Quentin Tarantino Asks Robert De Niro About ‘Jackie Brown’ and More

This year’s Tribeca Film Festival has launched its De Niro Con celebration of its iconic co-founder, and one of the first big events included a rousing discussion with verbal odd couple Quentin Tarantino and Robert De Niro.

The event started on Friday afternoon with a screening of “Jackie Brown,” Tarantino’s 1997 third feature — via a handsome 35mm print on loan from Martin Scorsese. De Niro has a key supporting role as the recently-imprisoned Louis Gara, a man of few words with an ability to conjure violence quickly.

Tarantino, a notably quick-talking cinephile, peppered De Niro, a man of few words, with questions during their 40-minute post-film discussion, starting first with the actor’s ability to bring comedy to “Jackie Brown.” Tarantino praised De Niro’s portrayal of the “slow” ex-con — senses dulled from a post-prison daze and frequent bong hits during the movie.

“I’ve watched the movie with a lot of different audiences and they always respond so much to how out of it and stoned you are when they’re trying to talk, when they’re having the whole meeting about the money exchange,” Tarantino said. “You’re caught up in the phone cord and you realize that was a comedy scene going on right inside of there. You played it as a comedian. I think it was a situation where you just said, ‘Oh, I can do a little bit more here. I can have my own little bit going on while they’re doing the narrative.’”

Quentin Tarantino Asks Robert De Niro About ‘Jackie Brown’ and More