The word genius has become a tired, catch-all phrase that’s overused and abused by sycophantic critics in an attempt to score points with the artist, writer, musician, or filmmaker whose work they’ve been charged with analysing and dissecting for their audience. However, that doesn’t mean that geniuses don’t exist, they do and their work pushes the boundaries of the creative fields that they’re a part of, and forces their contemporaries to either rise to the challenge of meeting them head on and by doing so, collectively become better at whatever it is they do, or accept their limitations and just keep on doing what they do. Most of us, whether we care to admit it or not, are part of the latter camp and continue to write and create because we’re driven to do what we do, and we don’t do what we do to be successful.

We do it because we have to and because we’re compelled, by fate or whatever guiding force controls the destiny of mere mortals, to. And even though Quentin Tarantino, knows and understands that same compulsion all too well, he’s also one of that rare breed who has become successful on his terms and in doing so, has forever changed the world of filmmaking. A true auteur, Tarantino embraces his art in a way that few others ever could, and since he was old enough to walk and talk, has lived and breathed genre film and literature, which is probably why he’s conquered his chosen medium in a way that only handful of others have. His life is film, and film is his life. 

Ameziane understands Tarantino. He has immersed himself in the life of the subject of his book and his work, and discovered what makes him tick, and having devoted himself wholeheartedly to diving deep into everything Quentin, has fashioned a breathtaking exploration and examination of his life and how he has elected to tell the stories that bubble in his cerebellum and rise fully formed from his imagination. Artistically, Quentin perfectly reflects the changing themes and ideas that Tarantino has adopted throughout his career and the path that his journey has taken him on, while the narrative flow of the story has captured the voice of the man at the center of the tale, and in doing so has ensured that Ameziane has crafted the definitive literary and visual biography of one of the few filmmakers who have earned, and deserve, the right to be called a genius. Magnifique… Tim Cundle