Deliverance

Whenever Quentin Tarantino is asked to advise aspiring filmmakers, he always reminds everyone that he never went to film school. Tarantino’s film education consisted of watching American classics at a young age before graduating to more niche selections from world cinema during his video store days. During a recent interview, Tarantino spoke about watching John Boorman’s disturbing 1972 thriller Deliverance at the age of seven. While most parents would never let their kids watch such a film at that age, Tarantino was lucky to be exposed to great cinema early on. This is your first day at film school.

Deeper View Two sounds leap to mind at the mere mention of Deliverance. The first is the tuneful bluegrass plink of Arthur Smith’s Dueling Banjos, performed by the eponymous instrument and an acoustic guitar harmonizing with it. The second, much less pleasant sound is the high, pained yelp of Ned Beatty, squealing like a pig to appease the depraved stranger violating him. So crucial are both to the enduring power of John Boorman’s 1972 nightmare in the boonies that the first can’t help but evoke the second: five decades later, that banjo tune still sounds like a warning – an omen of danger ahead, especially the kind that lies off the beaten path, south of the Mason-Dixon.