perspectives-pulp fiction & postmodernism

perspectives-pulp fiction & postmodernism 

Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction is a film that was developed in 1994. The film itself was later considered to be a film that protracted post-modernism.

The film is structured with a three-story plot that has taken this influences from a film “Black Sabbath 1963.” In Pulp Fiction there are two main hitmen, you have Samuel Jackson who character is Jules Winnfield and John Travolta his character being Vincent Vega. They’re trying to retrieve a suitcase which has been stolen from their employer.  Who is the mob boss, Marsellus Wallace and is played by Ving Rhames. Alongside this Wallace has asked Vincent to take his wife Mia (Uma Thurman) out while he is out of town. Bruce Willis “Butch Coolidge” is an older boxer who has been paid by Wallace to lose a fight. These are the three plots that occur to form the main plotline in the film.

Pulp Fiction is a film that mixes up past films using music, scene sequences, costumes and dialogue. This form of pastiche contributes to making it a post-modernism film. It takes the scenes and places them out of order, confusing dates and times therefore the audience must keep thinking and reorganising the scene into correct order. This keeps them alert to what the movie has to offer. One way this is done is by showing the scene in the restaurant with Vincent and Mia, which was primarily the show’s ending and is shown at the beginning of the film, but just leaving enough out so we can be introduced to the other characters before we see them all in this restaurant scene.

Another example of pastiche is in the restaurant scene at the Jack Rabbit Slims, it’s a throwback to the 1950s, waiters as iconic retro stars: Buddy Holly, Marlin Morrow and Jane Mansfield. Even the tables that they were sitting at were designed to look like vintage cars. Also, the background music playing from that specific era, Chuck Berry – “you can never tell”. The dance between Vincent and Mia has been based on “Batman 1966”, the Batusi dance as quoted by John Travolta.

Tarantino uses many intertextual references in pulp fiction which again underlines the post modernism:

 Jules says he plans to walk the earth like the character Cain from Kung Fu (Kung Fu 1972 – 1975

Mia is asked if she would like her milkshake “Amos’n Andy or Martin and Lewis” (Amos’n Andy show 1951 – 1953)

To conclude the film Pulp Fiction is a clear definition of post-modernism as it displays references to earlier forms and films before it and uses intertextual.