Quentin Tarantino Opens up About a Film He Considers Embarrassing

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Quentin Tarantino is now celebrated as one of the most important directors of our time, famous for creating iconic scenes in film. But before he achieved success, he was just starting out.

In the 1980s, before becoming a well-known director, Tarantino worked for five years at a video rental store called Video Archives in Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles. It was there that he built his extensive knowledge of movies.

This time spent watching films was like a real-world education that proved invaluable to his future work. In a 1994 BBC documentary called Quentin Tarantino: Hollywood’s Boy Wonder, he talked about how his early filmmaking attempts weren’t always successful.

When he was 22, he took a job at a video store, and within a year, he decided he wanted to start making movies instead of just watching them. His first film was a comedy called My Best Friend’s Birthday, which he said was inspired by the style of Martin Lewis.

Although he originally planned for it to be around 70 minutes long, only 36 minutes of the black-and-white footage was ever completed. Tarantino even acted in the film, and he later admitted his performance wasn’t great.

In one scene, his character talks about feeling depressed and even contemplates suicide before being cheered up by a funny cartoon. He played Clarence, a friend who tries to help Mickey get over a breakup by making his birthday special.

Making My Best Friend’s Birthday took three years and was a real struggle. Tarantino initially wanted to shoot it on Super 8mm film, but a friend let him borrow a 16mm camera instead. Even with all the work, he later cringed at how bad the film actually looked.

He eventually discovered that the best way to learn filmmaking was by actually making a movie. This experience gave him the confidence to write True Romance, a script he intentionally kept low-budget. Selling that script allowed him to fund his first film, Reservoir Dogs, which kickstarted his hugely successful career in 1992.

The acclaimed director is still working on what will be his last film. After abandoning his previous project, The Movie Critic, last year, he’s been exploring other creative endeavors. He recently completed a new stage play and has also dedicated time to The Adventures of Cliff Booth.

The new film is a follow-up to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and will be directed by David Fincher for Netflix. Though Quentin Tarantino wrote the script, he chose not to direct, feeling it would be too similar to his previous work. Brad Pitt reprises his role as the main stuntman, and he’ll be joined by Elizabeth Debicki and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

Okay, this is pretty exciting news for any film buff like me! Apparently, Tarantino is actually acting again after a long hiatus. He just finished filming a drama called Only What We Carry, directed by Jamie Adams. He’s playing a character named John Percy, and the cast is fantastic – Simon Pegg, Sofia Boutella, and Charlotte Gainsbourg are all in it too! I’m really curious to see what he does with this role.

Despite his current work, fans are eager for updates on his tenth film, which he plans to be his last. He’s shared in recent interviews that he’s taking his time with it, wanting to make sure this final movie is truly original and surprising before he retires from directing.

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2026-02-16 17:15