I used to be a big Quentin Tarantino fan . A lot of my friends still are, and I will readily admit that he is a man of great talent. He writes interesting characters, unique nonlinear story lines, and chucks his movies full of delightful foreign and classic film homage. I never really thought about all the violence in his films, as they were so over the top that I failed to relate to it. I got a bit upset when some of the characters I liked died in Jackie Brown , but for the most part I could watch Uma Thurman scalp people with her samurai sword without issue. We, the viewers, aren’t supposed to empathise with any of his characters except the main protagonists. My thoughts on violence have since evolved, and now I cannot watch the infamous "Bear Jew" scene without actually sympathising with the poor Nazi on that one. And I hate Nazis. It was the Michael Haneke film Funny Games that forced me to rethink the wa...
Malcolm Coates