Clear And Concise Outline Of Tarantino's Pulp Fiction

    Film and literature are two media forms that are so closely related, that we often forget there is a distinction between them. We often just view the movie as an extension of the book because most movies are based on novels or short stories. Because we are accustomed to this sequence of production, first the novel, then the motion picture, we often find ourselves making value judgments about a movie, based upon our feelings on the novel. It is this overlapping of the creative processes that prevents us from seeing movies as distinct and separate art forms from the novels they are based on.

Quentin Tarantino is well known and often criticized for his depiction of violence in his films. Although at times graphic, Tarantino’s violence holds a purpose. This paper will look at two films, Jackie Brown and Pulp Fiction, and their depiction of violence and the aesthetics used. It will also look at classic film conventions and ultraviolence aesthetics used by Tarantino.

It is expected for arguments to arise when writing about controversial topics. Many times the meaning of a book is not as obvious as the author intended, which may lead to problems. Other times, books are challenged because they contain sexual or inappropriate material. When Kurt Vonnegut released Slaughterhouse-Five critics were quick to judge his peculiar way of writing. Although Kurt Vonnegut’s book Slaughterhouse-Five was oftentimes misunderstood, interpreted as inappropriate, and judged for the peculiar point of view, critics seem to appreciate and accept one aspect of it: the structure of the book.

Creativity occurs within the context of society: this is unavoidable as even artists who view themselves as outside of the 'mainstream' are constructs of society: their social construction of reality is inevitably grounded in the discourse and belief structures of the society they inhabit and were formed by, however much they choose to struggle. Indeed, philosophers such as Foucault argue that it is impossible to escape one's own society due to the effects of language and meaning being so closely intertwined. Within the context of our own society post-modernist art, especially film making, seeks to undermine the dictates of broader society in relation to meta-narratives – yet to make movies that

The storyline jumps from one storyline to the next and presented in nonchronological order. Tarantino gives us bits and pieces of one story then jumps to another. This style of narrative is unusual. Ultimately, the whole story comes full circle. The opening scene ends where the scene began. We see the conclusion of the robbery and how it connects to the film.

This serves to the complicating action. With complicating action, action shifts and some obstacles occurs in order to make it more compelling for protagonist to achieve his/her goal. This next scene shifts the action to Vincent’s relationship with his boss’ wife Mia Wallace. We see Butch during his confrontation with Marsellus Wallace at the very beginning of the first part. As he takes the money from Marsellus and agrees to take a dive in his next match, Vincent and Jules enter with a briefcase, dressed as they just came from a pool party. The tension between Vince and Butch pave the way for them to confront in a hostile way, in the second story. The narrative, in this scene, establishes a connection with the upcoming story. In the next scene, Vincent and Mia have dinner at Jack Rabbit Slim’s and participate in a twist contest. Before Mia and Vincent met, Mia snorts cocaine which gives a hint to the audience that the obliged date will be a little rugged which leads to complicating action. Mia overdoses and Vincent takes her Lance’s home where he purchases heroin and races against time to save Mia. At the end of the first story, Vincent saves Mia and they promise each other for keeping this action as a secret. These action scenes are used in the film to strengthen the continuity. Also, the relationship that is constructed between Mia and Vincent , share similarity with the relationship between Butch and Marsellus that will be constructed at the end of the second

Slaughterhouse-Five, a novel written by Kurt Vonnegut, tells the story of the devastating effects of war on a man, Billy Pilgrim, who joins the army fight in World War II. The semi-autobiographical novel sheds light on one of history’s most tragic, yet rarely spoken of events, the 1945 fire-bombing of Dresden, Germany.

The romantic idea of the auteur is described by film theoretician, André Bazin, observing the film form as an idealistic phenomenon. Through the personal factor in artistic creation as a standard reference, Bazin primarily refers to an essential literary and romantic conception of the artist as central. He considers the relationship between film aesthetics and reality more important than the director itself and places cinema above paintings. He described paintings as a similar ethical creation to film stating a director ‘can be valued according to its measurements and the celebrity of the signature, the objective quality of the work itself was formerly held in much higher esteem.’ (Bazin, 1967: 250). Bazin contemplates the historical and social aspects that indeed hinder a director’s retribution to their own personalised film, thus en-companying their own ideological judgement upon the world ‘more so in cinema where the sociological and historical cross-currents are countless.’ (Bazin, 1967: 256)

The film Pulp Fiction was an immediate box office success when it was released in 1994 and it was also well received by the critics, and celebrated for the way it appeared to capture exactly a certain pre-millennial angst and dislocation in Western capitalist societies. The term post-modernist, often used to refer to art and architecture, was applied to this film. The pulp fiction refers to popular novels which are bought in large numbers by less well educated people and enjoyed for their entertainment value. The implication is that the film concerns topics of interest to this low culture, but as this essay will show, in fact, the title is ironic and the film is a very intellectual presentation of issues at the heart of contemporary

