30 Day Movie Challenge – Day 12

Day 12 – A movie that you like by a director that you do not usually enjoy

Yesterday’s challenge question was about a director I like, today’s question is about a director I do not like.

Well, one director I am prejudiced against is Quentin Tarantino. His movies are just too violent and bloody and off-the-wall for me. Of course, I was thinking that without ever really fully watching a whole Tarantino movie (hence the me being prejudiced part). Then I went to see Inglorious Basterds in the cinema. I can’t remember why I even decided to go see it, but I think it was because my friend wanted to, so I humored her. Basically the movie was about Jews kicking Nazi-ass…

It was bloody and cruel, there was suspense, high stakes and even some humour and almost to my horror, I loved the movie! I loved it, even though at some points it was so gruesome that I could hardly look at the screen. I even went to see it again in the cinema a few weeks later and when the DVD came out, I immediately bought it and watched it again. I don’t really know what it was that clicked with me and made me love this gore-fest. I think it has a lot to do with a huge amount of wish-fulfillment… Of course there were also some great actors doing some great acting! I discovered Michael Fassbender through this movie, and Christoph Waltz. But mostly, I think it was a movie that appealed to my hidden basic revenge fantasies that I didn’t even know I had… Apparently, deep within my pacifist soul, there is also a militantly agressive tendency…

An ex-co worker said that if I loved this movie so much then I would love the Kill Bill movies as well, so I thought, “sure, why not?”. I watched the first one but I couldn’t get through it and ended up fast forwarding most of it. Apparently my agressive/revengeful tendencies don’t reach that far. I never bothered with the second Kill Bill. So, that showed me that no, I didn’t have a new found love for Quentin Tarantino, I just love his Inglorious Basterds. And now I’m still debating with myself whether I should watch his Django Unchained movie or not… would it have that same wish-fulfillment element (regarding slavery) for me?

(30 Day Movie Challenge – the full list of questions)