Tarantino stole Ezekiel

[Rambo John J]

Anyone who's seen films by the likes of Brian De Palma and other great filmmakers already knows that Tarantino has others to thank for many of his best cinematic moments. Mind you, he's also been given his dues for a hatful of original ideas of his own aswell. One of these is the quote by Sam jackson from Ezekiel 25:17 "The path of the righteous man...", which has often been regarded as one of the defining moments in 90's cinema in film mags. So imagine my shock (well, more an utterence of "the thieving get") when I was watching Sonny Chiba's 1978 flick The Bodyguard, and the very same quote scrolled up the screen read by a typically gravel voiced dude. Is this film geek filmmaker capable of anything original? A bit harsh I know, and I like his films myself, but there's only so much you can let a guy get away with, especially when the press were giving him kudos as the greatest director of his generation.
I hear his next project is a remake of The Dirty Dozen.

And yes, I know De Palma stole from Hitchcock, aswell as others - it's probably whaat inspired Tarantino to do the same.

[ 27-05-2001: Message edited by: Rambo John J ]

[General Skanky]

The thing about his films is/was the originality apsect. The long dialogues seemed to hold your attention. They had a mingling of humour and grit (S. Jackson's spiel) and were new.
Very 'Street'!!!!!!!

[dUnKle]

I was always under the impression that the quote was taken from another film, and I think this was even in either EMPIRE or TOTAL FILM a few years back. I think its quite widly regarded that TARANTINOS ideas are far from original but he is great at putting them all together and making a film which is fresh and new feeling.

Is it not also a SONNY CHIBA triple bill in TRUE ROMANCE ?

[RMCF]

It has been known for quite a while that a lot of QTs stuff is not original. It is just his style/way of putting it on film. Personally I love his films. I even heard once that there was a Chinese(?) film that had characters called Mr Pink, Mr Blue etc etc. Anyone know anything on this?

[PoochJD]

William,

Yes, you are correct. The film is Ringo Lam's excellent "CITY ON FIRE" (1991). It's essentially a Hong Kong edition of Reservoir Dogs, that came out before Tarantino's epic did.

Tarantino may not be original, (and how many directors truly are nowadays?), but he is still one of the best directors, because like so many have said, it's the way he puts everything together.

Pooch

[PoochJD]

Addendum,

Even "The Talented Mister Ripley" isn't original. It is a remake of a 1950's French drama called "Plein Soleil"

Despite this fact, did you all know that there are in fact only 7 plots, for every single film, book and comic that exists. Every product will fit into one of these 7 categories, or will be a combination of them.

The 7 plots are:-

1) ACHILLES - The flawless (or almost flawless) person, e.g. Superman.

2) CINDERELLA - The dream come true (e.g Dirty Dancing, Prerry Woman.)

3) CIRCE - The chase, e.g The Blues Brothers.

4) FAUST - Selling your soul to the Devil may bring riches, but eventually, you will belong to him, e.g. Wall Street

5) ORPHEUS - The loss of something personal, e.g. Regarding Henry, Farscape (think about John Crichton!)

6) ROMEO & JULIET - The love story, e.g. Sleepless In Seattle.

7) TRISTAN - X loves Y, but one or both are already spoken for, e.g. Fatal Attraction.

That's it! As I say, every single film plot, book or TV show can be fitted into one, or a combination of, these plots. Some may take a bit of thought, but they do fit. For those who can't do this or simply don't want to, I'll show you an example:-

First Wave (US Sci-Fi TV series): Basic story is Cade Foster discovers the existance of extra-terrestrial life-forms on Earth, and after his wife is murdered, he meets and teams-up with Crazy Eddie, et al, to save the world from the coming of the next "Waves" of aliens. The plots of Achilles, Circe, Faust and Orpheus all fit this, and here's why.

Cade is almost flawless. Yes, he is a normal, everyday human being, but he is able to understand Nostradamus' theories, along with help from Eddie. This is Achilles.

Cade, Eddie and co, are constantly being chased by the aliens, so that he doesn't save Earth, and give away the aliens secret-existance to other people. This is Circe.

Cade had to give-up his normal life, as a security expert/ex-criminal, to save the world. He also lost his wife. He has also lost his own sanity, privacy and independance, because of the task he has to complete. This is Faust.

In the Pilot episode, of Season 1, Cade's life was taken from him, as was the only woman he had ever loved. This is Orpheus.

See what I mean?


So, if anyone says that X is a totally original plot, you can tell them that that's complete bunkum, and then go on to tell them why.

Hope you all find that of interest.

Pooch