Quentin Tarantino clashed with the Channel 4 news presenter Krishnan Guru-Murphy during a tense interview in London on Thursday (January 10, 2012). The Oscar-nominee, whose latest drama Django Unchained has been the subject of controversy in recent weeks, refused to answer questions on the links between screen violence and true-life violence.
Last month's school shootings in Connecticut has perhaps unfairly pulled Tarantino and Django Unchained into the debate surrounding movie violence and gun laws, something Guru-Murphy was keen to touch upon for his Channel 4 piece. The Hollywood filmmaker has held the same opinion for years - essentially that violence makes good cinema - though refused to expand on his thoughts. "I'm not answering your question," he said when asked how he could be sure there was no link between real-life violence and his movies, "I'm not your slave and you're not my master. It's none of your damn business what I think about that." At one point, he told the interviewer "I'm shutting your butt down."
Django Unchained follows the story of a black slave (Jamie Foxx) who joins a German bounty hunter in the American Deep South. Various characters are shot in the head, ripped apart by dogs and bludgeoned to death and the movie's U.S. premiere was cancelled in the wake of the Newtown tragedy. As Guru-Murphy pressed for a sound-bite, the interview became more fractious, with Tarantino asserting, "The reason I don't want to talk about it is because I've already talked about it . I'm already on the record," he said. "I have explained this many times in the last 20 years."
Django Unchained is showing in UK cinemas from today (January 11, 2013). It is nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars and Golden Globes.
Watch the Quentin Tarantino, Kristin-Guru Murphy interview below:
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