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Exclusive Interview: Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino has a truly tasty record collection.

His personal sonic buffet has served viewers unforgettable musical moments since Michael Madsen chopped off an ear to "Stuck In the Middle with You" in Reservoir Dogs and Bruce Willis decided to throw a fight while Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" piped through a Pulp Fiction scene. "Eclectic" doesn't even begin to describe the Oscar-winning legend's tastes which run the gamut from RZA to Dick Dale.

Standing in Hollywood's Amoeba Records, Tarantino's eyes dart around the store's stacks like a wizard searching for new potions to blend and mix into the next concoction.

About the wizard comparison, he laughs, "I would go for that. I like what I do alright."

His most recent soundtrack for Inglourious Basterds is his best. From Ennio Morricone to David Bowie, the album conveys a whole spectrum of emotions, and it's just as much of a rollercoaster as the film itself is. The director definitely recognizes the artistry of building the perfect audio backdrop for a movie.

"To me, my soundtracks work as two different things," says Tarantino. "They work as a little shadow version of the movie itself. If you like the movie and you want to carry it around with you and not have to watch the story all the time but still get the feel and sense of it, they allow you to do that."

His soundtracks always tell the film's story sonically. They conjure visuals for the listener, even when the celluloid's not flickering. "That's what soundtrack albums tradionally used to do. There was a time—back before there was video, DVD and all of that stuff—when the soundtrack was how you remembered a movie."

He continues, "During those days, you went and saw Raiders of the Lost Ark and you couldn't go get a video cassette or a DVD of Raiders after, so you'd get the soundtrack album instead. You'd listen to the truck chase music, and you'd remember the truck chase. That's the job that soundtrack albums have."

However, soundtracks serve a second crucial purpose for Tarantino. "Also the way that I try to put the albums together, they're a personal version of a mixtape that I'd be making for you. I like the amateur quality about them."

Who better to make your new mixtape than one of the best filmmakers on the planet? His newest collection is waiting for you at record stores now. It's about as Glourious as it gets…

—Rick Florino
08.20.09