Being that I’ve been Tarantino fanatic since before I had pubes (2006 or so), I feel bad for not knowing about this. After the jump, I’ve got all the surviving footage from his first film, My Best Friend’s Birthday.
My Best Friend’s Birthday is the first film directed by Quentin Tarantino. Shot in 1984 for $5000, the rough cut was 70 minutes long before a fire at the processing lab destroyed all but 36 minutes of the film. It’s never been officially released.
Co-written with Craig Hamaan and photographed by Roger Avery, My Best Friend’s Birthday stars a motley collection of Tarantino’s video store co-workers and friends from acting class.
The stylistic foundations upon which Quentin built his career -Scorsese, Godard, Cassavetes, blaxpoitation and rock and roll – are evident in this clumsy but fun little flick. And the dialog is unmistakably what was later to become known as Tarantinoesque. [DangerousMinds]
I haven’t finished watching it, but the most surprising thing about it so far is Tarantino’s hairline. According to Wikipedia, at the time of filming, Tarantino was 20 or 21. And for a dude who must’ve looked like Christian Slater by the time he was 15, he still has quite a bit of hair. He must be on the Jeremy Piven diet. Let this be a lesson to you, kids: cocaine cures baldness.
[via DangerousMinds]