Quentin Disses Lombaire

As you know, I've been very busy in Cannes this week, living high and tipping low. Because of this, I haven't always been able to keep up with the actual festivities that have been taking place here. But this story - and a particular quote contained herein - did manage to catch my eye:

Tarantino takes French arts prize


Francophile

Tarantino told reporters he became familiar with France through watching film.

"That's how I became a Francophile, not by going here, I couldn't," he said.

"It was from watching French movies and learning about French culture through its cinema, through the eyes of its greatest directors and its stars."

He named French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville as his inspiration. "He gave the impression that if you love movies enough you can't help but make a good one."

Well, isn't that delightful - Quentin calls himself a "Francophile" (careful about the self-descriptions, QT, before the LAPD confuses you with the King of Pop) and cites a French director so obscure even I haven't heard of him. Apparently, Mr. Tarentino thinks it would be gauche to acknowledge the influence of the man who is truly his greatest artistic influence, one Ferdinand Jean Lombaire.

We all know that the "Le Big Mac" dialogue exchange in Pulp Fiction was heavily influenced by Lombaire, joining together as it did two of Lombaire's greatest latter-day obsessions, processed cheese and Jheri Curl (In certain circles, Lombaire is still known as "the sixth Debarge"). He was also one of the first directors to mix ultra-violence with humor, as he did in his 1968 black comedy about the Donner party, Une Chose Drôle Est Arrivée Sur Le Chemin À La Californie (A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To California). And long before Tarantino made Jackie Brown with Pam Grier, Lombaire sought to revive the career of another major "blaxploitation" star by casting Rudy Ray "Dolemite" Moore as Napoleon in the little-seen direct-to-video historical drama, Bonaparte Like It's 1799. Lastly, Tarantino's much-fabled "jump-cut" editing style can be seen in almost all of Lombaire's films, but especially the ones that run less than four hours.

Of course, Quentin can cite whatever influences he likes; in this French panderfest, I'm surprised he didn't mention Jerry Lewis. But why he had to add insult to injury by suggesting that Pierre Melwhoever showed him, "if you love movies enough you can't help but make a good one", I'll never know. Is Tarantino saying, by implication (and that truly is the French way), that Lombaire didn't "love" movies enough? My goodness, Lombaire loved movies like they were his own children - and not in a Woody Allen-type way either! Maybe Quentin will clear up this confusion when we meet tomorrow at the Cannes premiere of New York Minute.