Quentin Tarantino - interview

Your film Inglourious Basterds has certainly polarised audiences. I'd agree, but even if you reject the film, by God, I guarantee that when you walk out you'll know you saw a goddamn film and had a big cinema experience.

Is the only sin in cinema to be boring? By now, critics and audiences have drawn a line in the sand when it comes to my movies. I have my defenders and my detractors and both see me coming. But I draw as much strength from negative criticism as I do the positive. I got very mixed reviews at Cannes but as the festival president said: "Quentin, it would be very nice if everybody said ‘Bravo!' But you are a provocateur and sometimes ‘Bravo!' is not what is best."

Your Aussie publicist told me not to ask about two things: Rove and the web... Ha! What I'll do instead is tell you that my two favourite movies of the year so far are: Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell and the Seth Rogen film Observe and Report. And that my two favourite films from Cannes were Looking for Eric and, also Jane Campion's Bright Angel - definitely my favourite movie of hers.

So you love Sydney? I really do. I never have time enough to get settled and establish a list of Sydney haunts and bars and restaurants, but I have established a walking route around the Harbour that I follow every time I'm here.

You're the only celebrity I know who watches the whole film at his premieres. Oh yeah. I have no problem watching my movies again because the audience experience is always different. If you think I'm going to miss the chance to get the take of 2,000 Sydneysiders as they watch Inglourious Basterds for the first time, you're crazy.

You cast Sydney legend Rod Taylor in Inglourious Basterds. Rod Taylor is fantastic, truly one of my favourite actors. Not only for starring in The Birds and The Time Machine, but also for a terrific war movie he made in Czechoslovakia called Hell's River and one of my all-time favourite guys-on-a mission war movies, Dark of the Sun. I love Rod Taylor!

If you're such a big fan why did you give him so small a part? The role of Winston Churchill was always a background thing. What triggered me into thinking of Rod Taylor was I saw this sci-fi TV movie about killer crows called Caw! Rod played the doctor in it and he was great. But since then he'd kinda retired so I tracked him down through his lawyer and said, "Look, I really love the guy. Can you tell him Quentin Tarantino called?" Next thing I know Rod's on the phone saying, "Mate, I'd love to do it."

Is it true you guys drank VB on set? You heard about that? Wow! That was great. But there was this one moment on set that was really cool... We were getting ready to do Rod's big scene. Now I have a golden rule on my films: no cell phones on set. So here we are and we've just started a take when a cell phone goes off. Well I go f***ing ballistic at the guy whose job it is to collect the cell phones. "We are working with Rod Taylor here," I say. Then I snapped. "F*** this, everyone go home! We're not shooting today at all, go the fuck home and see you tomorrow!" They all left and Rod said: "I'm with you, sir! Bravo! Bra-f***ing-vo!"

So who are the 10 baddest bastards in cinema history? Well you could make a case that, between The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen and The Great Escape, you've got your ultimate bad-ass crew in movies right there.

What have those guys got that today's guys don't? Gravitas. And the force of personality that comes from having lived a real and tough life. Charles Bronson and Jack Palance grew up in coal mining towns. Lee Marvin went to war. I mean, you can't just pitch a rock at a tree and have Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas and Lee Marvin fall out these days. Oliver Reeds and Rod Taylors don't grow on trees. I mean, Brad [Pitt]'s good but there's no motherf***ing way I'm putting him up against those motherf***ers in a motherf***ing fight.

Inglourious Basterdsis in cinemas now. Read our review of the original Inglorious Bastards here!

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