Quentin Tarantino criticizes François Truffaut, calls him a "bumbling amateur"

[Edmilson 7,457]

Quentin Tarantino Slams François Truffaut, Calls Filmmaker a ‘Bumbling Amateur’
While Tarantino is no fan of the French New Wave legend, he did single out "The Story of Adele H" as a Truffaut film he enjoyed.

 

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Say what you will about Quentin Tarantino, but he never backs down from a controversial take. The filmmaker has made a career out of his ability to elevate the exploitation films he loves into high art, and has never shied away from defending the cinema that inspired him. And his tendency to appreciate the lowbrow is matched by a willingness to criticize some of cinema’s most revered figures when he thinks the praise they get is unwarranted.

The September issue of Sight & Sound features an interview with Tarantino and his “Video Archives Podcast” co-host Roger Avary and highlighted several notable clips from their podcast. Per usual, Tarantino didn’t mince words when discussing his film opinions. When discussing the films of Claude Chabrol on an episode of the show, he found time to criticize the work of François Truffaut, particularly the thrillers that the director made later in his career.

“[Chabrol’s] thrillers are drastically better than the abysmal Truffaut-Hitchcock movies, which I think are just awful,” Tarantino said. “I’m not a Truffaut fan that much anyway. There are some exceptions, the main one being ‘The Story of Adele H.’ But for the most part, I feel about Truffaut like I feel about Ed Wood. I think he’s a very passionate, bumbling amateur.”

This isn’t the first time that Tarantino has offered a critical opinion of Truffaut. He spends a considerable amount of time in his “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” novel revealing Cliff Booth’s negative reaction to a screening of “The 400 Blows” and “Jules and Jim.” Though Tarantino has maintained that Booth’s film opinions discussed in the novel are not necessarily reflective of his own, he didn’t struggle to come up with criticisms of some of the auteur’s most beloved works.

“He tried Truffaut twice, but he didn’t respond to him. Not because the films were boring (they were), but that wasn’t the only reason Cliff didn’t respond. The first two films he watched (in a Truffaut double feature) just didn’t grab him. The first film, ‘The 400 Blows,’ left him cold. He really didn’t understand why that little boy did half the shit he did,” Tarantino wrote in the novel. “And he thought the mopey dopes in ‘Jules and Jim’ were a fucking drag.”

Source: https://www.indiewire.com/2022/08/quentin-tarantino-slams-francois-truffaut-1234755896/

 

Do you agree with Tarantino or do you prefer Truffaut?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I really didn't like the only two Truffaut movies I've seen, 400 Blows and Jules and Jim (the latter especially was just miserably bad), but hey Truffaut is cited as a big inspiration for some of my favorite filmmakers, so I hold nothing against him.  Just not for me.

 

From that era of Frenchmen, I'd much rather watch a movie by Melville or Malle.

[Bespin 8,483]

Mainly because Charles Aznavour plays in it, I saw Shoot the Piano Player, which is not bad.

 

But in general I have no interest in Truffaut's movies...

 

You know, as a French Canadian who saw a lot of movies in french and english, I can affirm that France and Canada where still making very amateurish movies in the 70s, where nothing, I mean nothing was mastered at all (photo, editing, music, name it). That was f***ing 30 years after "Gone with the Wind"... and the directors were still "exploring"...

 

It does not mean that eveything has to be put in the bin... but France and Canada's cinema were way behind schedule comparing to USA...

 

So yes, Tarantino is right.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Well, France's pre-WWII films were right on par with Hollywood of the 1930s from what I've seen, the films of Renoir and Carné for example.  But obviously it took a while for that industry to come back after the war.

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

400 Blows is a fucking masterpiece, one of the best films of all time in my opinion.

 

I'm surprised Tarantino's saying all this, consiering many people say Kill Bill is basically a retelling of Truffaut's Bride Wore Black.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

He probably said he could make it better.

 

I do enjoy the Bride Wore Black score, naturally.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Didn’t expect that from Tarantino considering how much he’s influenced by the French New Wave. Guess he just really likes Godard. 

[Corellian2019 386]

50 minutes ago, Koray Savas said:

Guess he just really likes Godard. 

 And barely even that. On the 10th anniversary DVD of Reservoir Dogs, there was an interview about the dedications on the cover page of his script for the film, where he proclaimed himself as a bigger fan of Melville than Godard

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Melville is obviously the best of the Nouvelle Vague

[publicist 4,643]

Melville was successful more than a a decade before the 'nouvelle vague' became én vogue, and whatever Google says about it, he was at best considered a proficient commercial film maker of hard-edged gangster movies, and mention of his often came with a bit of vinegar, usually. Which is of course rubbish.

 

As for Truffaut, saying to like him not 'all that much' and calling him 'a bumbling Ed Wood' in the same sentence certainly is a stretch. It's the kind of immature remark that, if applied to John Williams, would get the board's blood pressure up to 200.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,533]

While I'm sure that there is space for both Truffaut, and Tarantino, in the marketplace, I know whose films I'd rather watch.

DAY FOR NIGHT is my favourite foreign language film.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

21 hours ago, Corellian2019 said:

 And barely even that. On the 10th anniversary DVD of Reservoir Dogs, there was an interview about the dedications on the cover page of his script for the film, where he proclaimed himself as a bigger fan of Melville than Godard

I see a lot of Breathless and Vivre Sa Vie in Pulp Fiction. 

[Bespin 8,483]

Hey, please watch Shoot the piano player while thinking of me please.

 

Santé!

[Marian Schedenig 8,193]

I'll get back to you…