It’s a discussion that has driven moviegoers for decades: what is Quentin Tarantino’s greatest film? Podcast guest The Church of Tarantinothe American director finally gave his vision, by classifying his own works, without avoiding his personal preferences or his regrets. According to him, it is Inglorious Basterdshis 2009 film about the Second World War, which embodies the peak of his filmography, summarizes the British daily The Guardian.
“I think thatInglourious Basterds is my masterpiece”he said, noting however that he was not necessarily his favorite. “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is my favorite. But I think that Kill Bill is the quintessential Quentin film, no one else could have done it. Like tentacles and bloody flesh, every aspect of this film is torn from my imagination, my identity, my passions and my obsessions. So I think I was born to achieve Kill Bill.”
In summary? “I think that Kill Bill is the movie I was supposed to make, Inglourious Basterds is my masterpiece, but Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is my favorite.” Also known for writing all of his films since Reservoir Dogs (his first film released in 1992), Quentin Tarantino details: “I think thatInglourious Basterds is my best script and that The Bastard Eight And Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood are coming just behind.”
He adds about his work as a director: “There is something in The Bastard Eight. I think it’s probably my best directing of my own material, which is to say the script is written and solid. So I didn’t really have to create it, like with Kill Bill. It’s solid, right there and I actually think it’s the best work of my own script as a director.”
A sequel entrusted to David Fincher
Quentin Tarantino also specifies that he will not direct the sequel to Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (his last feature film released in 2019), entitled The Adventures of Cliff Boothwith Brad Pitt in the title role and which will be released on Netflix. If, however, he remains the screenwriter and co-producer, he confirmed that the production will be entrusted to David Fincher. “I think he and I are the two best directors. So the fact that David Fincher really wanted to adapt my work shows a seriousness about my work that deserves to be taken into account.
At the microphone of the podcast, he goes into detail about the reasons which pushed him to refuse the production of The Adventures of Cliff Booth. “I like this scenario, but it would be doing the same things I’ve already done. It didn’t excite me too much. This last film I have to born don’t know what I’m doing, I must find myself in unknown territory.”
Quentin Tarantino is currently working on a play which will be performed in London in 2026, before tackling his final film. As he had promised himself, he remains determined to leave the profession after his tenth feature film – if we count the two volumes of Kill Bill as one. “Most directors have one terrible last film”, he justifies.
This last film was to be The Movie Criticwith Brad Pitt, centered on a cynical film critic in California in 1977. But in April 2024, Quentin Tarantino finally announced that he was abandoning this project, believing that it was too similar to his previous works.
“I wasn’t really excited about directing what I had written during pre-production, partly because I was using the know-how learned in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood: “How do you transform Los Angeles into 1969 Hollywood without digital special effects?” It was something that had to be achieved. It was not won… With The Movie Criticthere was nothing to invent. I already knew, basically, how to transform LA into another era. It was too similar to the previous one.”
