Quentin Tarantino does not consider himself an “American filmmaker”

As the filmmaker’s career progressed, he explored a wide range of genres, paying homage to everything from blaxploitation to westerns. His intense love of cinema, aided by his video store experience, gave him an in-depth knowledge of the world’s most specialized subgenres, which he then incorporated into his films. For this reason, Tarantino’s works often seem distinct from the average Hollywood fodder.

His roots in independent cinema and his love of B-movies, arthouse films, foreign and avant-garde titles shape his films more than the average Hollywood director, ensuring that his films stand out from those of his contemporaries. When you look Kill Billfor example, it’s clear that Tarantino took inspiration from many classic samurai and martial arts films, as well as those female revenge stories that were more common in the 1970s, such as titles like Coffy And Foxy Brown. This isn’t your typical Hollywood action revenge tale: there’s so much style in the way Tarantino films his characters, with homages to other films barely hidden.

When he released Kill Bill, he even called it a “grindhouse epic”, despite the fact that it was marketed to a mainstream audience. Grindhouse films have always existed outside of Hollywood. These are low-budget, often gory and exploitative B-movies that were only shown in these specific Grindhouse theaters in the 1960s and 1970s.

Questioned by a BBC interviewer if he worries that American audiences won’t “get” his films due to his lack of dominant influences, he made a bold statement. “I’m a little hesitant to say it out loud – I’m not trying to sing – but I’m influenced by films from all countries. I don’t really consider myself an American filmmaker in the way that, for example, Ron Howard might be considered an American filmmaker.

Howard’s films seem typically Hollywood, like Splash, Willow, Apollo 13, How the Grinch Stole Christmas And Solo: A Star Wars Story. They are all fairly harmless, aimed at a wide audience, and are almost guaranteed to make money. Tarantino is willing to take more risks, compromising his financial gains in favor of his creative integrity – even if box office success is something he has little to worry about.

“If I make something and it feels like an Italian giallo, I’m going to make it like an Italian giallo. And if I’m going to do something worth doing in the vein of a Japanese Yakuza movie or a Hong Kong Triad movie, I’m going to do it like that. I understand many audiences from many different countries, and for me, America is just another market. Tarantino knows that America is only one of the places where his films will be shown; he is convinced that his films can cross borders because of his refusal to adhere to the Hollywood model.

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