Spike Lee vs Quentin Tarantino

Spike Lee

Who is he?

Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983.

Where is he from?

He was born in Atlanta, Georgia. His mother Jacqueline Carroll was a teacher of arts and black literature and his father, William James Edward Lee III was a jazz musician and a composer. When he was a child the family moved to Brooklyn, New York. During his childhood his mother nicknamed him "Spike". 

Where did he train?

Lee enrolled in Morehouse College, a historically black college, where he made his first student film, Last Hustle in Brooklyn. He took film courses at Clark Atlanta University and graduated with a BA in Mass Communication from Morehouse. He did graduate work at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in Film & Television. Lee's thesis film, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, was the first student film to be showcased in Lincoln Center's New Directors New Films Festival.

In 1985, Lee began work on his first feature film, She's Gotta Have It. With a budget of $175,000, he shot the film in two weeks. When the film was released in 1986, it grossed over $7,000,000 at the U.S. box office

Spike Lee is considered an Autuer. Lee's movies have examined race relations, colorism in the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. Lee has received two Academy Award nominations and won numerous other awards, including an Emmy Award as well as the 2013 Gish Prize "for his brilliance and unwavering courage in using film to challenge conventional thinking.

Awards?

 Berlin International Film Festival 1997 - Get On The Bus - Honourable Mention

 Black Reel Awards 2001 - Love And Basketball - Best Film                      

American Black Film Festival 2004 - Time Warner Innovator Award              

Black Movie Awards 2006 - Inside Man - Best Director                                 

Black Reel Awards 2011 - If God Is Willing And Da Creek Don't Rise - Best Television  Documentary

He has won a total of 39 awards and has had a further 59 nominations. 

Controversy?

In 2012 Spike Lee spoke about his intention to never watch Django Unchained. He elaborated on his dissatisfaction on Twitter, writing, "American Slavery Was Not A Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. It Was A Holocaust. My Ancestors Are Slaves. Stolen From Africa. I Will Honor Them." 

Quentin Tarantino 

                                                                            

Who is he?                                                                                                                                  
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, screenwriter, cinematographer, producer, and actor. Tarantino grew up an obsessed film fan and worked at Video Archives, a video rental store while training to act. His career began in the late 1980s, when he wrote and directed My Best Friend's Birthday, the screenplay of which formed the basis for True Romance. 

Where is he from?

Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1963. He is the son of actor and amateur musician Tony Tarantino and nurse Connie McHugh. Tarantino's father, from Queens, New York, is of Italian descent, while his mother has Irish and Cherokee ancestry. When he was four years old, they moved to Torrance, California and later to the Harbor City neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Where did he train?

Tarantino did attend James Best Acting School but soon grew bored and left after two years. He then landed a job which threatened to interfere with his long-term acting ambitions. As an employee of Video Archives, a now-defunct video rental store in Manhattan Beach, he and fellow movie enthusiasts (including Roger Avary) discussed cinema and customer video recommendations at length. He paid close attention to the types of films people liked to rent and has cited that experience as inspiration for his directorial career. Tarantino has been quoted as saying: "When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them 'no, I went to films.'"

Awards?

Golden Globes 1995 – Pulp Fiction – Best Screenplay Motion Picture

Csapnivalo Awards 2000 – Jackie Brown – Best Screenplay

American Choreography Award 2004 – Kill Bill – Outstanding achievement in Choreography

Austin Film Critics Association 2009 – Inglorious Basterds – Best original screenplay             
Oscars 2013 – Django Unchained – Best writing & Original Screenplay  

Tarantino had won 122 awards and been nominated for a further 103.

Controversy? 

Spike Lee questioned Tarantino's use of racial epithets in his films, particularly the word "nigger". In a Variety interview discussing Jackie Brown, Lee said, "I'm not against the word...And some people speak that way. But Quentin is infatuated with that word. What does he want to be made–an honorary black man?" Tarantino responded on Charlie Rose by stating:

"As a writer, I demand the right to write any character in the world that I want to write. I demand the right to be them, I demand the right to think them and I demand the right to tell the truth as I see they are, all right? And to say that I can't do that because I'm white, but the Hughes brothers can do that because they're black, that is racist. That is the heart of racism, all right. And I do not accept that ... That is how a segment of the black community that lives in Compton, lives in Inglewood, where Jackie Brown takes place, that lives in Carson, that is how they talk. I'm telling the truth. It would not be questioned if I was black, and I resent the question because I'm white. I have the right to tell the truth. I do not have the right to lie."

Comparison between Inglorious Basterds and Miracle at St. anna

Throughout this piece I will be writing a comparison. Inglorious Basterds is the first film i will be comparing. It is a 2008 War film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino  starring Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth (Co-Director) and Diane Kruger. The film I will compare it too is Miracle at St. Anna which is a 2008 war film written and directed by Spike Lee, starring Derek Luke, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller, Michael Ealy, Valentina cervi and Pierfrancesco Favino.

