True Romance

“You know who I am? The Antichrist!” Quentin Tarantino’s script for True Romance includes, within the story of a cocaine thief (Slater) and his lover (Arquette), a ten-minute showcase scene in which Christopher Walken as Don Vincenzo Coccotti gives racist violence a chilling new dimension. As consigliere to the mob boss robbed by the young couple, he allows Dennis Hopper to insult him at length—until, instead of prolonging the torture, he snaps into a deadly outburst of violence. Impeccably dressed, verbally razor-sharp — Walken at his peak. (Viennale)