Pulp Fiction Modernism
Pulp Fiction, is considered by many to be a key example of post modernist cinema. Its use of non-linear narration, copious references to other movies and its off beat dialogue, combined with Tarantino's unique style make the viewer aware that there is something different about this movie from most Hollywood blockbusters.
George Ritzer said that "in the modern world everything seems pretty clear-cut, (but) on the cusp of the postmodern world many things seem quite hazy." This is the case with regard to classifying Pulp Fiction. In contrast to most previous American (modernist) movies, which fit into a specific genre, e.g. Western, comedy, gangster, combat movie, etc., Pulp Fiction breaks with all previous formulas and is therefore difficult to …show more content…
categorize. Is it a gangster film? A film noir? A black comedy? Or even a musical?
[pic]This article will attempt to explore why the movie Pulp Fiction is thought to be a post modern, rather than just a modern movie.
In practically all modernist movies, the protagonists are heroes, however flawed or tragic, who stand for and express the ideals and morals of the day. The hero stood for traditional values and often had with the capacity to influence or transform society, or at least stand up for what was right, even against enormous odds. Classic examples would be Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939) or Fred Zinnemann's High Noon (1952). Even anti-heroes would end up doing the right' thing, even if they had to struggle most of the film to get there. I guess that this was partly due to Hollywood's strict censures on films, especially in the 1940s and 50s, and also because the filmmaker usually wants the audience to sympathise with the lead character(s).
In Pulp Fiction there are no heroes in the traditional sense. The protagonists are extremely violent and show no remorse for their actions yet, due to the way that the violence is handled or styled in the movie, plus that it is treated as normal behaviour and is accompanied by rather inane dialogue, the characters become sympathetic and likeable. In fact the most amoral character in the film, Vincent Vega, is probably the most likeable, although this is due in part to a great performance by John Travolta.
When I first watched Pulp Fiction I thought that the film was edited in a very post modern way because of the way that the narrative isn't shot in a linear fashion. The film tells three interlocking stories, which unfold out of chronological order, so that it starts and ends by doubling back on itself to the same location, most of the middle happens after the ending, and a major character appears onscreen after he has been shot dead. I thought that this fragmented style of storytelling was something completely different from any previous film. However, while researching his essay I discovered that the same narration principles had already been employed in films as diverse as Citizen Kane, Rashomon, The Killing, Four Times That Night and La Jetee. The way that the film has three main stories featuring characters that float in and out appears to have more in common with a novel than with a film. Tarantino used the chopped up narrative to add another layer to the story; every one of the major sequences in Pulp Fiction ends with a character being saved or redeemed. If the film were shot in order this wouldn't be possible without being repetitive. Shooting it out of sequence keeps the audience interested.
[pic]The success of Pulp Fiction led to a batch release copycat' films that tried to duplicate the film's formula and structure. Hardly any of these movies were any good although Guy Ritchie successfully transplanted Pulp Fiction's basic premise into the underworld of London in his film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. More recently films such as The Butterfly Effect and Memento used the narrative style to great effect.
The dialogue in Pulp Fiction is what makes the film stand out for me from modern movies. Andy Warhol once said that "the outtakes of most pictures would be more interesting than what's put into a picture." Tarantino realises this by making most of the main dialogue scenes in Pulp Fiction the kind of stuff that would be cut out of an ordinary picture. Dialogue is traditionally used primarily to push ahead a film's plot, and also to develop a character, but in Pulp Fiction the dialogue serves its own purpose, rather than the plots. A great example is the scene where Vincent and Jules are on a job for Marcellus, and are discussing the subject of foot massage on their way up to their intended victim's apartment. They get to the apartment and instead of entering, like they would in any other movie, they decide that they are early and walk away so that they can continue their discussion.
The way that the camera is used during this scene reminds me of French New Wave films, like those of Francis Truffant and Jean Luc Goddard. Goddard often parodied established cinematic conventions in his films by calling attention to them. The camera, which has followed Vincent and Jules to the apartment, waits outside the door and pans to look at them as they walk on past, still lost in their conversation. By leaving the camera there it makes the camera seem almost impatient as the discussion continues and by delaying the expected action and violence in this way for 2 and a half minutes it builds up the tension. Like Goddard, Tarantino uses this scene to comment on, or even criticise, the way that action sequences in movies during the early 1990's had become formulaic and predictable.
[pic]The word pastiche is defined in A Glossary of Cultural Theory by Peter Brooker as an imitation or copy of the style of an original object or text'. For me, Pulp Fiction is a great example of pastiche. The entire film is made up from storylines, dialogue, camera angles, characters, hairdos, and weapons borrowed from or inspired by a vast variety of different movies. Quentin Tarantino sums this up in an interview when he said, "I always hope that if one million people see my movie, they see one million different movies". Tarantino took his inspiration from many sources including 1950's teen flicks to 1970s Blaxploitation to 1940's film noir to 1970's Kung Fu.
