Quentin Tarantino Thinks 1 Elvis Presley Movie Has a Hidden Meaning
If anyone is good at spotting hidden meanings in movies, it’s Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino wrote a book of film criticism in which he said one of Elvis Presley’s movies had a rich subtext. The film was helmed by one of the most consequential action movie directors of all time.
Quentin Tarantino felt 1 Elvis Presley movie is similar its director’s struggles in Hollywood
In his 2022 book Cinema Speculation, Tarantino talked about the work of film director Don Siegel of Dirty Harry fame. “But the rogue law enforcement officer, at odds with their superiors, who operates independently to get their man and enforce their own self-determined version of justice, is practically the quintessential Siegel protagonist,” he wrote. “Even his criminals go rogue.
“Mickey Rooney’s Baby Face Nelson stands in direct contrast to Leo Gordon’s Dillinger, and both Walter Matthau’s Charley Varrick and Burt Reynolds’ cat burglar in Rough Cut execute secret schemes under the noses of their partners (Andy Robinson and Lesley-Anne Down, respectively),” Tarantino added. “Michael Parks’ sheriff in Stranger on the Run is at odds with his deputies, Steve McQueen’s soldier in Hell Is for Heroes is at odds with his company, and Elvis’ [biracial Native American] Pacer in Flaming Star is at odds with the white community of his father, his mother’s tribe, and finally even the father and brother who love him. This iconoclasm seems to resemble Don Siegel’s relationship with his producers and the studio heads he worked for.”
Quentin Tarantino felt the movie inspired 1970s action cinema
Tarantino felt Flaming Star was influential. The 1960s and 1970s saw a wave of provocative and often violent films from a younger generation of filmmakers dubbed “New Hollywood.” Tarantino felt Flaming Star and other Siegel movies paved the way for New Hollywood.
He pointed to The French Connection, Coffy, Straw Dogs, Point Blank, Rolling Thunder, The Mechanic, and Busting as some of the New Hollywood movies that took cues from Flaming Star and other Siegel projects. Elsewhere in the book, Tarantino says Elvis’ movies weren’t real cinema, they were just fluff. That’s some pretty important fluff!
How Elvis Presley’s ‘Flaming Star’ performed on the pop charts in the United States
The title song from Flaming Star reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. It stayed on the chart for seven weeks. “Flaming Star” charted higher than some songs from Elvis movies that are more famous today, such as “Blue Hawaii” and “Viva Las Vegas.”
The song “Flaming Star” appeared on the EP Elvis by Request: Flaming Star and 3 Other Great Songs. That record also features two of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s most famous pop songs from the 1960s: “It’s Now or Never” and “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” Elvis by Request: Flaming Star and 3 Other Great Songs reached No. 96 on the Billboard 200. It lasted on the chart for a total of 16 weeks. With such a wonderful track listing, it’s surprising that it didn’t do better.
Flaming Star is a thematically rich film and Siegel’s involvement gave it extra layers.
