Neither the Holy Sunday nor the steep ticket prices could dampen the moment. The most expensive seat reached 89 euros. This is Tarantino, and the Barcelona Theater Colosseum hosted the filmmaker behind Inglourious Basterds. On stage, a low table stood between two chairs—one for the director, the other for the talk show host Jordi Costa—and a glass of red wine for Tarantino. He stepped onto the stage to the roar of the crowd, welcomed by seventies-era music and the echo of Iggy Pop’s The Passenger, moving with a charisma that felt almost like a rock star entering a concert. The standing ovation began before he spoke a word.
Discussing cinema and his evolving views, Tarantino and his ideas about original essays and meditations on film framed a two-part exchange. The event balanced a warm, informal conversation with the reading of a chapter from a yet-to-be-published work, followed by clips from two period pieces, American Graffiti and Dirty Harry, illustrating the era of New Hollywood in the 1970s. Tarantino hinted at a new project: a book exploring 1980s Hollywood, and in later chapters, a broader look at cinema from other nations would follow.
“Thank you for spending Easter Sunday with me,” he told the audience, a gesture that already won many hearts. He explained that the initial idea behind the book was to focus on New Hollywood, but as the work progressed, the emphasis shifted to the experience of watching those films. The work, he noted, reads as an essay and autobiography—well written, vividly narrated, and deeply engaging.
Tarantino has long been known for his didactic approach. He reflected on post-World War II cinema, noting that other nations treated their audiences as more mature, while Hollywood tended toward musicals and big-budget spectacles. Cinema, he observed, remained a familiar, almost cozy art form in America.
As time passed, relief began to appear and counterculture thoughts gained traction. He described how the counterculture grew into the dominant culture, citing titles like Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, and The Dirty Dozen as turning points. Yet, he reminded that revolutions demand leadership, and American cinema evolved accordingly.
As the evening unfolded, Tarantino opened up about childhood cinema experiences, occasionally punctuating the talk with bursts of laughter and a microphone slam. He recalled films that left a lasting impression, including John Boorman’s Liberator, and shared a personal moment from his youth: a time when he did not yet understand certain adult themes and how those early impressions shaped his later sensibilities. He admitted that a family favorite, Bambi, had an impact that haunted him and others in his generation.
Family dynamics surfaced through stories about his mother and friends, including the ex-boyfriend of his mother’s best friend, Floyd. The conversation touched on his early exposure to diverse communities and the way he absorbed cinema from different perspectives. He described the first films he saw featuring athletes and the thrill of live audiences, noting the influence of mentors who helped shape his understanding of film. He also connected to the character played by Samuel L. Jackson in Jackie Brown, acknowledging how the filmmaker’s own experiences influenced that portrayal.
The dialogue did not shy away from his affection for Spanish cinema either. Tarantino spoke about his admiration for The Residence and A Summer to Die, and he referenced how his podcast, Video Archives, used music from that era and the director Antonio Isasi as well as the Spaniard Don Siegel. He complimented Vicente Aranda’s Bloody Bride as a standout adaptation and paid homage to Jesus Franco’s work on vampire films. The evening left listeners with a sense of Tarantino as a cinephile who cross-pollinates influences from multiple national cinemas, constantly weaving them into his own distinctive voice.
Across the room, the dialogue blended reverence, humor, and bold personal reflections. The speaker’s admiration for a diverse canon—from Hollywood legends to European auteurs—was clear. The event felt less like a formal lecture and more like a candid, wide-ranging conversation about cinema’s past, present, and potential futures, all filtered through Tarantino’s unmistakable perspective and lifelong love for film. The evening underscored the way film criticism can be both a personal narrative and a scholarly pursuit, inviting audiences to rewatch familiar works with fresh eyes and a renewed sense of curiosity about the world of cinema.