Here are some of the ways that I feel Tarantino uses pastiche in Pulp Fiction. The freeze-frame at the end of the opening scene is reminds me of the opening of Sam Peckinpah's film the Wild Bunch. When Vincent is driving to pick up Mia for their date footage of a street is projected behind Vincent's car in the style of older films. When Marcellus Wallace walks out in front of Butch's car at the traffic lights and turns to face him, its just like the scene in Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock when Marion's boss crosses the street in front of her car. When Butch decides to rescue Marcellus he runs through a variety of weapons, which bring to mind a variety of other movies. The baseball bat recalls Joe Don Baker in Walking Tall, the chainsaw recalls Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the Samurai Sword recalls Sonny Chiba in Shadow Warriors. The name of the boxer who Butch is supposed to take a dive against is Floyd Wilson, which is also the name of the fighter that Terry Malloy took a dive against in On The Waterfront. One final example would be Christopher Walken's monologue about life in a POW camp, which is inspired by his performance as a POW in the Vietnam movie The Deer Hunter.
To conclude, I feel that the movie Pulp Fiction represents a significant enough change from previous movies to be classed as post modern. The fact that it borrows so much from movie history is in itself post modern. However, my research for this essay has made me realise that Pulp Fiction is less groundbreaking than I originally thought it was due to its debt to other films, especially the work of French New Wave films and filmmakers like Jean Luc Goddard. What does the term "post modern" really mean when it comes to film? In the case of "Pulp Fiction" it refers to developing and popularizing a new genre, away from comedies or dramas or so-called "action flicks." In a sense Quentin Tarantino has confirmed Hannah Ahrendt's comments about Adolph Eichmann at his trial: "the banality of evil." Tarantino makes us laugh as often as we cringe in the ordinariness of the evil some of his characters perpetrate. Tarantino won an Academy Award for best screenplay for this movie. But, when one says that it is a "post modern" film, in a sense what is being discussed is not merely a new genre, but the fact that here was a director and screen writer who did not "pay his dues" working his way up the studio ladder. He only had one other film to his credit, the 1992 "Reservoir Dogs" which was the beginning of the amoral plots and characters more fully developed in "pulp Fiction.""
Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of a postmodern text. Pulp Fiction (1994) directed by Quentin Tarantino tells the story of hitmen linked into different stories, portraying a gangster genre, however Tarantino represents scenes in Pulp Fiction to previous recognised films allowing a range of genres throughout the film which attracts a wider audience. The film makes many intertextual references making it look like a construction. Postmodernism is where we no longer have any sense of the difference between real things, images of them, or real experiences and simulations of them.
Representations are re interpreted and played around with through pastiche and intertextual references. In Pulp Fiction Tarantino has deliberately exposed the text to be constructed which indicates to the audience that the piece is not real and it never pretends to be real at any point, Quentin Tarantino doesn’t try and hide the fact the media text is constructed, therefore Pulp Fiction could be what is a perfect example of a postmodern text.
In the armed robbery scene in the breakfast café, Jules quotes from the Bible which is significant to Robert Mitchum's character quoting from the Bible in Night Of The Hunter (1955 Charles Laughton.) This last scene returns to where the film began, showing the audience there is no linear to Pulp Fiction and to have a bank robbery in the morning with a hitman like Jules to then quote the bible shows the audience this would never happen and has been made to look like a construction.
The non linear plot explains the no sense in time. Vincent is shot in the second situation but then as an audience we seem him again later on in the film. Pulp Fiction This film breaks conventions and sense of time, which although at first the audience may not understand, when they go into depth of the film they can see how well Tarantino has made it work. The actors in the film, such as John Travolta, Samuel L.
Jackson, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer and Bruce Willis may also be a reason to why Pulp fiction was so successful. These stars aren’t who people would associate as being in a gangster genre and therefore attract a wider audience.
Other intertextual references in Pulp Fiction include; Mia's haircut styled after Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box (1928 G.W. Pabst.) Also the moment where Butch is waiting at a crossroads in his car has his path crossed by Marcellus Wallace is a direct reference to the moment in
Psycho (1960 Alfred Hitchcock) when Marion Crane sees her boss walk in front of her car after fleeing from him, having stolen $40,000. The scene when Butch chooses his weapon to save Marcellus, all the weapons are from much older films, the hammer—The Toolbox
Murders (1978,) Baseball bat—Walking Tall (1973) and the Chainsaw—
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974.) This scene is a perfect example of postmodernism because in that situation nobody would spend that amount of time choosing a weapon; they would just grab one and run.
[pic][pic][pic]Another intertextual reference is When Vincent takes Mia out for dinner a waitress is dressed as Marilyn Monroe's and she does the famous blowing white dress action, when the skirt flies up over a subway grating from the film The Seven Year Itch (1955 Billy Wilder.)
When Butch is in the taxi on his way back to his hotel room after his fight, the back drop from the car is black and white and as an audience it looks unrealistic. Baudrillard says that we are living in a word of
“hyperreality” constructed largely of surface media images that challenges and undermines modernist notions of reality and truth.
Tarantino does just this with his production of Pulp Fiction; he creates scenes that undermine the reality of the world.
Overall I feel that that Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of postmodernism because of the references within in the film, media stereotypes aren’t conformed to and the non linear plot, adds even more to the postmodernism.
Postmodernism
“Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of a postmodern text."
Perhaps the most renowned postmodern director is Quentin Tarantino, who is responsible for Pulp Fiction. The film is known for its, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humour and violence and its nonlinear storyline. By using these conventions
Tarantino is able to interest people outside of the “target audience”, if you were to describe the genre of the film you would say that it was American Crime. But by introducing the Post Modern conventions it attracts new audiences.
