's plagiarism?

The slow motion walk is a direct lift from another film, and used as his own. That is plagiarism. I want specific examples like that not general influences. I have no gripe with the guy, I love his films. Oh why do there have to be so many uptight Yanks on Yahoo! Answers???

Answer 1

If you look at certain Hong Kong action films such as 'City on Fire' the three way shootout, the face-off on the floor which has become quite iconic and the black suits are all there. Tarantino has americanized a lot of Hong Kong action films and has borrowed heavily from the stylised violence and imagery of 1970s Yakuza films, especially the modes of dress and behaviour. The converstation is also heavily borrowed from Betjemin's poems and playwrights such as Arnold Wesker, Edward Bond and John Osborne, but aimed it at a less literate audience. Fair play to the guy as he has created a new form of art as a synergistic collage of disparate influences and made it accessible to the mass market.

Answer 2

The man is a genius. His use of non-linear time in scene placment is what I find most attractive. You say "filch", yet in college I learned there were only so many stories, like seven or eight, to be told. It is how you tell the story that makes a great film. If you are inspired by another film maker, and you get ideas from him, using those ideas is an honor, an homage. If you're accusing him of outright plagerism, I think you're way off base.

I get most of my comedy scriptwriting ideas from very old but very effective material. I use Everybody Loves Raymond as an example of good, tight comedy writing. For my dramatic material I use history books. Non-fiction is always the best story base.

Saying you get ideas from others is not bad and is not plagerism. Why the beef with Tarantino?

Answer 3

He has said many times that he is inspired by others and emulates those things which he feels works, so plagiarism is a bit strong. as for the Slow motion walk in Reservoir Dogs, that has been used in so many movies and TV shows its not funny, I often refer to it as the "tombstone strut" because I first saw it Tombstone where the Earps and Doc walk towards the Corral.
Last weeks CSI:Miami had the cast walking down the beach at the end in similar fashion, and Law and Order always ends the opening credits with the Detectives, and the DA's walking down the hall, though I have never actually seen that scene with any of L&O's Casts.

Answer 4

Kill Bill- The bit where Uma is surrounded by loads of gangsters with swords is from a black and white film about freemasonry. The idea comes from an initiation process where the new recruit is put in the middle of a room and is blindfolded whilst being surrounded by all the members.
He may also be trying to replicate the process of trauma based mind control by using bright colours, sex, violence and happy music. Or, maybe hes just trying to say that hes a misanthropist.

Answer 5

I'd say plagiarism is too strong of a word to use. He's influenced by other films and series, and he bellieves his films are homage to such movies and series he seen growing up. Like casting David Carradine as Bill in Kill Bill was pure genius. This is the guy that starred in possibly the greatest cult series of the 70's. The dialog in Kill Bill part1 might as well been from one of those Asian series from the same era, but he puts a storyline around this to perfection. Its not as if he's plagiarising from these series. Also, Pulp Fiction is largely based on those black exploitation films from that era. In either case, as long as he gets a close up of Uma Thurmans feet, he'd be happy with his creation. Reservoir Dogs was slightly influenced by Dog Day Afternoon, wouldn't you say? I suppose one way to describe his style is plagiarising a cult era - for the want of a better phrase!

Answer 6

You mean like Kill Bill being stolen from Bruce Lee and Wu Shui movies. I think the two guys from Pulp Fiction are mean versions of the Blues Brothers. I think he has a foot fettish that he stole from Citizen Kane where he directes the camera directly up from the feet to make the characters seem more important. Jackie Brown pretty much was a do over.

Answer 7

Hmmm...the 1st concern that got here to techniques develop into be optimistic to splash some blood around, in line with risk some physique factors...attempt to make it feels like some thing exploded...some bullet holes. As for foodstuff, all i can think of of is the pina colada from death data, enormous Kahuna burgers, Sprite and a $5 shake, LOL.

Answer 8

Can't remember the name of the film, it's a Japanese movie, and he has admitted to copying it. rather like the "magnificent seven" is taken from a Japanese movie called "seven samurai", google tarantino/reservoir dogs/pulp fiction, and you'll find the Japanese connection

Answer 9

Tarantino is a genius, it makes no difference whether he has used other people's ideas or not-his movies are originally put together.Each movie is a work of art.

Answer 10

I wouldn't say it's plagarism, more like the influences of the films he's watched bearing fruit within his own films.

He isn't the only one though, many other people do it too.