The first comparison is between the genres; both films are in the war genre and both are set following the events in WWII. However Inglorious Basterds is set in France during the war and follows a group of U.S Jewish Soldiers that plan to assassinate Nazi Leaders, it also follows a Jewish Cinema owner who had a past encounter with one of the leaders and plans to also assassinate the leaders. Where as Miracle at St. Anna is set primarily in Italy during the war and follows a group of four Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd Infantry division who seek refuge in a town and bond with some of the town locals.

Both films are set around the same time yet get across different two very different points of view, the Jewish pov and the Black soldiers pov. The films are similar in that in both films the Nazi's are the obstacles that stop them from from reaching their goals and both films relate because they show the issues either religion or race had during the war. On the other hand Inglorious Basterds showed the issues between both religion and race because the lady who owned the cinema hired a black man and he was treated with no respect by any of the Nazi's. Miracle at St. Anna also produces war in a different sense. It shows the war between the Buffalo Soldiers and the American Army Generals.

Both films feature soldiers as their protagonists and they are all shown to be close, their relationships tend to seem more familial than friendly, like they have been together a long time and although they are at war and should be trying to protect one another in both films they seem more like they are protecting family. I think this familial relationship especially stands out in Miracle at St. Anna, and is portrayed even further when they find the young boy. In Miracle at St. Anna they all seem to work together and all have a say in what they will do where as in Inglorious Basterds Lt. Aldo Raine is the leader.

Inglorious Basterds predominantly follows a linear narrative, however their is a time skip from 1941 to 1944. Miracle at St. Anna on the other hand follows a non linear narrative because it is usually set during the war which in context of the film is the past and is shown in flashbacks. Miracle at St. Anna  could follow a circular narrative because Hector Negron who is introduced to us and questioned at the beginning is also the man that is shown at the end. A particular object that is found during the start of the film is also shown to us again at the end.

I feel that in both films the characters are developed however they are developed more in Inglorious Basterds, especially Shosanna who owns the cinema. I feel she was the most developed because we learnt about her back story which as the very first sequence of the film. However for me the characters in Miracle at St. Anna were easier to connect to because their plan was not to deliberately harm anyone but because of the situation they were in they had too. Sam Train was the easiest character to connect to because Lee made his character caring and at times relate able. Both directors produced the relationships between the characters really well.

In my opinion I preferred Inglorious Basterds because the narrative was easier to follow and the film was more exciting but  narrative in Miracle at St. Anna was stronger. However I think both films successfully showed the War genre in very different ways and were able to represent war in it's true self because neither tried to make it seem calmer or not as bad than it was.

Revision Plan

Monday	British Films - Fish Tank, The Selfish Giant, My Brother The Devil
Tuesday	British Films - Short British Films e.g Soft, Wasp, Similarities and differences between films
Wednesday	American Films - Inglorious Basterds, Miracle at St. Anna
Thursday	American Films - Comparison of American Films
Friday	Producers and Social Media
Saturday	Producers and Social Media
Sunday	Past Exam paper practice

Digital Storyboard

The Grand Budapest Hotel review

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a 2014 Comedy Film directed by Wes Anderson. It stars Ralph Fiennes who plays Mr Gustav as a hotel worker who teams up with one of his employees Zero (Tony Revolori) to prove his innocence after he is framed for murder. This film shows how friendships are made and how they build. We see the film from many different points of view, from so many different characters. The film led the BAFTA nominations, with 11 nominations, more than any other film, including Best Film and Best Director for Anderson, and Best Actor for Fiennes. The film won the Golden Globe award for the Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy and had three more Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Director for Anderson. It also had nine Academy Award nominations, the joint most for the ceremony, including best Picture and best Director. It also won four Academy Awards.

The narrative has a lot too it and can be quite confusing to follow at times. However overall it is a very well made sophisticated film. The film contains comedy and violence and although violence is used in some scenes it can still come across as quite comedic. For example (SPOILER) when a chase scene commences between cold blooded assassin Jopling (Willem Defoe) who is following lawyer Kovacs (Jeff Goldblum), Jopling shuts the door as Kovacs  goes to leave and the door cuts off Kovacs’ fingers on his right hand. This scene although violent was still amusing because it was all very sudden and unexpected and was the climax of the chase leaving the audience surprised. The use of comedy was very effective because not all the film used comedy but small remarks were often made from Mr Gustav which really lightened the mood in some scenes. The comedic side of it really helped to enjoy the film and kept me wanting to watch more.

The film was split up into a prologue, parts 1-5 and an epilogue. I liked how this film was split up because each part had a name and introduced the next scenes of the film and implicitly informed you of what will happen in the scene and what the scene is about.  I liked how a girl at the very start of the film is seen walking into a graveyard and the same girl is seen at the very end of the film as well.

A good range of themes were used throughout the film. Including friendship which was mainly shown with the bond of Mr Gustav and Zero, this theme was shown continuously and was the main theme.  Another theme used was success because during the film it showed how Mr Gustav was successful in running the hotel and (SPOILER) how he was successful in escaping from prison. The theme of love was also used usually when the scenes involved Zero and Agatha played by Saoirse Ronan who later becomes his fiancée.

Overall I really enjoyed the film and liked how they managed to make the comedic side fit in with the violent side of the film. I found it a really enjoyable film to watch but found that you had to watch the film very carefully in order the keep track with what is happening. I would recommend this film to others to watch.