In keeping with writer-director Quentin Tarantino's trademark of nonlinear storytelling, the narrative is presented out of sequence. Pulp Fiction is structured around three distinct but interrelated storylines which removes any reality from the film making it look fake and unrealistic.
The film portrays many different stereotypes and representations often linking characters back to other films, building on an already formed relationship with a character, for example Mia's haircut is very similar to Louise
Brooks’ in Pandora's Box. Louise stars as Lulu in the film who is a young and impulsive actress whose sexuality and inhibited nature brings out everyone she meets, so by brining these characteristics into the character of Mia the audience are made to feel like they have some knowledge and some assumptions on how Mia will act. By doing this Tarantino is creating a mutual level of understanding with the different audiences, this is very important for
Tarantino because it allows the audience to relate to him, building a trust and wanting to see more. Another example of Tarantino doing this is the scene when
Jules quoting from the Bible, something that Tarantino likes to do a lot in his films, through quoting the bible I feel that he is creating a “safety blanket” many people find that religion is something they can either relate to or have some opinion on. Christianity has been the most well known religion in society for thousands of years so by Tarantino using the bible many people are able to pick up on this reference.
Dominic Strinati one said this; “Postmodernism tries to come to terms with and understand a media-saturated society. The mass media, for example, were once thought of as holding up a mirror to, and thereby reflecting, a wider social reality. Now that reality is only definable in terms of surface reflection of the mirror.”
I think this is apparent in Pulp Fiction, because when watching it we know that the film is completely unrealistic because we are looking in this “mirror” but during the film we begin to lose the gap between the reality and the fiction. As an audience we begin to see the situations, such as when Mia’s chest wall has to get pierced with the adrenalin needle, we know this could never happen so it makes it a hyper-reality which then makes the situation amusing.
There are many parts of the film when Tarantino wants us to know that pulp fiction is not a reality, for example when Vincent blows off the mans head in the car, in another film this would be regarded as very serious, but Tarantino manages to put a comedy spin on it by introducing post
modernism.
Tarantino's style taught that if done right you could draw any emotion you wanted to out of the audience at any moment during the film. This is why we find all these situations amusing.
I think that Baudrillard summed up Pulp Fiction and postmodernism perfectly when he sad this in 1993;
Disneyland is there to conceal the fact that it is the 'real country, all of
'real' America, which is Disneyland (just as prisons are there to conceal the fact it is the social in its entirety, in all its banal omnipresence, which is carceal). Disneyland is presented as imaginary, in order to make us believe that the rest is 'real', when in fact all of Los Angeles and the
America surrounding it are no longer real, but of the order of the hyperreal and of simulation. It is no longer a question of questioning a false representation of reality (ideology), but of concealing the fact that the real is no longer real, and thus of saving the reality principle.
In this quote he is saying that Disneyland is hiding the fact the rest of America is no longer real by being so superficial and imaginary. I think this is apparent
in
Pulp Fiction, the very “fake” parts in the film such as when Mia takes the overdose hides the fact the rest of film is not real.
I think by saying that Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of Postmodernism is true because it introduces many different elements to produce a “new reality”.
By writing this essay I feel like I have a new view on postmodernism, because before I was not overly sure on what it actually meant. So although I do not feel confident enough to write a good essay on Pulp Fiction I would like to try and write one about Memento as I understood the film better.
postmodernism in pulp fiction
Among films of the last decade , Quentin Tarantino 's Pulp Fiction is considered to be one of the most influential . Noted critics such as
Roger Ebert described it as ``likely to be the most influential film of the next five years , and for that we can be thankful , because it may have freed us from uncounted predictable formula films (23 )
Tarantino 's case as one of the most gifted directors ever is made stronger by this film , with its blend of the crime film together with postmodern style and unusual chronology making it a unique masterpiece .
Linking this particular film with the postmodern is quite obvious , and it references to modern pop culture from the very first take . The conversation between Jules (Samuel L . Jackson ) and Vincent (John
Travolta ) concerns Big Macs and Quarter Pounders , Arnold the Pig on
Green Acres , Caine from Kung Fu and such , reflecting the symbols which have invaded the soul of America . In a way , it reflects what postmodernism is about - the tendency to view society as artificial and construed , and reacting either towards the traditional or the extreme .
Although driven by serious themes like consequences of one 's actions , Pulp Fiction is far from taking itself seriously . It can be described as very violent , and that is what most people would probably first think about the film , but then again , by the standards of modern movies it probably isn 't that bad . Reminding us of reality , ``Mia describes Vincent as a square , making one with her fingers that appears in outline form on the screen , reminding us not to care because , after all , what we are watching is just a movie (Rombes par 1 . In an age where films are getting as violent as they can possibly be , and where the media and American society have had a double standard in blaming modern culture to violence , it is again another poke at the synthetic morality of people who watch violent movies .
Another thing that strikes in this film is the complete absence of any police presence , making it very unorthodox for a mob film . It suggests a lack of higher authority - something that modern society has come to live with . Instead , Vincent and Jules are subject under a hierarchy , with the crime boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames ) at the top and themselves as henchmen below .
What makes this film ``cult ' is somewhat debatable - the movie did well in the box-office , and a lot of people have seen it afterwards , making it somewhat mainstream . However , the unusual presentation , and what is seen as more than the usual violence than is depicted in most modern movies have made its fans all the bit more devoted to it , with most of the casual viewers not getting all the hype . To be considered cult , films often become the source of a thriving , obsessive , and elaborate fandom , hence the analogy (``Cult Film ' par 1 . However , mainstream films are not often considered under this category . The...
