Visiting Visionary Filmmakers from the 90s

 Generation Tarantino: The Last Wave of Young Turks in Hollywood by Andrew J. Rausch

Generation Tarantino book cover

Many thanks to Bloomsbury Academic and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of Andrew J. Rausch’s informative new book Generation Tarantino: The Last Wave of Young Turks in Hollywood. This book examines directors who got their start in the 90s and proceeded to develop a film career that has mostly continued until today. In the introduction, Rausch establishes his criteria for inclusion in this book, explaining that he wanted to examine filmmakers in the 90s who were most likely influenced by the maverick filmmakers of the 70s who have been studied and analyzed considerably. I appreciated this specialized focus since many of the filmmakers coincided with my developing awareness of styles and themes in directors. While the book has Tarantino in the title, Rausch focuses on a wide range of directors ranging from Richard Linklater to Darren Aronofsky, with John Singleton, David Fincher, Wes Anderson, Guillermo del Torro, Kevin Smith, Noah Baumbach, Christopher Nolan, and Paul Thomas Anderson in between. The book ends with Sofia Coppola, whose debut film The Virgin Suicides, came out in 2000, but was in production during the late 90s. It’s interesting to consider all of these directors who got their start in the 90s and have become well-known auteurs who have established their own unique voices, influencing other directors and styles in Hollywood. Although not all of these directors are known for blockbuster successes, many of them have further solidified the importance of independent cinema with unique voices and styles as a necessary option to the kind of generic templates that can be a part of big budget studio productions. In fact, it seems that some of these directors wished to tell stories and featured characters that were lacking representation in the 1980s, and Rausch mentions how these directors were also a part of the emerging voice of Gen X. Although I don’t remember being aware of how some of these themes and styles were specifically unique to Gen X at the time, reading some of Rausch’s examples and analysis in the chapters helps to highlight the diversity of interests and influences that all of these directors brought.

Each chapter focuses on one director, specifically spending time on the films they created in the 90s. There is a brief biography that provides some background about how these directors got into film, and I think that was one of the more interesting parts of each director’s biography. John Singleton was the one director who ended up going to a formal film school, and he was able to gain interest in his screenplay for Boyz n the Hood, while still in school. Kevin Smith attended a filmmaking program that was supposed to provide some kind of knowledge about the process of making films, but he ended up leaving before finishing the program. Almost all of the directors in the book had some kind of passion or interest in film from an early age, and they knew that they were going to pursue some aspect of filmmaking. Some directors like Sofia Coppola and David Fincher grew up around films and eventually ended up with jobs on films, although Coppola’s family ties to filmmaking probably gave her more of an advantage than Fincher. Nevertheless, it was interesting to learn more about how each of these directors learned about film, often outside of the more formal training that we might expect. Maybe this is also the reason why so many of them have developed their own unique voice and tell stories of individuals who are unique or relatable. The origin stories of Tarantino and Richard Rodriguez are probably the most interesting. Tarantino worked in a video store and was most likely influenced by all of the videos he watched. In hist excellent book Cinema Speculation, he talks too about going to the movies with some of his mom’s boyfriends, and how watching the exploitation, action, and horror movies from the 70s influenced his style. Rodriguz used to make films with his friends, often modeling stories on popular films like Rambo. Again, it is interesting to see how many of these directors were influenced by less mainstream films and stories, and that influence seems to appear in many of their films and stories. 

The chapters also feature descriptions and details about the development and production of their first films. Many of them struggled to find funding for their films, since they had yet to establish their names and films often require considerable funding to be made. Some directors like David Fincher had a terrible time on their first film. Fincher’s first film was Alien 3, for which he was like the 6th director. He explained how his experienced in post production, letting the company cut his film considerably, affected his decision to make another film. Other directors seemed to have worse experiences with their second films. Kevin Smith (Mallrats), Guillermo del Torro (Mimic), and John Singleton (Poetic Justice) all seemed to struggle with their follow up films, whether from pressure from studios to cut their films a certain way or to manage budgets. In fact, Noah Baumbach even had to include Eric Stoltz in one of his films and ended up writing a part just to include Stoltz to get funding. It was interesting to learn more about these challenges, and how other directors like Wes Anderson or Paul Thomas Anderson were firm on maintaining their artistic vision. Rausch provides a helpful understanding of how funding a film can lead to compromises in details from the running time, special effects, or even the actors involved in the film. I loved learning about the different actors that were considered for each of the parts in different films, imagining how many of these iconoclastic 90s films would have turned out differently if the cast were different. Rausch often follows up the first film with the directors’ second film, and how that film developed as well. Again, it was interesting to learn about what each of the directors were working on, the decisions they made, and how success often brought them both more options and sometimes less control over subsequent films. It was also interesting to see how sometimes these second films may have been held up, farily or unfairly, to the first film. Rausch includes reviews from critics, often well-known movie reviewers, and indicates how time has eventually shifted the appreciation for some of these films. Films like Mallrats and Poetic Justice, both sophomore films that differed somewhat from their directors’ debuts, were possibly victims of a movie going public looking for more of the same. Rausch explores how these films have often grown a cult following since the 90s and have become more appreciated. Although Jackie Brown is Tarantino’s third film, it also seemed to be a victim of the massive success of Pulp Fiction yet is now often regarded as one of Tarantino’s best films. I really enjoyed reading about the development of both of these films. These chapters are informative and incredibly interesting for fans of film. I remember how innovative and unique Pulp Fiction was when it came out, and I probably went to see it like 6 or 7 times, often bringing friends to see it for the first time. As someone who can remember when most of these films came out, it was great to read about their development. 

