Tarantino re-watched this film and changed his mind about it: why not you?

Quentin Tarantino is a big fan of actor Steve McQueen, to the point that he resurrected him in the guise of actor Damian Lewis in his Once Upon A Time… in Hollywood. In his work Cinema speculationsthe director of Kill Bill is full of praise for Guet-Apens, according to him one of the notable films in the actor’s filmography, which he highly recommends to moviegoers.

Guet-Apens is a film divided into two parts: first a robbery by a former inmate (McQueen), his partner (Ali MacGraw) and two gangsters, then their escape once the deed is accomplished.

If we knew Tarantino was a big fan of Bullitt and his chases, we knew he was less of a fan of Guet-Apens, another film with McQueen released in 1973 in France and directed by Sam Peckinpah, who we know best for the head of work The Wild Horde. Here’s what the filmmaker thinks:

“(…) When I watch the film today, I no longer see it as a story about a bank robbery. I no longer even see it as a thriller about a couple of robbers on the run, the objects of a hunt at the man, with people coming after them from all directions. I realize that what Sam [Peckinpah] told and what McQueen and MacGraw interpreted was a love story.”

“The crime story is literal. The love story is metaphorical. But it is on this metaphorical level that the directors (and I include the actors here under that designation) were at their best. [Peckinpah] spends the entire film, from one reel to the next, from one scene to the next, putting the couple through hell, then patching it up.”

National General Pictures

And Tarantino takes the opportunity to make a mea culpa, returning to what he considers to be a long-standing error of judgment on his part:

“(…) For the last 40 years, I too have been one of those who were throwing sugar at Ali MacGraw’s back. Well, until recently. While McQueen alternates between keeping calm and losing his calm , Carol feels things, Carol bleeds, Carol suffers, Carol is afraid. (…) My feeling is that Ali MacGraw’s work from one scene to the next is sensational.”

National General Pictures

Enough to make you want to rehabilitate the actress revealed by Love Story, and who celebrated her 84th birthday this year. As for Guet-Apens, like many “heritage” films, it is not available on any platform and to see it you need to purchase a DVD or Blu-ray. Take our word for it, it’s worth it!