Read more: http://www.mightystudents.com/essay/%22Pulp.Fiction.reflect.33948?q=film#ixzz15ONG7cy5
Pulp Fiction is a classical example of postmodern film that forgoes special effects in favor of intriguing characters, unique settings and smart dialogue to achieve mainstream success. Quentin Tarantino uses myriad techniques to create his unique style, which conveys endless information about the characters, plot and ideology that is beyond what is found merely in the dialogue. His use of mise-en-scene, in the form of the setting, character behavior and costumes during the dinner and dancing scene at Jackrabbit Slim’ 50’s style diner, delineates the strange and uncertain situation that Vincent Vega is in; he must take out a notoriously ruthless gangsters wife out on what increasingly seems like a date. Tarantino uses dense set design and cutting during the Jackrabbit Slim’s scene in Pulp Fiction to develop Mia Wallace’s character, examine her relationship with Vincent Vega and to exemplify his postmodern style.
Just prior to the Jackrabbit Slim’s scene, Vincent Vega had been given the task of taking Marcellus Wallace’s wife out while he was out of town. When they arrive at the restaurant, the camera smoothly tilts up and the two are framed facing the camera in the classic 1950’s over-the-hood shot of a couple at a drive thru movie. This sets up the nature of the night from the very beginning as full of pop culture references and kitsch–a world that Mia seems to fit right into. As they walk up to the diner, it appears to glow from the inside through the use of high contrast lighting to give the sense that the two are entering a zone of wild entertainment. The inside of the diner is chock full of every imaginable 1950’s American icon, from Marilyn Monroe and the Rat Pack to 50’s movie posters and milkshakes. However, the use of low-key lighting at the entrance creates a high contrast, chiaroscuro feel making it hard to tell if Jackrabbit Slim’s is a wholesome family establishment or something sleazier. This mirrors Mia’s nature up until this point. The contrast between her white shirt and dark hair and eye makeup creates a film noir aesthetic, adding to Vincent and the audience’s uncertainty about her character.
Additionally, Jackrabbit Slim’s itself is exemplary of Tarantino’s postmodern style and aesthetic. Much like the plot of Pulp Fiction, which is disjointed and draws from many sources, the different waiters dressed as past celebrities and random memorabilia throughout creates a sense of disorientation of time and space. This is certainly true as Vincent Vega first walks through the restaurant, glancing from side to side and making a large circular loop trying to get to his table. This effect is achieved by dollying the camera behind Vincent and panning side to side fluidly as he walks through at the beginning of the scene, mimicking his woozy view.
By the time they sit down, the scene moves to a more neutral restaurant lighting but the paradoxical feel of sleazy-wholesomeness remains. There are multiple layers of depth within this scene, as activity continues out of focus behind the two as they talk. The entire restaurant remains alive in the background through the entire scene—surely no simple feat. Most of the scene consists of Tarantino style dialogue that develops the relationship between Mia and Vincent in the context of the restaurant. Early in the conversation, the two a shown in a shot/reverse shot manner using medium shots. At this point they hardly know each other and it is not until they begin to feel more comfortable together that the medium shots become medium close ups. By framing Mia and Vincent to take up more screen space, it creates a sense of closeness that the two are beginning to share. However, each time one of them says something that strikes a bad chord, the camera moves back out to medium shots. This constant back and forth from medium shots to medium close ups, such as when Vincent reveals that he believes that Marcellus threw Tony Rocky Horror out of a window because he massaged Mia’s feet, displays the uncertain nature of the two’s relationship.
This feeling is capitalized when Mia goes to the restroom to “powder her nose” with cocaine. The bathroom is a bland area with old washed out pink and green walls and several somewhat unsavory looking women applying makeup that reflect this shadier side of both Mia and the restaurant. In the mean time, Vincent observes men cat calling the Marilyn Monroe waitress as her skirt is blown up in classic style, an inept waiter and other darker sides of American culture in the 20th century (pinup girls, smoking and drinking). The detailed characters, costumes and bustling activity in Jackrabbit Slim’s all correspond to the yearning for excess (cocaine, eating, drinking, dancing) within Mia that nearly gets her killed later in the film and leave Vincent wondering.
Nonetheless, by the end of the scene, Vincent and Mia have clearly become friends as Mia demands they enter a dancing contest, which they do. On the stage, an Ed Sullivan impersonator stands with the Marilyn Monroe waitress to introduce the contest. They are aglow with toplighting that gives them a surreal straight-out-of-TV-history look that goes along with all of Jackrabbit Slim’s aesthetic. As Mia and Vincent dance the camera begins at a distant long shot of the entire stage, but as the dancing intensifies and the two become ever more involved in the moment and each other, the shot soon moves in to a medium and eventually medium close up with a handheld camera. The camera smoothly follows them around the stage, while the background is alive and dancing with them as the scene and music fades to black at the whirling culmination of their night out.
Certainly, the Jackrabbit Slim’s scene is crucial to understanding both Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace. While Vincent is placed into a treacherous situation in taking out a married woman, Mia wants to have fun and is shown to have many sides. The elements of mise-en-scene are selected to show the dual nature of Mia, the uneasiness spiked with intrigue of Vincent and the culture junkie view of America that permeates each Tarantino movie.
