Inglourious Tarantino

Published in El País
(Spain) on 30 December 2015
by Jorge M. Reverte (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Tristan Foy. Edited by Melanie Rehfuss.
I confess that a few years ago I contributed to Quentin Tarantino's fame after seeing "Reservoir Dogs." At the end of the film, a viewer who had not stopped commenting about it said loudly to his companion next to him, "What a wonderful flick, Alberto.” That is more or less — to my present shame — what I thought, and I laughed loudly in response to the comment.

The film was very well made and the performances by the leading actors were magnificent, without exception. I quietly assessed the film and thought that it dealt with an excellent story full of irony about violence and communication. It seemed to me that the critique it contained was very positive. And it made me a fan of the American director.

Now it has been widely announced that a new story by this filmmaker is going to be produced in the coming months. And I have to say that it does not cause the least stir of pleasure in me. I no longer find his proclivity for blood and violence the least bit funny.

What happened in Paris only reaffirmed my new position of being militantly (because I am) anti-Tarantino. [A position] so new that not even my significant other knew about it. Not long ago I recalled a film of his, "Inglourious Basterds," in which there is a machine gun attack by Nazis in Paris — the same thing that some jihadi fighters carried out in a club in the Bataclan. And I imagined hundreds of young Muslims enjoying the vision of a machine gun attack against hundreds of young people like them, except that they were Christians. The irony was no longer there, just a cruel look and lack of criticism of violence. The same holds for another of the creator's films, "Django Unchained," in such a way that it seems I no longer know what to think about Tarantino.

The question is whether violence or just who exercises it is what matters. Is it enough for someone to be tortured simply because he was wearing a Nazi uniform? I do not believe so, and I want to believe that Western education systems are against it too. It would be awful if a Spanish film in favor of murdering Christians were to be seen in Morocco. This idea applies everywhere. I hope that Tarantino stops accruing as much money as he has in the past.


Maldito Tarantino
La pregunta es si nos importa la violencia o solo sobre quién se ejerce

Confieso que hace ya algunos años contribuí a la fama de Quentin Tarantino después de ver Reservoir Dogs. Al final de la película, un espectador que no había parado de hacer comentarios sobre ella a su compañero de butaca dijo en voz alta: “Qué peli más bonita, Alberto”. Más o menos, y para mi vergüenza actual, es lo que yo pensé, y le hice con una carcajada un homenaje al comentarista.

La película estaba muy bien hecha y las actuaciones de los protagonistas eran soberbias, sin excepción. Valoré la película en silencio, y pensé que se trataba de una historia excelente llena de ironía sobre la violencia y la comunicación. Me pareció que la crítica que contenía era muy positiva. Y ya me hice fan del director americano.

Ahora se anuncia con gran difusión que los próximos meses se va a estrenar una nueva historia de este cineasta. Y tengo que decir que no me provoca la menor sensación de placer. Su estética de sangre y violencia ha dejado de hacerme la menor gracia.

Y solo faltaba que hubiera pasado lo de París para reafirmarme en mi nueva condición de militante (porque lo soy) anti-Tarantino. Tan nueva que ni mi mujer lo sabía. Hace no mucho recordé una película suya, Malditos bastardos, en la que sucedía un ametrallamiento de nazis en París, que era igual que el que habían realizado unos yihadistas en la discoteca Bataclan. Y me imaginé a cientos de musulmanes jóvenes, divertidos con la visión del ametrallamiento de cientos de jóvenes como ellos, salvo que eran cristianos. La ironía ya no existía, solo una mirada cruel y falta de crítica sobre la violencia. Lo mismo valía para otra película del autor, Dyango desencadenado, de modo que a Tarantino me parece que ya no hay por dónde cogerle.

Porque la pregunta es si nos importa la violencia o solo sobre quién se ejerce. ¿Basta que alguien lleve un uniforme nazi para que se le pueda torturar? Yo creo que no, y quiero creer que los sistemas educativos occidentales están en contra de eso. Sería espantoso que una película española viajara a Marruecos estando a favor del asesinato de cristianos. Eso vale en todas las direcciones. Espero que Tarantino deje de recaudar tanto como hasta ahora.
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