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Christopher Nolan recently told the ReelBlend podcast (via CinemaBlend) that he understands Quentin Tarantino’s decision to retire from feature films following his forthcoming tenth directorial effort entitled The Movie Critic. Tarantino has been talking about his plan to retire for years, saying he wants to leave behind a consistently strong and carefully curated body of work.
“And do you believe him?” Nolan asked the podcast hosts about Tarantino’s planned retirement.
There’s no reason not to believe Tarantino right now. Every time he revealed details about his next film, The Movie Critic, he reminded fans that it will be his last film as a director, but also stressed that the fact that he is retiring from filmmaking doesn’t mean that he can’t write books and plays, TV series and more. Tarantino ending his film career at 60 contrasts with a filmmaker like Martin Scorsese, who is releasing Killers of the Flower Moon later this year at the age of 80.
“The truth is, I understand both points of view,” Nolan said when asked if he wanted to go down the Tarantino or Scorsese route. “Telling stories in the cinema is addictive. It’s a lot of hard work, but a lot of fun. It’s something you feel driven to do, so it’s a little hard to imagine quitting voluntarily.”
Nolan continued, “But I also understand… Quentin’s point of view has always been this – and he never, very graciously, never gives specifics on the films he’s talking about or whatever – but he’s looking at some of the work, the filmmakers have done in later years I feel like it would be better if it didn’t exist, if it didn’t reach its prime. And I think that’s a very purist view. It’s the perspective of a movie buff who appreciates film history.”
While Nolan understands where Tarantino came from, he’s not sure he fully agrees. After all, in a mixed film from a great director, there’s usually at least one element to appreciate.
“I’m not sure I would trust my own sense of the absolute value of a work to know whether or not it should have been created,” Nolan told the ReelBlend hosts. “I’m, like Quentin, a big fan of movies that might not quite get what they’re trying to achieve, but there’s something in there that’s a performance, or a little structural thing, or a scene, you know, that’s wonderful.” . And yes, I understand. I think I wanted to maintain a kind of perfect reputation for something, but also kind of not take anything off the table.”
Nolan’s take on Tarantino’s retirement is very different from that of her friend and fellow filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.
“I know Quentin [Tarantino] Likes to say, “I do 10 films and then I quit.” But I could never do that,” Anderson said back in 2018. “I don’t know how he could say that or how he could take himself seriously if he did that said. That’s what I want to do while I’m able. As long as I’m able to, I’ll do it. I think it can get weird when directors might not act their age when trying to keep up with the kids or be hip. That never looks good.”
Nolan’s latest directorial effort, Oppenheimer, is his twelfth directorial effort. Even before it opens in cinemas, the film has met with enthusiastic initial reactions. “Taxi Driver” author Paul Schrader even called it the “best” and “most important film of this century”.
“Oppenheimer” hits theaters July 21 from Universal Pictures.