The One Movie Quentin Tarantino Admits He Feels Embarrassed About
Quentin Tarantino is one of the most famous directors in the world, known for movies that have left a lasting mark on Hollywood. But even legends have to start somewhere. Before he became a household name, Tarantino spent five years working at a video rental store in Manhattan Beach during the 1980s.
Tarantino later shared his early struggles in the 1994 BBC documentary Quentin Tarantino: Hollywood’s Boy Wonder. He explained that his first attempt at making a movie didn’t go as planned. At 22, he decided to stop just watching movies and start creating his own. His first project was a comedy called My Best Friend’s Birthday.
Tarantino said it was similar to a Martin Lewis-style film, but it never reached its full length. Only 36 minutes of the planned 70-minute black-and-white movie were completed. He even acted in the film himself, playing a character named Clarence.
In one scene, Clarence talks about a dark cloud hanging over him and hints at suicide, only to be saved by a funny cartoon. The story was meant to follow him trying to give his friend Mickey a birthday to remember after a bad breakup.
Making the film was far from easy. Tarantino originally planned to shoot on Super 8mm, but borrowed a 16mm camera from another director. After three years of work, he looked back at the project and admitted feeling embarrassed by the poor quality. He said that despite the mistakes, it taught him something important: making a movie is the best kind of film school there is.
The lessons from My Best Friend’s Birthday helped him write True Romance, which he sold to help finance his first real movie, Reservoir Dogs, in 1992. That debut launched his career and set the stage for decades of iconic films.
Even now, Tarantino keeps busy. He has stepped away from directing his tenth and final film for the moment, instead focusing on other creative work. He recently wrote a stage play and spent time on the set of The Adventures of Cliff Booth, a sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which will be directed by David Fincher for Netflix.
He wrote the screenplay but chose not to direct, saying he didn’t want to repeat what he had already done. The film stars Brad Pitt, Elizabeth Debicki, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Tarantino has also returned to acting after years away.
He recently finished filming Only What We Carry, a drama directed by Jamie Adams. He plays a publisher named John Percy and stars alongside Simon Pegg, Sofia Boutella, and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Even as fans wait for news about his official final film, Tarantino says he’s in no rush. He wants it to be something new, unexpected, and memorable before officially retiring from directing.
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