Think about the actors and directors who stood as pillars of the 1990s “indiewood” movement, and the distinctive images of Quentin Tarantino and Steve Buscemi will surely cross your mind. Both delivered much of interest in that cinematically fruitful decade. Buscemi, whom Roger Ebert deemed “the house act of American independent films,” played highly memorable roles in movies like Alexandre Rockwell’s In the Soup, Tom DiCillo’s Living in Oblivion, and the Coen brothers’ Fargo and The Big Lebowski. Tarantino directed three features that need no introduction, the first of which, 1991’s Reservoir Dogs, brought them together. In the clip above, you can watch Tarantino and Buscemi’s videotaped rehearsal sessions, wherein, among other things, they work out their respective characters, the would-be diamond thieves Mr. Brown and Mr. Pink.
Before Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino had attempted only the incomplete My Best Friend’s Birthday. Before shooting what would become his first finished movie for real, he put together mock-ups of these scenes at the Sundance Institute Director’s Workshop and Lab, which then subjected them to frank evaluations from a rotating panel of veteran filmmakers. As much as we enjoy his acting, let’s not forget his own contributions as a director; his 1996 debut Trees Lounge, in which he also stars, easily ranks among the finest products of that era’s independent cinema. And as for Tarantino’s own subsequent forays into acting… well, nobody can argue that they don’t entertain.
via Biblioklept
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Colin Marshall hosts and produces Notebook on Cities and Culture and writes essays on cities, Asia, film, literature, and aesthetics. He’s at work on a book about Los Angeles, A Los Angeles Primer. Follow him on Twitter at @colinmarshall or on his brand new Facebook page.
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