Music and Movement in Pulp Fiction - Movie Review Example

Music and Movement in Pulp Fiction. Quentin Tarantino is one of the most celebrated film directors of the late twentieth century and his film Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 2004) is renowned for its playful, non-chronological structure and its bright and colorful cinematography. The film starts with a couple in a restaurant considering a robbery and moves swiftly into a very violent execution scene carried out by gangster duo Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson). Thereafter the film switches into three successive subplots, before returning to the restaurant robbery. Each subplot follows a different character pursuing a particular agenda, but film as a whole is not set up as a linear story. This, along with Tarantino’s many quotations and intertextual references, has led to the film being classified as “postmodernist,” or even “pulpmodernist” (Brooker and Brooker, 1996). Certainly the film is hard to classify in any traditional genre, and critics tend to view the film as a new departure into a category of its own: ““neither neo-noir nor a parody of noir, Pulp Fiction is more a guided tour of an infernal theme park decorated with cultural detritus…” (O’Brien, 2002, p. 90) One of the key scenes in the movie occurs in the theme-park like environment of the Jackrabbit Slim’s Diner. Vincent has been ordered to take the wife of criminal Marsellus Wallace’s, a cocaine user called Mia (Uma Thurman) out to dinner, and it is she who chooses this venue. Critics are keen to note that the plotline is a cliché from previous films: “The story of the flirtatious boss’s wife draws on established elements from the gangster genre, while her overdose provides an unexpected Gothic reference” (Constable, 2004, p.54). The restaurant is filled with 1950’s nostalgia, including posters, convertible cars, chrome furniture, and bar staff dressed up to look like Marylin Monroe, Elvis Presley and other famous personalities. As the scene opens the camera follows Vincent round the room, taking in all the period décor, and the audience cannot fail to be reminded of one of Travolta’s most famous films, the classic musical Grease, which was set in exactly this cultural milieu. Tarantino deliberately exploited this element of quotation when he described this scene in the very expensive and specially built set of Jack Slim’s Diner: “It was like a huge cinematic effect within the film.” (Tarantino, quoted in Peary, 1998, p. 85) Tarantino himself states that the actor for the part of Vincent was chosen long after the dance scene in Jack Slim’s Diner was written but he embraced the connection wholeheartedly: “But when you sign on someone like John Travolta, you have to realize that the film is not going to be the same as the one you wrote” (Tarantino, quoted in Peary, 1998, p. 85). The dance scene starts with the compere calling for the first couple to dance. Mia forces Vincent to dance, and responds to the compere’s questions, leaving Travolta silent, and clearly in a subordinate position to her. This role reversal on the dance floor symbolizes the real power relationship between them thanks to Travolta’s respect for and fear of Mia’s gangster husband. There is a moment of silence while both actors remove their shoes, and this creates suspense. The music chosen for the dance is Chuck Berry singing “You Never Can Tell.” The introductory bars accompany Vincent and Mia doing a basic twist. They are standing face to face, about four feet apart, but there is no eye contact. Mia makes limp wrist movements to the beat, while Vincent looks down and concentrates on leg movements. The cinematography makes use of the very small circular stage to present a clear focus on the two lead actors, leaving everything outside the illuminated ring as a backdrop. The camera shots are timed to fit in with the four-line verse structure of the Chuck Berry song. So for example in the first verse the two are shown dancing together, making basic twist moves with jerks of the arms and legs in time to the beat. As the verse closes they move closer until they are almost touching. In the second verse the camera follows Mia moving to the left, as she turns her back to Vincent, and then her face is in shot as she gazes at Vincent and tries to catch his attention. He looks at her, and begins to follow swimming gestures that Mia makes with her arms as the piano hammers out an unchanging beat, until she mimes sinking at the end of the verse. The third verse repeats the face to face twisting actions of the first, but this time there is more eye contact and there is a closer matching of moves between the two. The fourth section is instrumental, and the piano takes the melody. Again Mia takes the lead, making sinuous upper body movements as if to follow the piano, and she gives Vincent smouldering looks, while Vincent keeps a stern expression on his face and just continues a simple twist, as if to follow the guitar beat. Mia makes a move, and Vincent responds, making the dance appear to be a dialogue without words. Both actors are in shot as the fifth section begins and it is clear that they have grown more intimate in their movements and eye contact. The theme of the song is a wedding dance, and its frenetic guitar rhythm underlines Vincent and Mia’s drug-crazed energy and the underlying danger to them both if they follow their feelings and become close. Tarantino ends the scene with a sudden cut in the middle of the fifth section, fading to a black screen while the music carries on. Immediately after this, the pair appear at Mia’s front door. She is clutching the dance trophy, which makes it clear that Tarantino wanted to skip the public prizewinning, an event which the audience no doubt expected, and turns instead to the relationship between the two characters. This is a playful treatment of clichéd elements, setting up and then cutting off expectations and juxtaposing the innocence of the fifties with the nihilism of the nineties. Music, cinematography and the choice of John Travolta for this scene combine to present a postmodern combination of nostalgia and suspense, which works well within the film as a whole. Brooker, P. and Brooker, W. 1996. “Pulpmodernism: Tarantino’s Affirmative Action” in P. Simpson et al. (eds) Film Theory: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies. London and New York: Routledge. Clarkson, W. 2007. Quentin Tarantino: The Man, The Myths and His Movies. London: John Blake. Constable, C. 2004. “Postmodernism and Film” in S. Connor (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Postmodernism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. O’Brien, G. 2002. Castaways of the Image Planet: Movies, Show Business, Public Spectacle. Washington D.C.: Counterpoint. Peary, G. 1998. Quentin Tarantino: Interviews. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. Tarantino, Q. (dir.) 1994. Pulp Fiction. Film starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson. Miramax Films. Read More