The idea that the director is the sole creator of the finished film product is the basis of auteur theory. It is the idea that, if you were to sit down and watch a movie, you would be able to discern through the style of the film who the director is without reading it in the opening credit scene. An excellent example of an overpowering, obvious style is that of Quentin Tarantino; whose discernible style of directing is defined by gratuitous violence, absurd and usually hilarious situations, zoom-in shots, jump cuts, reoccurring actors, and the unusual way he organizes his story structure. The Tarantino films I will be referencing include Pulp Fiction (1994), Inglorious Basterds (2009), and The Hateful Eight (2015).

Violence, and the way Tarantino films it, is a hallmark of his overall style and one of the most distinguishable characteristics of his movies. Particularly, The Gold Watch act of Pulp Fiction is a prime example of both the type of over-the-top violence he uses, as well as his use of absurd situations in his storytelling. The section of The Gold Watch act I wish to highlight occurs after Butch, the boxer, stops his car at a crosswalk just as Marsellus Wallace, the gangster boss Butch just conned, happens to walk right in front of Butch’s car. They make eye contact and Butch drives his car through the crosswalk, injuring Marsellus and getting into a car accident. The chase that ensues shows a disoriented, injured Marsellus firing off shots and chasing Butch until the two end up in a pawn shop and are ultimately kidnapped by two rapists. Butch manages to free himself from his binds as Marsellus is raped in the backroom, suspense builds as Butch goes through weapons found in the shop until he lands on a katana. Butch uses the katana to free Marsellus from the rapists and the two agree to end their quarrel. The sheer odds of the circumstances the characters are placed under in this act are ridiculous. Not only did Butch happen to run into Marsellus of all people in a city as large as Los Angeles, but the store they happen to stumble into is a front for a rape dungeon. The ridiculousness continues in the action scene where Butch slashes the cuckold rapist across the chest with the katana, continues walking and then stabs him through the abdomen without removing his gaze from the cop rapist, Zed. His use of ludicrous plot points is a device seen frequently throughout his films and has become an indicator of a Tarantino film.

Another signature element of Tarantino’s style is illustrated prominently in the bar scene in Inglorious Basterds, as it is a great example of the quick zoom in’s and jump cuts he employs in a number of his action scenes. When three allied spies posing as Nazi officers have their cover blown and are confronted by Gestapo the following shootout lasts around 20 seconds. Tarantino’s use of jump cuts and zoom in’s make the scene feel even faster, and being able to clearly see the facial expressions as they are either being blown away or spraying bullets make the scene all the more intense. The amount of violence in this scene alone qualifies the movie for a restricted rating, not even considering the scalping scenes.

It is fair to say that a Tarantino film is not a Tarantino film without the presence of at least one of his preferred actors. He casts for type in a serious way, one only has to watch a few of his films to assume that, as he was writing the movie, he wrote Samuel L. Jackson’s characters with Samuel L. Jackson in mind. The actor appears in nearly every one of Tarantino’s films, and typically plays the role of a gangster or outlaw. Other great examples of QT’s preferred actors include Uma Thurman as a strong female lead and Brad Pitt as a leading man.

One of the more unique Tarantino stamps in his films is the atypical structuring of his stories. He takes the classical Hollywood narrative and scrambles it, prominently seen in films like Pulp Fiction and The Hateful Eight. Broken up into different acts, the arrangement of the plot is nonlinear, and he often likes to show certain events in his films through multiple perspectives. For example, in Pulp Fiction, the opening act of the film and the final act of the film occur at the same time, with the last chronological event occurring sometime in the middle of the movie. True to his signature style, the first act follows different characters than the final act at the same time in the diner, with the two groups meeting sometime into “Epilogue – The Diner”.

Quentin Tarantino is an obvious and easily analyzable example of an auteur. His style has so many repeatably noticeable qualities such as his unique story structure, preferred actors, excessive violence, and preposterous plot points that his films cannot escape his name. Tarantino is truly a director that pisses all over his films, he knows how to leave his mark.