While Quentin Tarantino is set to call it a day after his next movie, the legendary Martin Scorsese insists he still has some juice left in the tank despite being 20 years older than his peer. The reason is simple, according to Scorsese – he is simply built differently.
Martin Scorsese is one of the best directors ever to make movies and is arguably the greatest living filmmaker today. Despite making some of the best movies ever to grace a film projector, Marty has more to give, which is great news for us film fans. Quentin Tarantino is pretty good at filmmaking, too, but he’s said his next project, The Movie Critic, will be his last.
When asked about Tarantino’s decision by the Associated Press, Scorsese had a brilliant response and one which he probably doesn’t even realize could be misconstrued as a sly dig at his contemporary. “I just don’t know,” Scorsese said, and then, when it was suggested he might be “built differently,” Scorsese simply replied: “I am.”
That’s a pretty baller statement, but Scorsese did elaborate and offer some explanation as to why Tarantino might feel ready to quit: “He’s a writer. It’s a different thing. I come up with stories. I get attracted to stories through other people. All different means, different ways. And so I think it’s a different process… I respect writers, and I wish I could just be in a room and create these novels – not films – novels.
“I’m curious about everything still. That’s one of the things. If I’m curious about something, I think I’ll find a way. If I hold out and hold up, I’ll find a way to try to make something of it on film, but I have to be curious about the subject. My curiosity is still there. I couldn’t speak for Quentin Tarantino or others who are able to create this work in their world.”
Scorsese, soon to be 81 years old, is currently celebrating the release of his new movie, Killers of the Flower Moon. And wouldn’t you know it, he’s created yet another “masterpiece”, or at least that’s the opinion we share in our Killers of the Flower Moon review. While he’s done enough high-quality work to last a lifetime, I have to say I’m very happy he wants to keep going.
As for his thoughts on Tarantino, well… the likely interpretation is that Scorsese is simply saying Tarantino does a hell of a lot of work in writing his own stories, whereas Marty himself is more inclined to direct other people’s scripts (he only has 19 writing credits compared to 73 directorial credits). Therefore, Tarantino is likely to tire quicker and feel ready to retire, whereas Scorsese may feel like he hasn’t done as much work.
The cynical view is that Scorsese is having a subtle dig at the fact Tarantino thinks he has essentially run out of ideas or has done enough in the world of storytelling (let’s be honest, with a filmography like his, Tarantino has more than earned a break). I like picture Scorsese hearing the news of Tarantino’s retirement and thinking to himself, “Had enough? Huh, couldn’t be me.” Given how nice Martin Scorsese appears to be, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume the former, but it’s fun to imagine him giving Tarantino sass like this.
Hopefully both filmmakers keep going for many years to come. It would be a shame if we were to miss out on some late-in-life Tarantino bangers, after all. While we wait for Tarantino and Scorsese to make another film, why not look ahead to other projects like Avatar 3, or find out why Scorsese’s new movie has nothing on the actual longest film ever. And, if you like Tarantino, you’re going to love hearing about his amazing abandoned plans for Star Trek 4.