Pulp Fiction
You may hear me go on about Quentin Tarantino a lot. Not in a weird sycophantic fan girl manner (I’ll save that for 56 year old Austrian actors,) but in a “holy moley, this man is bleeding genius” way. While I may have already gone on about Tarantino here, here and here, I still get the impression that his work splits people down the middle. Or sends people into many spirals of crazy due to his excessive violence and edgy dialogue. That being said, as he has scooped up yet another gong for his writing with the latest Django Unchained, I want to take a look at his first Oscar win for the insanely amazing Pulp Fiction.
Coming hot off the incredible Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction defined Tarantino as one of the greatest writers/directors of our time. Set in L.A. there isn’t a story, as such, just a series of stories that all intertwine with one another. Revolving mainly around mobsters and petty criminals, Pulp Fiction follows an almost “day in the life of” each and how they collide with one another. That being said, in classic form, Pulp Fiction does not follow a linear narrative, rather many scenes, times and stories are cut up and presented in true Tarantino style. Pulp Fiction is a mash up of great action, smooth dialogue and game changing events.
Pulp Fiction was initially supposed to be a short but realising quickly that shorts do not get produced, Tarantino and his writing fellow Roger Avery decided to extend it. Pulp Fiction burst into the nineties scene with enough juice to get our pulses racing. There is enough pulp here to have film fanatics pawn over it. What Tarantino presents here is a neo noir movie that is layered with plot and characters. Bringing a new era to John Travolta’s career and having Samuel L Jackson swear profusely into our hearts, Pulp Fiction gave us memorable moments such as Uma Thurmon and John Travolta twisting at an American diner. There is also humour and bloody violence. Camping out the classic 1950’s gangster films, Pulp Fiction is full of with stand offs, shootings and messenger men. And it is funny too, even at moments that you never thought you would laugh at. Held up as one of the greatest movies of all time, Pulp Fiction will leave you breathless.
With violence being the feather in Tarantino’s hat, it is hard to forget what he is all about. With every blood ladled scene and uncomfortable moment, movies such as Pulp Fiction go over the heads of critics and fans alike. Yet if you look beneath the brains on the backseat, you’ll find clever and. Tarantino had aimed to create a movie that read much like a novel, whereas movies deal with one story, Pulp Fiction deals with many with the characters over lapping. He took clichéd classic moments and breathed new life, twisted and contorted them to be fresh. For example, the mobster taking the bosses wife out "but don't sleep with her" is often used in gangster movies. In most, they end up sleeping with her anyway, in Pulp Fiction the end result is a drug overdose and a rush to save a life. And that’s what Tarantino does best. You think you are going down one route and you are almost dismayed, and then all of a sudden you are in a dungeon of sexual perverts who have tied up Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames. And boy does it make your heart race.
It is very easy to dismiss Tarantino as a cocaine snorting rockstar who babbles through interviews and sleeps with models. And it is very easy to dismiss his work because of it. But with films such as Resevoir Dogs, Django Unchained and this, Pulp Fiction, you can’t help but be in awe. Because Tarantino loves movies and that seeps through his script, onto the screen and into our minds. Each detail is scrutinised and pumped up to the action we see. He does not give us what we want, but what we need.
Oh did I say I wasn’t going to be sycophantic over Tarantino?
I lied.
TTFN
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