On Tarantino: From Bettina of LFC, Ateneo's premiere film organization
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Anyway, so let me tell y'all about seeing Mr. Quentin Tarantino.
I was assigned to cover Grindhouse Day of the 9th Cinemanila
International Film Festival for Reel Time, an LFC publication. To be
honest, I was kind of reluctant to take on the job, but then again, I
was the only one in the staff free for the event (August 10, 1-4 pm).
Why was I slightly wary? Because from what I read on the Cinemanila
schedule, Grindhouse Day was supposed to be a talk by these two
national artists. A talk. And hello, who signs up for a talk?
But anyway, I still went. I managed to convince my blockmate Jopy into
tagging along, and before we went to Gateway, we also convince two of
our other blockmates, Janna and Diego, to come with us. We managed to
snag tickets for 50 pesos, and I was praying that they (Jopy, Janna,
and Diego) wouldn't regret coming along with me too much after the
whole thing was finished.
After a quick lunch, we all proceeded to Cinema 6 for the event. There
were a few people by then, and I thought, "Oh, how boring is this
bound to be?". The seats started getting filled in by one, though,
thankfully.
Anyway, my blockmate Jopy has this weird knack of seeing every tall
American guy as Kirk Long of the Ateneo Blue Eagles, so when this tall
white man came in, he was telling me the guy was Kirk Long, even
though he was obviously not. Then this group of people came in, along
with them this guy in a blue polo, sweatpants and rubber shoes.
Suddenly, Jopy went, "That's Quentin Tarantino, right?!"
And I, thinking he was joking again, rolled my eyes in disgust, said
"No, Jopy!" and laughed.
It wasn't until people came up to that guy and started shaking his
hand did I realize that he was the Quentin Tarantino.
First question in my mind, of course, was, "Why is he here?! He isn't
supposed to be here!!!". But then it came to me that, heck, why the
hell should I complain?! I only paid 50 f-ing bucks to see him while
people had to buy that Cinemanila Golden Ticket for 750 to be able to
go to this whole An Afternoon with Quentin Tarantino thing that's
happening today (Saturday)! I should be celebrating and thanking my
lucky stars.
A few minutes into the talk, though, I learned that he was there
because he was a fan of the national artists featured in the event,
Mr. Romero and Mr. Santiago, two Filipino directors. Amazingly,
Quentin Tarantino turned out to know a whole lot about the history of
Philippine cinema--maybe even more than the average Filipino film buff
would actually know.
He was a dynamic host, and everyone was amused by his tactics,
especially when he went and imitated trailers of old films for
everyone's pleasure. And of course, there was his unforgettable
"boobies" line, after telling how as a sixth grader, he saw one of the
Blood Island films on television, and how the opening sequence of the
said film turned out to be a naked woman running across the forest
from a green-blooded monster.
Quentin Tarantino: And I was there, sitting on the couch, and going,
oh my God, boobies!!!
And there was also his "formula" for a good script. Hahaha! And of
course, his take on piracy.
Quentin Tarantino: I don't give a crap if people can buy my movies
here for a dollar, I'm rich enough anyway. As long as people can watch
my films, I'm happy! It's the Filipino films you shouldn't go and buy
on the streets! When there are Filipino films showing, you've got to
get your ass off that chair, buy tickets and watch them!!!
Now wasn't that just brilliant?!
He was too damn good a speaker, and I saw how much he sees the
potential of Filipino films. He definitely deserves that Lifetime
Achievement award the Cinemanila people gave him.
I'll leave you with the best quote I got from him during the whole
thing. Of course, this was not exactly how he said it. But it was
along these lines, anyway.
"You say there's no market for Filipino films here? Then go and create
your own market. You say there's no Philippine film industry, then
create your own industry. You have got to make your own moves and not
just say, 'Oh, there's no market, maybe I should just give up.' Get
up, get out there, and make things possible for yourself." --Quentin
Tarantino
