WES ANDERSON AND QUENTIN TARANTINO ON THE CURATED IMAGE

Big ideas that changed the world and how* they happened
*quite possibly possible

Wes Anderson
Quentin – it’s been a while, how are you?

Quentin Tarantino
Maybe Sundance a few years back… I’m swell. Hey I just realised we’ve both made films with dogs in the title. Back at the video store we would have been in the ‘Animals’ section together.

Wes Anderson
Reservoir Dogs was an electric piece of film. Kubrick would have approved. You had been watching The Killing right?

Quentin Tarantino
Well sure. I was watching about 20 films a week around then. But we both love our movies right? This century is all about curating in a masterful way – not always having a new idea.

Wes Anderson
Hmmmn, well, I suppose you have something there. I like to visit themes and ideas from my past. I’m nostalgic I guess. I feel you can be more precise if you can create a story from the shoelaces up. If we can imagine a world, we can build it – at least in our line of work.

Quentin Tarantino
Yeah man, I think that’s right. Imagine a world as it can be – and it appears? That has currency today. From Gucci to grabbing a coffee. Where did this start for you?

Wes Anderson
It’s always been my work. If I’m telling a story I’m showing you something very particular. The story and the setting and the ‘look’ are inseparable to me. I guess the first time it was noticed in a big way was Rushmore in ‘98. Jason and Bill did a great job and it’s a particular way to tell a story. There’s often a little guy at the centre of my films and the innocence of that shows through. What about your mood?

Quentin Tarantino
I like the blood and the tension as you know (maybe a little bit of feet too? – Ed). I grew up on action, martial arts, crime… People are complex and we learn as much from dark or multi-dimensional characters as we did from Dorothy or Superman. I like the trial or test and what it reveals in each of us. And big guns… those are cool as fuck.

Wes Anderson
I do think people can get confused that the medium is the message. A great-looking store or poster is only that if that’s all it is. What is the rich world you have to share with people? Why would they care?

Quentin Tarantino
Sometimes a cool poster is just a cool poster though?

Wes Anderson
I like cool posters, yeah.

Quentin Tarantino
I think Isle of Dogs is your most visually arresting film. I watched it, like, three times the month it came out. Where did the production idea come from for that?

Wes Anderson
Well, we shot it on twos like Mr Fox. There were 500 puppet dogs made and 500 human puppets and 200+ sets I think. I loved the early Godzilla films and the intrigue of samurai films. Throw in some talking dogs to add fun and you’re rolling.

Quentin Tarantino
That’s a lot of pre-production. We did almost none on Reservoir Dogs.

Wes Anderson
Well, look around you, life is a set with millions of years of pre-production.

Quentin Tarantino
The pipes in my new house certainly bear that out. Know any good plumbers?

Wes Anderson
But on the ‘what comes first’ piece, there’s an idea that the world you place a story in is communicating a lot already. The history, the manners, the dance between characters you introduce with time and place. It makes life worth living right?

Quentin Tarantino
Why imagine a Walmart when it could be a hunt for a mythical shark instead?

Wes Anderson
That sounds like something I’d watch.

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