Tarantino calls Cannes cinematic Olympics

CANNES, France, May 22 (UPI) -- U.S. writer-director Quentin Tarantino describes the Cannes Film Festival, where his new war movie "Inglourious Basterds" debuted, as the "cinematic Olympics."

"I'm expecting this to be one of the high moments of my career," Tarantino told Variety.com before the picture premiered Wednesday.

"This is the cinematic Olympics. If you've done a movie you're proud of, that you might be defined by, then to me the dream is not necessarily to be there at Oscar time. That's wonderful. But my dream is to always go to present the film at Cannes.

"There is nothing like it in cinema. Nobody has seen your film. It's a wet print, fresh out of the lab. The entire world film press is here, and they all see it, at one time. The greatest film critics in the world, who are still critics, and they're all fighting and debating it. When you think back on your career, it comes down to these high moments. That level of excitement is unparalleled."

"Basterds" stars Brad Pitt, Eli Roth, Mike Myers and Diane Kruger.

Tarantino's previous films include "Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction," "Jackie Brown," "Kill Bill" and "Death Proof."