Quentin Tarantino was, in his own words, "sticking a thermometer up the bum of Liverpool," last night. While perhaps not the most savoury activity for a breezy Tuesday eve, he was in Merseyside testing the waters for the imminent arrival of a re-cut Death Proof, with a preview screening and in-person Q&A session.
In the midst of his first regional UK promotional tour since Reservoir Dogs came to these shores in '92, QT remained in typical bouncy form, his enthusiasm unscathed from the disappointing reception handed out to double feature Grindhouse, across the Atlantic. "Everyone told us they didn't want it, and I heard it," he said regarding the decision not to distribute the movie in the UK hand-in-hand with Robert Rodriguez' zombie thriller, Planet Terror. But the new lone ranger incarnation of Death Proof is 30 minutes longer and is, as the man himself said, "the cut which reflects the script I wrote and the way I always wanted it to be."
Among the topics of conversation, post on-screen-death-and-destruction, were Kubrick being "a pussy" for pulling A Clockwork Orange from its UK release, his alleged female foot fetish, and turning down the offer to direct an episode of Heroes because he's "never seen the fucking show."
He also touched on how he'd have rather cast ex-Bond Pierce Brosnan than Daniel Craig in Casino Royale and that "one of these days" a zombie movie of his own may grace our screens. Interesting.
Despite his visit being the biggest thing to hit the Liverpudlian movie scene since Tarantino alumni Sam Jackson tore up the streets in The 51st State back in 2000, a handful of protesters still greeted the director outside Liverpool's Picturehouse at FACT theatre. They were mostly upset about the action figure named "Rapist No.1", QT's character from Planet Terror, but also bore placards reading "murdering women is not entertainment," in reference to the crazed Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) and his penchant for disposing of his victims using his 'death proof' set o' wheels.
Not one to hold back, the director responded: "The protesters kinda blew my mind, because everywhere else on planet earth they thought I made a movie that empowered women!"
Chris Smith