Production has begun on the film, which will investigate the first two decades of Tarantino’s career, as well as his relationships with repeat collaborators like Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, John Travolta, and Kerry Washington, all of whom will be interviewed for the project.
For Wood, the film comes as a follow-up to last year’s release, 21 Years: Richard Linklater, in which she investigated the career of the Boyhood creator, with the central idea being that the first 21 years of an artist’s work are the essential years that defined his or her career.
For Tarantino, now 52, that span runs from the debut of his iconic 1992 film, Reservoir Dogs, to 2012’s Django Unchained, covering eight out of nine of his major film projects. The director’s upcoming Christmas release, The Hateful Eight, will not be covered in the documentary.
A two-time Oscar winner famed for his long cuts, gritty on-screen style and dialog, and his love of spaghetti-western-style violence, has proven to be a good subject, according to Wood.
“Quentin is the most revolutionary, distinctive director of our time,” she said in an interview with Variety, “There is no shortage of stories from his collaborators about what it takes to get his visionary style to the screen. It has been an enlightening process both personally and professionally.”
Tarantino was not born in the star-studded heart of Hollywood, instead getting his start as something of an outsider. The director dropped out of high school and became an usher at a red light theater in California, later putting himself through acting classes and working at a video store before becoming a screenwriter and director.
It’s unclear how personal the focus of the film will be, but given the in-depth interview style of 21 Years: Richard Linklater, a lot of the story will be told by people who surround Tarantino, with the man himself filling in the gaps where necessary.
21 Years: Quentin Tarantino does not yet have a release date, but as production has started, it should make it to theaters sometime before the middle of 2017.
