Book Review: Quentin Tarantino - Cinema Speculation

In addition to being one of the most influential filmmakers of the past 30 years, Tarantino is among the more incisive and entertaining commentators on cinema history. With Cinema Speculation, he’s finally written the book that half-threatened to emerge from his interviews; a rip-roaring dive into the cinematic experiences that shaped him.

This compendium of reviews and personal reflections emphasises how fundamental the director’s Gen X upbringing was to his aesthetic. His was the last generation to be raised in a world not geared towards children, and the gritty thrillers Tarantino’s mother bought him to as a youngster in LA – here explored in depth – would greatly inform his creative approach, including Deliverance, Dirty Harry and The Getaway.

Elsewhere, a section on New Hollywood he riffs on the enduring power of Taxi Driver, and then lets rip on cult favourites like Rolling Thunder, Escape From Alcatraz and Hardcore. That the writer-director should prove so adept at film criticism is hardly surprising given how much he cherishes the form.

If, as he keeps threatening, Tarantino retires after his 10th movie and pursues life as “a man of letters”, he’s certainly off to a mighty start.

Out now via Weindenfeld & Nicolson.