It was one of the most anticipated appointments of this 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, which is slowly approaching its end: the great Quentin Tarantino at the Quinzaine des cinéastes this Thursday, May 25, for a secret screening followed by a discussion, more or less linked to the release of his latest book, Cinéma Speculations (published by Flammarion). A kind of catching up on a missed date, he who had so wanted to be selected for Reservoir Dogs. See also on Konbini and with fairly little delay (which is a feat this year), Quentin Tarantino took to the stage at the Théâtre Croisette to tell the hundreds of spectators what was the surprise film that the crowd was going to discover, before he told of his love and its relationship with the feature film: Légitime violence, by John Flynn. And like 95% of the people present on site, we discovered the film. We tell you.A very Tarantinesque story of revenge, and important for the authorLégitime violence therefore, tells the revenge of a former soldier, back after seven years in Vietnam, in his native Texas, whose ex-wife and the son are massacred by a gang of mobsters (Mexicans, it matters) who have come to steal a briefcase with a few thousand dollars. an explosive finale — a full-blown massacre. If we had any doubts throughout about what Tarantino might like in the story, everything evaporated in the last 30 minutes. Quentin Tarantino discovered this film by chance, in a double program. Initially, he came for the first film, Operation Dragon. The young Quentin is 13, 14 years old and wants to see the film that everyone is talking about at the playground, imitating Bruce Lee. Except that once the film is over, the teenager is a little disappointed with the show. He does not know that the second film that follows is that of Flynn and that his cinephilia will be upset. From this viewing, Tarantino will become an aficionado of Grindhouse films, these violent and sometimes stupid B series. It was Légitime violence that made his love of cinema what it is today. Seeing the feature film, we understand the resolution of absolutely all of Tarantino’s films. On stage for more than an hour after the end of the screening, the filmmaker returned to his book, but above all, in the first third of the exchange, commented on the film — that was probably the most interesting part. The walking encyclopedia told a particularly attentive crowd that she had seen the film dozens and dozens of times, each time discovering a detail. The most interesting anecdote concerns the writing of the freshly viewed film. The script is signed Paul Schrader and reproduces the story of a former soldier who spins, barely a year after the release of Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese (which he also scripted). Except that the latter hates the film now and considers that it is miles away from what he had created at the start. Indeed, in Schrader’s version, the main character is racist, goes on projections against Mexicans and spin completely on the end – he slaughters everyone in the brothel, the mobsters like the prostitutes and the customers. The producers sanitized the script, keeping a racially biased view (Mexico is dirty, like its people, unlike Americans clean about them), but removing racist musings and a softer ending. Schrader had written a film that criticized fascist revenge and the finished product is just a fascist revenge movie. These are the terms used by the latter, to which Tarantino replies “Yes, but the best fascist revenge film”. It is one of the many anecdotes present in the film and told on stage by a Quentin Tarantino in great shape, who would not say anything about his next project. On the other hand, he regaled with a slice of cinema as we rarely see in Cannes – with a heritage film, but not in Cannes Classics, not in a restored version, including a badly damaged 35 mm copy.
Leave a comment