Love story against a background of drugs and violence. Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) is a real film¬lover. He celebrates his 21st birthday in the cinema and is seduced there by the striking blond Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette). The morning after the night before, Alabama admits she did not fall spontaneously for Clarence; several friends had sent a whore into the cinema for him as a birthday present. For Alabama is was her début as prostitute. But Clarence and Alabama really fall in love of course. When Clarence wants to make it clear to Alabama’s pimp that he can’t count on her services any more, he sets his first steps in the criminal underworld, leading to a fatal domino effect.Scenario writer of True Romance was Quentin Tarantino. His first film Reservoir Dogs (also screened last year in Rotterdam), for which he also wrote the screenplay, immediately made him much in demand in the film world. Reservoir Dogs was characterised by scenes with a large dose of extreme violence, pitch-black humour and obvious references to genre films. The same ingredients can also be found in True Romance that was actually written by Tarantino before Reservoir Dogs and it would appear to be something one could add to the writer’s profile. Unlike Reservoir Dogs, True Romance is filmed with great momentum and virtuosity. This more baroque approach is obviously the trademark of the English film-maker Tony Scott, who was lured to Hollywood for his capacity to shoot thrilling footage.
