“Would you give a man a foot massage?” I’m sure Tarantino would LOVE that. Uma Thurman and John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (1994). Source. DIRECTED BY QUENTIN TARANTINO WRITTEN BY QUENTIN TARANTINO + ROGER AVARY EDITED BY SALLY MENKE STARRING JOHN TRAVOLTA SAMUEL L. JACKSON UMA THURMAN BRUCE WILLIS VING RHAMES MARIA DE MEDEIROS cw: racial slurs, violence first words The interwoven stories of two hitmen, their boss, his wife, two robbers, and a boxer. Co-written, directed by, and starring Quentin Tarantino, this is the second major film in his canon. Visually and emotionally violent. Tarantino’s use of the N-word is gratuitous and disturbing. My main goal in life is to win a dance competition now. babie talk Like many fans, I have a very strong love/hate relationship with Tarantino and his films. I’ve seen Reservoir Dogs (against my will), Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, both Kill Bill films, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. For the most part, I’ve enjoyed his body of work and have found merit in each individual story he tells. In Pulp Fiction, the characters were well written and developed, the cinematography was stylistically gorgeous, and the story structure was executed well in a way that challenged and rewarded the audience.There’s a certain trend in his work that has grown and shapeshifted throughout his nearly forty-year career as a filmmaker. Tarantino wants to trust the audience. Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta as JULES WINNFIELD and VINCENT VEGA. Source.There’s a few reasons why Pulp Fiction stays in the public consciousness after almost thirty years. As previously mentioned, the characters are well-written and fleshed out. Everything from their outfits to their cars to their physical mannerisms to the direction in which they part their hair is for a specific reason. Tarantino’s homages to his favorite filmmakers and artistic movements are omnipresent and each rewatch of a scene gives you something new to focus on. I could watch Uma Thurman dance the twist forever. Because the characters’ personalities are so central to how each story plays out, the audience wants to stay with them. Tarantino knows that and uses it to his advantage. One reason why I get excited every time I sit down to watch a Tarantino flick is because I expect the relationships between characters to be equally well-developed. In Pulp Fiction, there’s a development in each of the major relationships: Mia and Vince, Vince and Jules, Honey Bunny and Pumpkin, Fabienne and Butch, Butch and Marcellus, and even Butch and Vince. Whether they grow to love/hate each other or become closer/more distant, the relationship changes throughout each of the stories and through many different perspectives. Tarantino believes in the audience to understand the minutiae of how each relationship changes and the significance of the subtle differences in outfits, cars, mannerisms, and hair parts. Uma Thurman as MIA WALLACE and John Travolta as VINCENT VEGA before (above) and after (below) Mia’s heroin overdose. Source.He also knows that good storytelling doesn’t have to be linear. So, by taking each story and jumping back and forth in time, he’s not only putting faith in the audience to remember the preceding scenes and events, but rewarding us by adding more context and depth to the moments we’ve already experienced onscreen. Tarantino gives us the puzzle pieces and trusts us to put the pieces together on our own. There comes a time in this movie (and in Tarantino movies past) where that trust becomes muddled. Perhaps h