Fresh Air Weekend: Tarantino, Waltz, 'Downton'

Fresh Air Weekend highlights some of the best interviews and reviews from past weeks, and new program elements specially paced for weekends. Our weekend show emphasizes interviews with writers, filmmakers, actors and musicians, and often includes excerpts from live in-studio concerts. This week:

Quentin Tarantino: 'Unchained' And Unruly: With his latest film, director Quentin Tarantino was inspired both by spaghetti Westerns and the drama of slavery and the Civil War. The movie is extremely violent — but, says Tarantino, "What happened during slavery times is a thousand times worse. ... If you can't take it, you can't take it."

'Unchained' Admiration Between Actor And Director: Austrian actor Christoph Waltz won an Oscar for his portrayal of Nazi Jew hunter Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds. Teamed up with Tarantino again in Django Unchained, he says Tarantino's writing and the rhythm of the language speaks to him as a performer.

'Downton' Returns With Aristocratic Class and Clash: On Sunday, the PBS anthology series Masterpiece Classic begins its third season of Downton Abbey, the British period drama that has taken England — and America — by storm.

You can listen to the original interviews here:

• Quentin Tarantino: 'Unchained' And Unruly

• 'Unchained' Admiration Between Actor And Director

• 'Downton' Returns With Aristocratic Class and Clash

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