Name: Grace Higgins

‘Experimental film is often the result of an auteur challenging established

conventions with fresh ideas.’ With reference to your chosen film option,
how far do you agree with this statement? (20)

‘Pulp Fiction’ (Tarantino: 1994) is one of the most prominent pieces of postmodern cinema,
likely due to Tarantino’s status as an auteur. As a result, it seems difficult to argue that the
film would not have been classed as such without his distinctive directorial style.

One feature of Tarantino’s auteur style is the comedic attitude to cinema viscera. Inspired by
previous amateurs such as Jean-Luc Godard, he described onscreen violence as a “purely
aesthetic choice”, which contrasts a majority of Hollywood directors during his time.
Examples of this in ‘Pulp Fiction’ include Marvin’s death, as it seemingly appears out of
nowhere, with a rapid cut to the car’s exterior. Similarly, in ‘Reservoir Dogs’, there is an
exterior shot as Mr Brown, who has been shot in the skull, attempts to reverse his car which
has been crashed into another. The comedic attitude to violence likely reflects his inspiration
from Godard, who once excused his own on screen violence with the reasoning “it’s not
blood, it’s red”. Additionally, Tarantino often uses contrapuntal music during his violent or
difficult scenes. In ‘Pulp Fiction’, this occurs during the rape of Marsellus Wallace, as a
closeup shot remains static infront of the closed door, with 70s surf rock mixing in with
diegetic sounds of pain from Marsellus. This choice of music not only reflects Tarantino’s
own taste, as he would choose the soundtracks to his films, but shows a disregard to the
reality of the violent acts he features in his films, perhaps an auteur feature of his, due to his
own admiration of Godard. In ‘Reservoir Dogs’, as ‘Stuck in the Middle with You’ plays as Mr
Blonde cuts off Nash's ear, almost romanticising the violence, or at least glorifying it to an
extent, which few other directors at the time would do. Furthermore, Tarantino relies often
on music as a narrative device. Spectators of ‘Pulp Fiction’ are introduced to Mia Wallace
through music, as ‘Girl You’ll be a Woman Soon’ plays before she is fully presented to the
audience. Additionally, it seems as though music defines her character, as her voice is first
heard through a sound system rather than in person, and her other notorious scene is the
dance competition with Vincent, during which she seems the most comfortable. The song
choice in particular seems to highlight her as incongruous - with ‘Girl You’ll be a Woman
Soon’ suggesting an aspect of immaturity and vulnerability in the crime-ridden dangerous
version of L.A that ‘Pulp Fiction’ exists in. In ‘Reservoir Dogs’, there were no female
characters in order to emphasise the violence endured by all characters, similar to ‘Pulp
Fiction’. With this in mind, it seems as though Tarantino is explaining his reasoning for this
decision, that the female characters he has depicted until this point are not yet fully
prepared for such a life, as Mia ends up overdosing, which causes a complete change in
character, notably a loss of confidence as she makes herself physically smaller outside her
home as she says goodbye to Vincent, further emphasising a sense of insecurity. Another

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Name: Grace Higgins

recurring trait of Tarantino’s is the seemingly meaningless dialogue, typically found in his
opening scenes. In ‘Pulp Fiction’, this is shown with Jules and Vincent’s conversation about a
trip to Europe, discussing cultural differences through fast food restaurants. It could be said
that Tarantino uses these seemingly average conversations as snippets of verisimilitude in
order for his artistic preference for cinema viscera to truly stand out as an aesthetic detail.
Similarly, in ‘Reservoir Dogs’, the film opens on a meaningless conversation as the group play
cards, essentially establishing a sense of normality before warping it almost completely.

One could argue, however, that the foundations of Tarantino’s directorial style are simply
modern revisitations to elements of film noir, a movement he has publicly expressed his
admiration for. An example of this is first with the general settings of his films. Typically, film
noir centres on darker elements of society, often being set in Los Angeles for the perfect
urban background. Interestingly, Tarantino has described the “timeless L.A” setting for ‘Pulp
Fiction’ shown from Butch’s escape from the match as a dark, dangerous place, and a grey
urban warzone during his conflict in the street with Marsellus. Another feature of film noir is
the idea of a femme fatale, which seems to fit Mia Wallace, as Vincent has to tell himself to
“go home” as she’s “your boss’ wife”, showing her desirability as a means of danger to him.
This idea is first shown through the close up shot of her lips as she speaks into the
microphone over the loudspeakers. Although by this point, Tarantino had never directed
another film with a femme fatale, it could be argued that his writing of ‘Natural Born Killers’
and its protagonist Mallory Knox (which was written at around the same time as he was
writing ‘Pulp Fiction’) is another example of this. A further argument for this could be made
with Honey Bunny, as she encourages her partner to go ahead with the robbery (as is shown
through the shot-repeat-shots of their conversation, showing them almost as equals, with
her jumping over the seats as a possible reference to her higher power over him), defining
this as an auteur trait. Typical characters in film noir are gangsters, as is shown through
Jules/Vincent and the other amateur criminals, or even the trope of the ‘lone wolf’, a
cynical, no nonsense character who is often seen alone. Interestingly, ‘Pulp Fiction’ has a
character named Winston Wolf, who is primarily centrally framed, as he is the sole figure of
authority during the clean up operation at Jimmie’s. A similar description could be applied to
Harvey Keitel’s character Mr White in ‘Reservoir Dogs’, as he is the last man standing, and a
consistent figure of authority, suggesting that this recurring trait is directly taken from the
film noir movement. Moral uncertainty is a key film noir feature, as is shown through the
discussion Jules and Vincent have about “divine intervention”, with their contrasting views.
Butch also faces a moment of moral uncertainty, as there is a close up as he pauses before
deciding to save his rival Marsellus from being tortured in Zed’s basement. The theme of
moral uncertainty can also be seen in ‘Reservoir Dogs’, with the undercover officers having
to decide when is best for them to reveal themselves to the criminals. It could be argued
that Vincent also faces moral uncertainty, calling Lance as Mia overdoses, telling him “I can’t
take her to the hospital”, showing him to be morally grey, as it is clear he wants to help her,
but is aware of what could happen to him if he was caught. Often in film noir, characters are

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Name: Grace Higgins

placed in situations out of their control, and in ‘Pulp Fiction’ this is shown through Marvin’s
death, Mia’s overdose, Marsellus’ rape, Vincent’s death and the hold-up at the diner.

Overall, Tarantino’s traits are undoubtedly that of an auteur. Perhaps ‘Pulp Fiction’ is
established as experimental through a combination of original ideas, as well as reinventions
of traditional film movements.