George Ritzer said that "in the modern world everything seems pretty clear-cut, (but) on the cusp of the postmodern world many things seem quite hazy." This is the case with regard to classifying Pulp Fiction. In contrast to most previous American (modernist) movies, which fit into a specific genre, e.g. Western, comedy, gangster, combat movie, etc., Pulp Fiction breaks with all previous formulas and is therefore difficult to …show more content…
categorize. Is it a gangster film? A film noir? A black comedy? Or even a musical?
[pic]This article will attempt to explore why the movie Pulp Fiction is thought to be a post modern, rather than just a modern movie.
In practically all modernist movies, the protagonists are heroes, however flawed or tragic, who stand for and express the ideals and morals of the day. The hero stood for traditional values and often had with the capacity to influence or transform society, or at least stand up for what was right, even against enormous odds. Classic examples would be Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939) or Fred Zinnemann's High Noon (1952). Even anti-heroes would end up doing the right' thing, even if they had to struggle most of the film to get there. I guess that this was partly due to Hollywood's strict censures on films, especially in the 1940s and 50s, and also because the filmmaker usually wants the audience to sympathise with the lead character(s).
In Pulp Fiction there are no heroes in the traditional sense. The protagonists are extremely violent and show no remorse for their actions yet, due to the way that the violence is handled or styled in the movie, plus that it is treated as normal behaviour and is accompanied by rather inane dialogue, the characters become sympathetic and likeable. In fact the most amoral character in the film, Vincent Vega, is probably the most likeable, although this is due in part to a great performance by John Travolta.
When I first watched Pulp Fiction I thought that the film was edited in a very post modern way because of the way that the narrative isn't shot in a linear fashion. The film tells three interlocking stories, which unfold out of chronological order, so that it starts and ends by doubling back on itself to the same location, most of the middle happens after the ending, and a major character appears onscreen after he has been shot dead. I thought that this fragmented style of storytelling was something completely different from any previous film. However, while researching his essay I discovered that the same narration principles had already been employed in films as diverse as Citizen Kane, Rashomon, The Killing, Four Times That Night and La Jetee. The way that the film has three main stories featuring characters that float in and out appears to have more in common with a novel than with a film. Tarantino used the chopped up narrative to add another layer to the story; every one of the major sequences in Pulp Fiction ends with a character being saved or redeemed. If the film were shot in order this wouldn't be possible without being repetitive. Shooting it out of sequence keeps the audience interested.
[pic]The success of Pulp Fiction led to a batch release copycat' films that tried to duplicate the film's formula and structure. Hardly any of these movies were any good although Guy Ritchie successfully transplanted Pulp Fiction's basic premise into the underworld of London in his film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. More recently films such as The Butterfly Effect and Memento used the narrative style to great effect.
The dialogue in Pulp Fiction is what makes the film stand out for me from modern movies. Andy Warhol once said that "the outtakes of most pictures would be more interesting than what's put into a picture." Tarantino realises this by making most of the main dialogue scenes in Pulp Fiction the kind of stuff that would be cut out of an ordinary picture. Dialogue is traditionally used primarily to push ahead a film's plot, and also to develop a character, but in Pulp Fiction the dialogue serves its own purpose, rather than the plots. A great example is the scene where Vincent and Jules are on a job for Marcellus, and are discussing the subject of foot massage on their way up to their intended victim's apartment. They get to the apartment and instead of entering, like they would in any other movie, they decide that they are early and walk away so that they can continue their discussion.
The way that the camera is used during this scene reminds me of French New Wave films, like those of Francis Truffant and Jean Luc Goddard. Goddard often parodied established cinematic conventions in his films by calling attention to them. The camera, which has followed Vincent and Jules to the apartment, waits outside the door and pans to look at them as they walk on past, still lost in their conversation. By leaving the camera there it makes the camera seem almost impatient as the discussion continues and by delaying the expected action and violence in this way for 2 and a half minutes it builds up the tension. Like Goddard, Tarantino uses this scene to comment on, or even criticise, the way that action sequences in movies during the early 1990's had become formulaic and predictable.
[pic]The word pastiche is defined in A Glossary of Cultural Theory by Peter Brooker as an imitation or copy of the style of an original object or text'. For me, Pulp Fiction is a great example of pastiche. The entire film is made up from storylines, dialogue, camera angles, characters, hairdos, and weapons borrowed from or inspired by a vast variety of different movies. Quentin Tarantino sums this up in an interview when he said, "I always hope that if one million people see my movie, they see one million different movies". Tarantino took his inspiration from many sources including 1950's teen flicks to 1970s Blaxploitation to 1940's film noir to 1970's Kung Fu.
Here are some of the ways that I feel Tarantino uses pastiche in Pulp Fiction. The freeze-frame at the end of the opening scene is reminds me of the opening of Sam Peckinpah's film the Wild Bunch. When Vincent is driving to pick up Mia for their date footage of a street is projected behind Vincent's car in the style of older films. When Marcellus Wallace walks out in front of Butch's car at the traffic lights and turns to face him, its just like the scene in Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock when Marion's boss crosses the street in front of her car. When Butch decides to rescue Marcellus he runs through a variety of weapons, which bring to mind a variety of other movies. The baseball bat recalls Joe Don Baker in Walking Tall, the chainsaw recalls Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the Samurai Sword recalls Sonny Chiba in Shadow Warriors. The name of the boxer who Butch is supposed to take a dive against is Floyd Wilson, which is also the name of the fighter that Terry Malloy took a dive against in On The Waterfront. One final example would be Christopher Walken's monologue about life in a POW camp, which is inspired by his performance as a POW in the Vietnam movie The Deer Hunter.
