Visual Review 10: Pulp Fiction

I chose to watch one of the American Film Institute’s top 10 gangster movies, Pulp Fiction directed by Quentin Tarantino. The movie is very unique in the way that Tarantino made an interesting stylistic choice to have the story in a nonlinear timeline. The first scene starts off with a robbery in a diner which is only revisited and shown again at the end. To have such a jumpy plot line and different stories that end up connecting at the end, was a new concept for its time. There are a few main characters whose stories are all told and intertwined in some way. The story follows two hitmen, Vincent and Jules, a champion boxer named Butch, a gangster Marsellus Wallace and his wife Mia, and the robbers of the diner, Ringo and Yolanda. This is a film of crime and violence but it is also very entertaining. There were many good aspects of film and elements to help tell the story. The opening scene starts with Ringo and Yolanda in the midst of an argument. The viewer doesn’t know what it’s about so it draws them in and makes them want to continue to watch since they don’t know what will happen. This is an effective way to start the film. Throughout the film I noticed the mise en scene that would be needed. Especially for the diner scene because they needed a full working restaurant with customers, busboys, waiters, people eating in the background, chairs, tables, booths, food, menus etc.

Many times in the film I noticed another aspect of mise en scene, which was having altered props to accommodate cameras and equipment. The first example was the car scene in the beginning. Hypothetically the camera would be in the window so it shows there is actually a set and a camera there rather than them actually driving. Another example was when Mia goes to the bathroom at the 50s themed diner. There is a mirror shot of her doing cocaine with many women surrounding her doing other womanly duties in the mirror. It can't be an actual mirror because you would see the camera otherwise. There is also a low angle shot from the trunk which is also an altered prop because there is not a man in the truck with a camera but rather they are pretending there is something in the trunk (0:09:06). The same goes for the elevator shot, there is actually a camera because in reality it would be the doors of the elevator (0:10:50).

Another very effective aspect of the film was the title sequence. After a very dramatic pause after Yolanda stands up with her gun and yells, there is a freeze frame of her and then it fades out to the title sequence. The screen turns black and in a large bold yellow font the title of the film appears. Then slowly the actors roll through while the title slowly fades out into the background into nothingness. The filmmakers and actors are given credit with just the black screen and no distractions. The sequence is accompanied by a well-known song called "Misirlou" by Dick Dale & The Del Tones. It is a very intense song which shows something intense and exciting is yet to come in the film. Having the actors get their recognition with just a black background and this intense well known song is a very effective title sequence and start to the movie.

There were many camera movements that helped convey the tone or mood of the film. The first is in the beginning when Vincent and Jules are on the way to the apartment to the people who betrayed their boss, Marsellus. There is backward tracking while they are walking down the hallway (0:11:16). The camera is following them from the front so it’s moving backward in the same direction as they are walking forward in. There was a good truck left when they were walking through the strip club (0:24:44). The club had cool vibrant red neon lights signs and the trucking left gave the viewer a view of it all. This helped us see the surroundings. While Mia and Vincent are out to dinner at a 1950s themed restaurant, they take part in a dance off. There are many different camera movements like panning down, trucking and panning left and right all in this short clip. At 01:08:09 there is a hand that grabs the watch and at that exact moment is a boxing ring chime noise where Butch sits up from his sleep at that exact moment. This was a good editing tactic, and a smart way to change the storyline.

There is a nice 'zoom in' shot onto Marsellus after Butch tries to run him over on the street (01:35:20). However, I think it could’ve been better if they used a 'dolly- in zoom' so the background would’ve moved as well as Maresllus in the foreground, but I still liked the zoom to show intensity. Another tactic to show intensity is when there is a moment of slow motion before they begin to rape Marsellus (01:42:15). It gives the viewer a moment to catch up and realize what is going on before the grueling rape the viewers witness. Overall, I noticed many low angle shots throughout the movie. Moreover, there were many close-ups of their faces when talking, even in conversations, instead of everyone being on screen it was just one actor's face. This was an interesting stylistic choice as well, I am not sure the significance of it, just that it happened many times. Another scene that stands out as a unique editing aspect was when Vincent takes heroin (0:30:18).There are many close-ups of him injecting the heroin. The images fade in and out into the blackness, back and forth shots of him driving and then taking the drugs. It gave the aspect of taking drugs because everything is distorted and confusing which represents how Vincent is experiencing the timeline.

Lastly, I enjoyed the ending scene the most because it brought all the plots together. Jules and Vincent are at the diner that in the opening scene is getting robbed. Ringo and Yolanda’s robbery plot meets Jules and Vincent and ties the story together. The movie was a lot more violent than I anticipated because I had never seen it but know a lot of people who recommend it however, despite the violence I really enjoyed the film Pulp Fiction.