The chapters end with the directors’ later filmography after the 90s, where Rausch explores what they have been up to. This was often short since the focus is primarily on the 90s output. Also, be advised that since many of these films were Miramax films, Harvey Weinstein plays a role in securing the rights to some of these films and giving these directors their first opportunities. Although Rausch doesn’t delve into Weinstein’s crimes, he does present the brothers as somewhat unscrupulous and mob-like in their threats to other studios. Although there are many different directors in the book, Tarantino is the primary focus, and there is one chapter that looks at a few “Tarantinoesque” directors whose films came out sometime around Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Rausch explores the term “Tarantinoesque” and how it entered the film lexicon after Pulp Fiction. He also uses this chapter to dispel the notion that these films were somehow influenced by Tarantino, and in someways critiquing Tarantino for not acknowledging his influences from other films. While it was interesting to learn more about these films, I felt like this chapter wasn’t as well connected to the rest of the book. It was more like a long detour to the outskirts of these films from the 90s to explore some lesser known and less interesting sights. Furthermore, the other filmmakers all seemed to not appreciate being lumped in with Tarantino. Despite being a book about the unique voices and visions of these filmmakers, Rausch also shows how the market and demand for theEase popular films can sometimes seek to lump others into the fold to build off the popularity of others. The only other issues I found with the book was the lack of representation and the uniformity of the chapters. Rausch provides a lot of information and some useful criticism and analysis of these films and different directors, but there were 2 directors from Mexico, 1 African American director, and 1 female director. Although the stories and films from the 90s may have been more diverse, it seems like directing opportunities were not as equally distributed. Although Rausch focuses on some powerful directors, there are some directors of color who could have been included. For example, the Hughes Brothers debuted with the powerful Menace II Society and followed that up with the underrated Dead Presidents. Mario van Peebles, the son of the great Melvin van Peebles, made his directorial debut with 1991's New Jack City, which he followed up with other important 90s films like Posse and Panther. Earnest Dickerson started working with Spike Lee, but debuted with Juice in 1992 and followed that up with Demon Knight. Kasi Lemons was in Candyman, but also debuted directing Eve’s Bayou in 1997. Jennie Livingston debuted with the incredible documentary Paris is Burning in 1990, which introduced more people to ball culture of NYC, which has had such an impact on the way people talk and dance today. Jane Campion’s The Piano also came out in the 90s and was the second woman to be nominated for an Oscar, and the first to be nominated twice. Although Sophia Coppola deserves inclusion on this list, it almost felt like her placement at the end and the shorter focus on her work kind of felt like the book was shortchanging female directors. I don’t think that was Rausch’s intention at all. Coppola’s only film from the 90s came out in 2000, so she debuted at the tail end of this book’s focus. However, it does seem like there are other female directors who could have also been included. Additionally, the chapters started to feel somewhat formulaic towards the end. While the stories were still interesting, especially Paul Thomas Anderson’s approach to filmmaking and how he was able to get his 90s films The Hard Eight and Boogie Nights made, some of the later chapters felt like there was less information and less focus. Again, I don’t think this was a purposeful choice on Rausch’s part, but rather it was more about the timing of the directors’ work and that they had less output than some of the directors who were working earlier in the 90s. Overall, this is a fun and entertaining book to read, especially if you enjoy films. I remember seeing a lot of these films for the first time when they were either in the theater or when they were first available at video stores, so it was cool to revisit them, learn more about them and understand their importance. Highly recommended book.