To conclude, I feel that the movie Pulp Fiction represents a significant enough change from previous movies to be classed as post modern. The fact that it borrows so much from movie history is in itself post modern. However, my research for this essay has made me realise that Pulp Fiction is less groundbreaking than I originally thought it was due to its debt to other films, especially the work of French New Wave films and filmmakers like Jean Luc Goddard. What does the term "post modern" really mean when it comes to film? In the case of "Pulp Fiction" it refers to developing and popularizing a new genre, away from comedies or dramas or so-called "action flicks." In a sense Quentin Tarantino has confirmed Hannah Ahrendt's comments about Adolph Eichmann at his trial: "the banality of evil." Tarantino makes us laugh as often as we cringe in the ordinariness of the evil some of his characters perpetrate. Tarantino won an Academy Award for best screenplay for this movie. But, when one says that it is a "post modern" film, in a sense what is being discussed is not merely a new genre, but the fact that here was a director and screen writer who did not "pay his dues" working his way up the studio ladder. He only had one other film to his credit, the 1992 "Reservoir Dogs" which was the beginning of the amoral plots and characters more fully developed in "pulp Fiction.""
Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of a postmodern text. Pulp Fiction (1994) directed by Quentin Tarantino tells the story of hitmen linked into different stories, portraying a gangster genre, however Tarantino represents scenes in Pulp Fiction to previous recognised films allowing a range of genres throughout the film which attracts a wider audience. The film makes many intertextual references making it look like a construction. Postmodernism is where we no longer have any sense of the difference between real things, images of them, or real experiences and simulations of them.
Representations are re interpreted and played around with through pastiche and intertextual references. In Pulp Fiction Tarantino has deliberately exposed the text to be constructed which indicates to the audience that the piece is not real and it never pretends to be real at any point, Quentin Tarantino doesn’t try and hide the fact the media text is constructed, therefore Pulp Fiction could be what is a perfect example of a postmodern text.
In the armed robbery scene in the breakfast café, Jules quotes from the Bible which is significant to Robert Mitchum's character quoting from the Bible in Night Of The Hunter (1955 Charles Laughton.) This last scene returns to where the film began, showing the audience there is no linear to Pulp Fiction and to have a bank robbery in the morning with a hitman like Jules to then quote the bible shows the audience this would never happen and has been made to look like a construction.
The non linear plot explains the no sense in time. Vincent is shot in the second situation but then as an audience we seem him again later on in the film. Pulp Fiction This film breaks conventions and sense of time, which although at first the audience may not understand, when they go into depth of the film they can see how well Tarantino has made it work. The actors in the film, such as John Travolta, Samuel L.
Jackson, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer and Bruce Willis may also be a reason to why Pulp fiction was so successful. These stars aren’t who people would associate as being in a gangster genre and therefore attract a wider audience.
Other intertextual references in Pulp Fiction include; Mia's haircut styled after Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box (1928 G.W. Pabst.) Also the moment where Butch is waiting at a crossroads in his car has his path crossed by Marcellus Wallace is a direct reference to the moment in
Psycho (1960 Alfred Hitchcock) when Marion Crane sees her boss walk in front of her car after fleeing from him, having stolen $40,000. The scene when Butch chooses his weapon to save Marcellus, all the weapons are from much older films, the hammer—The Toolbox
Murders (1978,) Baseball bat—Walking Tall (1973) and the Chainsaw—
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974.) This scene is a perfect example of postmodernism because in that situation nobody would spend that amount of time choosing a weapon; they would just grab one and run.
[pic][pic][pic]Another intertextual reference is When Vincent takes Mia out for dinner a waitress is dressed as Marilyn Monroe's and she does the famous blowing white dress action, when the skirt flies up over a subway grating from the film The Seven Year Itch (1955 Billy Wilder.)
When Butch is in the taxi on his way back to his hotel room after his fight, the back drop from the car is black and white and as an audience it looks unrealistic. Baudrillard says that we are living in a word of
“hyperreality” constructed largely of surface media images that challenges and undermines modernist notions of reality and truth.
Tarantino does just this with his production of Pulp Fiction; he creates scenes that undermine the reality of the world.
Overall I feel that that Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of postmodernism because of the references within in the film, media stereotypes aren’t conformed to and the non linear plot, adds even more to the postmodernism.
Postmodernism
“Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of a postmodern text."
Perhaps the most renowned postmodern director is Quentin Tarantino, who is responsible for Pulp Fiction. The film is known for its, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humour and violence and its nonlinear storyline. By using these conventions
Tarantino is able to interest people outside of the “target audience”, if you were to describe the genre of the film you would say that it was American Crime. But by introducing the Post Modern conventions it attracts new audiences.
In keeping with writer-director Quentin Tarantino's trademark of nonlinear storytelling, the narrative is presented out of sequence. Pulp Fiction is structured around three distinct but interrelated storylines which removes any reality from the film making it look fake and unrealistic.
