Pulp Fiction and the Power of Characters

Last week I had the not so fun experience of getting my wisdom teeth removed. Getting teeth ripped out of your mouth or drilled out in multiple pieces, as was the case with me, is a pretty awful time. Certainly not the way you want to spend the last week of summer break. But I had big plans for this week, plans that involved smoothies and movie binging, with Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction being at the top of my list. Many view this as one of Tarantino's top films and I was tired of the criminal look flashed my way when mentioned that I hadn't seen it. So I popped a few pain killers, pressed an ice pack to my cheek and settled onto the couch for this 2 hour 34 minute film.

A lengthy Tarantino movie is not unusual as most of his recent films are over 2 hours, sometimes pushing 3. I personally struggle at times sitting through long dragged out movies, but have never really had a problem with Tarantino. Both Django and Inglorious Bastards had a rich plot that carries the viewer through the experience, so I was unfazed by the long run time of Pulp Fiction.

The film draws you in quickly with it's strong dialogue and early action, bringing you into this dark and seedy world. Each seen brings a new circumstance that makes you question who's good and who's bad, what the consequences will be for each character and overall where is the plot heading? Every time I tried to convince myself that the story was leading to something big, it cut to something else, something new. It wasn't until around the 1 hour mark that I accepted the fact that plot was secondary in this film.

The thing that makes Pulp Fiction so captivating are the many personalities throughout. Each scene is pretty much used as a character piece giving the actor a spotlight to shine. Every character is so interesting and unique in their own way that as a viewer you stop thinking about the plot and more about the people. Tarantino doesn't diverge completely from formulaic story arcs as each little part of the film has a climax that is resolved before moving on to the next sequence. And things throughout the film are not actually in chronological order which is nowhere near as confusing as it sounds. Tarantino does a great job in navigating the viewer through by breaking up the different plots by titling each sequence change. For instance we see "The Golden Watch" flashed over black before jumping into Bruce Willis' story. Thanks to strong writing and direction all the actors in this piece were able to shine in this film.

What Tarantino has also done well in past is his ability to write and make a movie within a genre. A recent example is his most recent release, Django. In this film he was able to create a new and creative twist on the old school Spaghetti Westerns. With Pulp Fiction, Tarantino does a great job of creating a film that falls within the Pulp Noir genres. For those like me who didn't know what that means I looked it up. According to the internet, "Pulp noir locations are often seedy, run-down and degraded urban landscapes, where the lack of law, morals and even the proliferation of crime and drugs are common themes. Another common trend in pulp noir is the glorification and/or demonization of its urban locations." This definition almost perfectly represents the world created within the film. In Pulp Fiction, Tarantino was able to create an all time great movie built on it's characters and setting.

Quentin Tarantino

Recently I have become quite obsessed with Quentin Tarantino films. Although I have seen some of them in my past, it was not until quite recently that I became in fascinated with the infamous Tarantino. All of his films are amazing because each of them are unique in their own way. It is hard to pick just one as a favorite, but if I had to pick my favorite, which is very hard, it would most likely be Django Unchained mainly because of the character Dr. King Schultz. 

Recently I re-watched Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, and Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2. All three of these Quentin wrote. He also directed these three as well. After re-watching these movies there were connections that I never originally noticed. For anyone that has never seen the Kill Bill series, which you should, the group of people in the movie include, a kungfu master, a blonde leader, a demolition expert, a french fox, and as well as the deadliest woman in the world with a knife. After re watching Pulp Fiction, there was a scene that I had never really put much thought into. In the dinner scene between Mia and Vincent, Vincent asks her about the pilot episode she starred in. As she goes on to explain it, she is explaining the group of people in Kill Bill. This blew my mind because Pulp Fiction came out in 1994, where as Kill Bill did not premiere until 2003. I loved how Quentin added this little part into Pulp Fiction, describing basically the draft of Kill Bill. Maybe he did not even know he was going to write that as a movie, or maybe he did but either way I found the connection interesting. Another connection he had was in Pulp Fiction, the character Captain Koon, has the same name that is on the Wanted sign in Django Unchained. The wanted sign displays the name Crazy Craig Koons. 

Yet another one is the character of Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction, is brothers with Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino mentioned wanting to make a separate movie with the two brothers, however Vincent Vega dies at the end of Pulp Fiction, so it would of had to of been a prequel. 

 

Obviously this is nothing new, Tarantino is known for having these small connections put in his films. All of these connections are small and subtle and Tarantino adds small little witty lines that hint at all of these connections. Many people have found other small hints in his film and have theories of which character is related to who, and what not. 

One theory I found interesting is in Django Unchained. While searching the web for these connections I found a theory on the Miramax website that speculated about Dr. King Schultz and why he was in the bounty hunting business at all. In the beginning of the movie, Django asks him how long he has been a dentist

and he answers with he had given up dentistry almost five years ago to become a bounty hunter. Dr. King Schultz never talks about family much, but it is speculated that his wife, PAULA, left him and that is why he took up the business. Later his wife realizes the terrible deed

she has done and goes out seeking him, only to find he has been killed by Calvin Candie. After hearing this she is so devastated she never gets married again, and keeps Dr. King Schultz’s last name. Finally she dies in 1893, buried with the tombstone that says PAULA SCHULTZ 1823-1893. Sound familiar? That’s the same grave that Beatrix Kiddo is buried alive in almost one hundred years later. This I found really interesting. Although there is no evidence to prove that Paula Schultz was intact Dr. King’s wife, the name is the same, and the date matches the time she could have possibly died.

Quentin Tarantino is possibly one of my favorite film makers. Not only are the stories he writes creative, hilarious, and captivating, they keep the audience wanting more. And because he knows how to insert descriptions of random people, he can build of that and create other films that connect to each film he has made. 

Watch the video below, many of Tarantino's best movie scenes are put together 

Here are some links on the interesting connections, theories, and comments of Tarantino films!

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/17/the-intricate-expansive-universe-of-quentin-tarantino

http://geektyrant.com/news/2013/6/15/quentin-tarantinos-pulp-fiction-and-kill-bill-connection.html

http://www.miramax.com/subscript/how-django-unchained-is-linked-to-pulp-fiction/