Quentin Tarantino is finally making a foray into published criticism. After a long career in film, this seems like a good move. Tarantino famously said he was going to be done directing films after ten movies. His reasons for that vary, from the fact that it’s a nice round number to the fact that he just wants to make ten great films and then get out.
He has a great track record so far, but he’s definitely nearing that ten film count. Maybe this is his way of pivoting over to a new field. Tarantino also famously said he “didn’t go to film school, he went to films.” With that mindset, writing a book on film history is a great idea.
The book chronicles a lot of film history and is rumored to be over 400 pages. He mostly focuses on ’70s movies, but there’s sure to be discourse about films from all eras. Tarantino’s love for ’70s films is plainly obvious in almost every movie that he makes.
This is the official description of the book from the publisher, HarperCollins:
In addition to being among the most celebrated of contemporary filmmakers, Quentin Tarantino is possibly the most joyously infectious movie lover alive. For years he has touted in interviews his eventual turn to writing books about films. Now, with Cinema Speculation, the time has come, and the results are everything his passionate fans—and all movie lovers—could have hoped for.
Organized around key American films from the 1970s, all of which he first saw as a young moviegoer at the time, this book is as intellectually rigorous and insightful as it is rollicking and entertaining. At once film criticism, film theory, a feat of reporting, and wonderful personal history, it is all written in the singular voice recognizable immediately as QT’s and with the rare perspective about cinema possible only from one of the greatest practitioners of the artform ever.
The book is due to hit shelves on October 25, at all major book retailers.