Fight Club is a psychoanalytical film that addresses the themes of identification, freedom and violence. It acknowledges Freud’s principle which stresses that human behavior is the result of psychological conflicting forces and in order to analyze these forces, there needs to be a way of tapping into peoples minds. The narrator tells his personal journey of self-discovery through his alter ego and his schizophrenic experiences. The movie is told through a sequence of events is told through a flashback that starts with insomnia. Jack starts attending support groups for testicular cancer survivors that let him release his emotions and can finally is able to sleep at night. Although he

Pastiche used in film is generally incorporated to create a nostalgic tone. However this is not the case with ‘Pulp Fiction’ as the strategy is used to pay homage and show appreciation towards 1950’s pulp fiction texts and influential films. Tarantino alludes to various aspects, techniques and scenes from other Hollywood movies into his own. Tarantino stated, “I always hope that if one million people see my movie, they see one million different movies” . Elements from Hollywood movies such as weapons, costumes, camera angles, themes and famous scenes are injected into ‘Pulp Fiction’. His film blurs the line between cinematic styles and genres. Intertextuality is a significant factor within Tarantino’s work, as by reinventing the old he is able to preserve originality and create a sense of dimension within his work. Tarantino refers to ‘Pulp Fiction’ not as a movie but as multiple movies. An example of pastiche within the film is present in the scene in which Marcellus Wallace coincidentally recognises Butch in his car while walking across the street. This action mimics the scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” where Marion’s boss recognises her as he crosses at traffic lights. Through this pastiche Tarantino is able to show his appreciation and influence of Hitchcock’s infamous films while also applying the scene in a postmodern context. Another occurrence of pastiche appears in Butches weapon of choice; a baseball bat and chainsaw. These weapons of choice pay homage to the films ‘Walking Tall’ and ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’

Editing is an art of its own, and is the sole backbone of a film. Classical Hollywood Cinema and Neorealist Cinema depicted reality through their numerous films, however their approaches were very different from one another. Classical Hollywood Cinema leaned towards enhancing a shot with extravagant lighting, music, and very carefully thought out camera angles. Neorealist Cinema focused on the story itself and the way film replicates reality and projects it on screen. A film like Mildred Pierce is a prime example of Classical Hollywood Cinema, where the story is enhanced by the editing techniques. On the other hand, a film like Bicycle Thieves follows the editing techniques of Neorealist Cinema, where the focus is not on the editing, but rather on the replication of reality and how raw the setting of

Fight Club is a novel written by Chuck Palahniuk. This is a story about a protagonist who struggles with insomnia. An anonymous character suffering from recurring insomnia due to the stress brought about by his job is introduced to the reader. He visits a doctor who later sends him to visit a support group for testicular cancer victims, and this helps him in alleviating his insomnia. However, his insomnia returns after he meets Marla Singer. Later on, the narrator meets Tyler Durden, and they together establish a fight club. They continue fighting until they attract crowds of people interested in the fight club. Fight club is a story that shows the struggles between the upper class and lower class people. The upper class people here

As time goes on, history has a way of getting distorted from its most truthful form. Time causes people to drift away from accuracy and become more interested in what they want to remember. Hollywood has a reputation of creating films that cater more to the average viewer, rather than the history buff. Inglorious Basterds, by Quentin Taratino, take very liberal liberty with a history story, and creates a story that will sell to the crowd. This may seem dubious, but it is often not such a bad thing. Hollywood can take a story that may have one connotation, may it be serious or dreary, and turn it into something that evokes different emotions, will still addressing historical issues or topics. Taratino chooses to film a movie of this type

A criticism made by Adorno and Horkheimer that is still relevant to the modern movie industry is the criticism that “the people at the top are no longer so interested in concealing monopoly…Movies and radio need no longer pretend to be art” (Adorno and Horkheimer). The modern movie industry is an industry of commodities in sense, what this means is that the movies produced today are produced simply as means for profit and not as form of art. As Adorno and Horkheimer stated “the movie-makers distrust any manuscript which is not reassuringly backed by a bestseller” (Adorno and Horkheimer) this attitude can be seen by simply observing the Avengers, Spider-man and Transformers franchises. These types of movies are given top priority at movie studios simply because they are movies with large target audiences and the movie studios know that they will bring in mass amounts of profits. These types of movies often lack substance of any kind for example take the Avengers franchise, the movie itself has very little plot or characterization but it is still produced over and over again because it is a source of revenue. This is an example of how new media technologies how what Adorno and Horkheimer mean by when they say art is becoming a commodity (Adorno and Horkheimer). Another criticism found within