Quentin Tarantino was a recent guest on “The Joe Rogan Experience” and spent a considerable amount
of time reflecting on the current relationship between television and film. He argued that even a TV show
that he loves to watch like “Yellowstone” can hardly compare to the power of a good movie. In
Tarantino’s eyes, “Yellowstone” is just a soap opera that lacks real emotional payoff.
“Everybody talks about how television is now. It’s pretty good, I gotta say. It’s pretty good now. But it’s still television to me,” Tarantino said. “And what’s the difference between television and a good movie? Because a lot of the TV now has the patina of a good movie. There are using cinematic language to get you caught up in it.”
“I’ll use an example of a show: ‘Yellowstone.’ I didn’t get around to watching it the first three years or so and then I watched the first season and I thought, ‘Wow, this is fucking great. I’ve always been a Kevin Costner fan and he is wonderful in this,’” he continued. “I got caught up in the show and I’m having a good time. The first season, it’s like a big movie. The guy who writes it is a good writer. There’s punchy monologues and stuff. I end up watching three seasons of it and I even watch that ‘1883.’ It’s a good Western show.”
Tarantino said that when he’s watching “Yellowstone” he is “compelled and caught up in it, but at the end of the day it’s all just a soap opera. They’ve introduced you to a bunch of characters. You know their backstories and connections to everyone else.” But like any soap opera, “you don’t remember it five years from now. You’re only caught up in the minutia of it in the moment.”
“The difference is I’ll see a good Western movie, and I’ll remember it for the rest of my life,” Tarantino said. “I’ll remember the story, this scene and that scene. It built to an emotional climax of some degree. The story is good. It’s not just about the interpersonal relationships. But there’s a payoff to it. There is not a payoff on TV stuff. It’s more interconnected drama. While I am watching, that is good enough. But when it’s over, I couldn’t tell you [what happened].”
Tarantino explained that while he can remember who the villain was in the first season of “Yellowstone” because he is a fan of actor Danny Huston, he doesn’t “remember any of the other details of it.”
“I don’t remember the bad guys for Season 2 or Season 3. It’s out of my head. It’s completely gone,” Tarantino said. “With ‘1883,’ Sam Elliot is the only thing I remembered about it when it was finished. But ‘Red River,’ I remember for the rest of my life.”
Not all television shows are created equally, however. Tarantino cited the first season of Showtime’s “Homeland” as one that did have the emotional payoff of a movie. But that show ended up continuing for seven more seasons.
Tarantino’s comments on “Yellowstone” arrived just ahead of the series fifth season finale, which also appears to be the flagship drama’s series finale. Not that “Yellowstone” is going anywhere. Variety reported earlier this month that cast members Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser are set to bring their characters Beth and Rip to a new “Yellowstone” spinoff series.