The film portrays many different stereotypes and representations often linking characters back to other films, building on an already formed relationship with a character, for example Mia's haircut is very similar to Louise
Brooks’ in Pandora's Box. Louise stars as Lulu in the film who is a young and impulsive actress whose sexuality and inhibited nature brings out everyone she meets, so by brining these characteristics into the character of Mia the audience are made to feel like they have some knowledge and some assumptions on how Mia will act. By doing this Tarantino is creating a mutual level of understanding with the different audiences, this is very important for
Tarantino because it allows the audience to relate to him, building a trust and wanting to see more. Another example of Tarantino doing this is the scene when
Jules quoting from the Bible, something that Tarantino likes to do a lot in his films, through quoting the bible I feel that he is creating a “safety blanket” many people find that religion is something they can either relate to or have some opinion on. Christianity has been the most well known religion in society for thousands of years so by Tarantino using the bible many people are able to pick up on this reference.
Dominic Strinati one said this; “Postmodernism tries to come to terms with and understand a media-saturated society. The mass media, for example, were once thought of as holding up a mirror to, and thereby reflecting, a wider social reality. Now that reality is only definable in terms of surface reflection of the mirror.”
I think this is apparent in Pulp Fiction, because when watching it we know that the film is completely unrealistic because we are looking in this “mirror” but during the film we begin to lose the gap between the reality and the fiction. As an audience we begin to see the situations, such as when Mia’s chest wall has to get pierced with the adrenalin needle, we know this could never happen so it makes it a hyper-reality which then makes the situation amusing.
There are many parts of the film when Tarantino wants us to know that pulp fiction is not a reality, for example when Vincent blows off the mans head in the car, in another film this would be regarded as very serious, but Tarantino manages to put a comedy spin on it by introducing post
modernism.
Tarantino's style taught that if done right you could draw any emotion you wanted to out of the audience at any moment during the film. This is why we find all these situations amusing.
I think that Baudrillard summed up Pulp Fiction and postmodernism perfectly when he sad this in 1993;
Disneyland is there to conceal the fact that it is the 'real country, all of
'real' America, which is Disneyland (just as prisons are there to conceal the fact it is the social in its entirety, in all its banal omnipresence, which is carceal). Disneyland is presented as imaginary, in order to make us believe that the rest is 'real', when in fact all of Los Angeles and the
America surrounding it are no longer real, but of the order of the hyperreal and of simulation. It is no longer a question of questioning a false representation of reality (ideology), but of concealing the fact that the real is no longer real, and thus of saving the reality principle.
In this quote he is saying that Disneyland is hiding the fact the rest of America is no longer real by being so superficial and imaginary. I think this is apparent
in
Pulp Fiction, the very “fake” parts in the film such as when Mia takes the overdose hides the fact the rest of film is not real.
I think by saying that Pulp Fiction is a perfect example of Postmodernism is true because it introduces many different elements to produce a “new reality”.
By writing this essay I feel like I have a new view on postmodernism, because before I was not overly sure on what it actually meant. So although I do not feel confident enough to write a good essay on Pulp Fiction I would like to try and write one about Memento as I understood the film better.
postmodernism in pulp fiction
Among films of the last decade , Quentin Tarantino 's Pulp Fiction is considered to be one of the most influential . Noted critics such as
Roger Ebert described it as ``likely to be the most influential film of the next five years , and for that we can be thankful , because it may have freed us from uncounted predictable formula films (23 )
Tarantino 's case as one of the most gifted directors ever is made stronger by this film , with its blend of the crime film together with postmodern style and unusual chronology making it a unique masterpiece .
Linking this particular film with the postmodern is quite obvious , and it references to modern pop culture from the very first take . The conversation between Jules (Samuel L . Jackson ) and Vincent (John
Travolta ) concerns Big Macs and Quarter Pounders , Arnold the Pig on
Green Acres , Caine from Kung Fu and such , reflecting the symbols which have invaded the soul of America . In a way , it reflects what postmodernism is about - the tendency to view society as artificial and construed , and reacting either towards the traditional or the extreme .
Although driven by serious themes like consequences of one 's actions , Pulp Fiction is far from taking itself seriously . It can be described as very violent , and that is what most people would probably first think about the film , but then again , by the standards of modern movies it probably isn 't that bad . Reminding us of reality , ``Mia describes Vincent as a square , making one with her fingers that appears in outline form on the screen , reminding us not to care because , after all , what we are watching is just a movie (Rombes par 1 . In an age where films are getting as violent as they can possibly be , and where the media and American society have had a double standard in blaming modern culture to violence , it is again another poke at the synthetic morality of people who watch violent movies .
Another thing that strikes in this film is the complete absence of any police presence , making it very unorthodox for a mob film . It suggests a lack of higher authority - something that modern society has come to live with . Instead , Vincent and Jules are subject under a hierarchy , with the crime boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames ) at the top and themselves as henchmen below .
What makes this film ``cult ' is somewhat debatable - the movie did well in the box-office , and a lot of people have seen it afterwards , making it somewhat mainstream . However , the unusual presentation , and what is seen as more than the usual violence than is depicted in most modern movies have made its fans all the bit more devoted to it , with most of the casual viewers not getting all the hype . To be considered cult , films often become the source of a thriving , obsessive , and elaborate fandom , hence the analogy (``Cult Film ' par 1 . However , mainstream films are not often considered under this category . The...
