Following the release of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood this summer, filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has hinted that his next big project may not appear on the silver screen at all. In a conversation with fellow director Martin Scorsese, Tarantino revealed that he is currently writing a novel about a WWII veteran who finds himself disillusioned with Hollywood cinema upon returning from the war.
The conversation was published in DGA Quarterly’s fall issue in which the two directors discuss their respective latest films, past projects, and favourite films. Of the forthcoming novel, Tarantino explains: “I’ve got this character who had been in World War II and he saw a lot of bloodshed there. And now he’s back home, and it’s like the ‘50s, and he doesn’t respond to movies anymore. He finds them juvenile after everything that he’s been through.”
Tarantino’s commitment to the novel may leave fans waiting longer than expected for his final cinematic endeavour. The filmmaker has previously announced how he plans to retire after his 10th film.
Tarantino explains how the book’s protagonist – alienated by Hollywood movies – seeks solace in the realm of foreign cinema: “He starts hearing about these foreign movies by Kurosawa and Fellini... And so he’s like, ‘Well, maybe they might have something more than this phony Hollywood stuff.’”
The director goes onto reveal the process behind researching his veteran character, which involves watching and analysing post-war mainstream cinema from his character’s perspective. “So I’m enjoying watching them but I’m also [thinking], ‘How is he taking it? How is he looking at it?’” he explains. “I always like to have a good excuse for just throwing down into a pit of cinema.”