Read more: http://www.mightystudents.com/essay/%22Pulp.Fiction.reflect.33948?q=film#ixzz15ONG7cy5
Pulp Fiction is a classical example of postmodern film that forgoes special effects in favor of intriguing characters, unique settings and smart dialogue to achieve mainstream success. Quentin Tarantino uses myriad techniques to create his unique style, which conveys endless information about the characters, plot and ideology that is beyond what is found merely in the dialogue. His use of mise-en-scene, in the form of the setting, character behavior and costumes during the dinner and dancing scene at Jackrabbit Slim’ 50’s style diner, delineates the strange and uncertain situation that Vincent Vega is in; he must take out a notoriously ruthless gangsters wife out on what increasingly seems like a date. Tarantino uses dense set design and cutting during the Jackrabbit Slim’s scene in Pulp Fiction to develop Mia Wallace’s character, examine her relationship with Vincent Vega and to exemplify his postmodern style.
Just prior to the Jackrabbit Slim’s scene, Vincent Vega had been given the task of taking Marcellus Wallace’s wife out while he was out of town. When they arrive at the restaurant, the camera smoothly tilts up and the two are framed facing the camera in the classic 1950’s over-the-hood shot of a couple at a drive thru movie. This sets up the nature of the night from the very beginning as full of pop culture references and kitsch–a world that Mia seems to fit right into. As they walk up to the diner, it appears to glow from the inside through the use of high contrast lighting to give the sense that the two are entering a zone of wild entertainment. The inside of the diner is chock full of every imaginable 1950’s American icon, from Marilyn Monroe and the Rat Pack to 50’s movie posters and milkshakes. However, the use of low-key lighting at the entrance creates a high contrast, chiaroscuro feel making it hard to tell if Jackrabbit Slim’s is a wholesome family establishment or something sleazier. This mirrors Mia’s nature up until this point. The contrast between her white shirt and dark hair and eye makeup creates a film noir aesthetic, adding to Vincent and the audience’s uncertainty about her character.
Additionally, Jackrabbit Slim’s itself is exemplary of Tarantino’s postmodern style and aesthetic. Much like the plot of Pulp Fiction, which is disjointed and draws from many sources, the different waiters dressed as past celebrities and random memorabilia throughout creates a sense of disorientation of time and space. This is certainly true as Vincent Vega first walks through the restaurant, glancing from side to side and making a large circular loop trying to get to his table. This effect is achieved by dollying the camera behind Vincent and panning side to side fluidly as he walks through at the beginning of the scene, mimicking his woozy view.
By the time they sit down, the scene moves to a more neutral restaurant lighting but the paradoxical feel of sleazy-wholesomeness remains. There are multiple layers of depth within this scene, as activity continues out of focus behind the two as they talk. The entire restaurant remains alive in the background through the entire scene—surely no simple feat. Most of the scene consists of Tarantino style dialogue that develops the relationship between Mia and Vincent in the context of the restaurant. Early in the conversation, the two a shown in a shot/reverse shot manner using medium shots. At this point they hardly know each other and it is not until they begin to feel more comfortable together that the medium shots become medium close ups. By framing Mia and Vincent to take up more screen space, it creates a sense of closeness that the two are beginning to share. However, each time one of them says something that strikes a bad chord, the camera moves back out to medium shots. This constant back and forth from medium shots to medium close ups, such as when Vincent reveals that he believes that Marcellus threw Tony Rocky Horror out of a window because he massaged Mia’s feet, displays the uncertain nature of the two’s relationship.
This feeling is capitalized when Mia goes to the restroom to “powder her nose” with cocaine. The bathroom is a bland area with old washed out pink and green walls and several somewhat unsavory looking women applying makeup that reflect this shadier side of both Mia and the restaurant. In the mean time, Vincent observes men cat calling the Marilyn Monroe waitress as her skirt is blown up in classic style, an inept waiter and other darker sides of American culture in the 20th century (pinup girls, smoking and drinking). The detailed characters, costumes and bustling activity in Jackrabbit Slim’s all correspond to the yearning for excess (cocaine, eating, drinking, dancing) within Mia that nearly gets her killed later in the film and leave Vincent wondering.
Nonetheless, by the end of the scene, Vincent and Mia have clearly become friends as Mia demands they enter a dancing contest, which they do. On the stage, an Ed Sullivan impersonator stands with the Marilyn Monroe waitress to introduce the contest. They are aglow with toplighting that gives them a surreal straight-out-of-TV-history look that goes along with all of Jackrabbit Slim’s aesthetic. As Mia and Vincent dance the camera begins at a distant long shot of the entire stage, but as the dancing intensifies and the two become ever more involved in the moment and each other, the shot soon moves in to a medium and eventually medium close up with a handheld camera. The camera smoothly follows them around the stage, while the background is alive and dancing with them as the scene and music fades to black at the whirling culmination of their night out.
Certainly, the Jackrabbit Slim’s scene is crucial to understanding both Vincent Vega and Mia Wallace. While Vincent is placed into a treacherous situation in taking out a married woman, Mia wants to have fun and is shown to have many sides. The elements of mise-en-scene are selected to show the dual nature of Mia, the uneasiness spiked with intrigue of Vincent and the culture junkie view of America that permeates each Tarantino movie.