Quintessential Tarantino

By Edwin Page

From Reservoir Dogs in 1992 to the Kill Bill series of films, the films of Quentin Tarantino have always provoked a reaction from critics and audiences alike - many attracting a cult-like following. Edwin Page discusses each of the eight films written and directed by Tarantino, and explores the complexity behind Tarantino's 'guns and gangsters' style. Films discuseed include Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, Natural Born Killers, Pulp Fiction, From Dusk Till Dawn, Jackie Brown, and Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2. A book for film students and media studies, in which the reader can discover how Tarantino went from video store clerk to director of major movies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marion Boyars
• Release date: Nov 10, 2005
• ISBN: 9780714521909

Book preview

Introduction

‘Storytelling has become a lost art. There is no storytelling, there’s just situations. Very rarely are you told a story.’’

Quentin Tarantino¹

In this book you’ll find guns, gangsters, gimps and sword-slashing heroines, all served with a large side-order of blood and gore. You’ll journey through the films Tarantino has either written or both written and directed, and follow the threads of his stories to find out where they lead.

The story begins with Reservoir Dogs (1992), the first film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, and ends with Kill Bill Volume 2 (2004). In all he has only written and directed five films, which may seem like a small amount considering the size of his reputation. However, it’s the content of the films, along with their popularity, that has seen his reputation grow.

Also included is a chapter on the film Four Rooms (1995), Tarantino having written and directed one of its four parts. Further to this is Chapter Eleven, which takes a look at the episodes of TV shows ‘ER’ and ‘CSI’ that were given the Tarantino treatment. The discussion of all his work so far means you are getting a complete view of the man’s talent, and can see the results of his writing and directing both together and separately.

When you go to see a Tarantino film you go to the cinema knowing to expect a degree of violence, a good dose of humour and an injection of adrenalin-fuelled action, all carried out by characters you can’t help but be interested in. It’s because of these things that millions of people all around the world come out of theatres feeling exhilarated by a cinematic experience Tarantino delivers with style and panache.

Any admiration for Tarantino’s work also has to include his writing ability, which encompasses his highly original use of literary techniques. Tarantino has successfully toyed with time again and again, giving audiences non-linear narratives which excite and thrill in their texture of past, present and future, all woven expertly together by a master of screenwriting. He has also utilised chapters which, in the case of Reservoir Dogs especially, helped to strengthen character and add depth to the plot.

Even Tarantino’s casting choices are admirable. How many other directors would have had the courage or foresight to cast John Travolta in a lead role in Pulp Fiction after his career had all but flatlined? This can also be said of Pam Grier (Jackie Brown), David Carradine (Kill Bill Volume 2) and Daryl Hannah (Kill Bill Volume 1 & 2) to varying degrees. These choices have worked perfectly however, sometimes resulting in brilliant displays of on-screen chemistry not often seen in contemporary cinema, such as that between Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction and Pam Grier and Robert Forster in Jackie Brown.

In all areas it would seem that Tarantino’s touch is more golden than the glow from the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. He has the Midas touch, as his studio Miramax knows only too well, his films having helped to make them a major force in Hollywood. But this special touch goes beyond mere appearances, beyond the plot, characters, and acting.

Tarantino displays an immense love and knowledge of cinema and films in his work. And when I say ‘cinema’ I mean on a global scale, not merely limited to American cinema, but stretching to European cinema, such as the French New Wave, and on to Asian cinema, including Japanese monster movies and Chinese and Japanese martial arts films.

This deep passion for all things film shines through on screen. There is a special care taken over every frame and numerous homages and references to other movies are evident in his work. The latter becomes especially obvious in the Kill Bill saga, as we shall see later.

Tarantino’s films stand out from most others that have been produced in the last two decades and can be enjoyed on a number of levels. That’s why this book doesn’t just scratch the surface of his films, but digs deep with sharp nails in order to get to the life-blood beneath.

At the end of Chapter One are the credits for Tarantino’s film and television career at the time of writing this book. There are also cast and selected crew listings at the end of chapters Two to Ten, all adding to the information at your fingertips. The source for these was The Internet Movie Database, which is a great resource for all film lovers.

This work could have been a cold look at high-octane action and searing scenarios, but instead it’s more like a ‘Royale with cheese’. You’re here to enjoy the ride and find out more about films which contain powerful imagery and strong themes. Tarantino’s intelligent plots, postmodern narratives, three-dimensional characters, entertaining dialogue and gripping action sequences are a blend far finer than the coffee his character, Jimmie, serves up in Pulp Fiction.

Now it’s time to read on and let the story begin. As Jules says to Vincent in Pulp Fiction: ‘Let’s get into character.’

Endnote

1.Smith, G. – Quentin Tarantino: ‘When you know you’re in good hands’ (Film Comment, July-August, 1994)

1. Quentin Tarantino: The Man and his Movies

‘When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them No, I went to films’

– Quentin Tarantino¹

Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born on March 27th 1963 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. His association with film apparently started immediately, his mother, Connie, naming him after Quint, Burt Reynold’s character in Gunsmoke (Juran, 1953).²

He was brought up in suburban Los Angeles by Connie, who took the young Tarantino to the cinema regularly. At the age of eight he saw Carnal Knowledge (Nichols, 1971) and at nine he saw Deliverance (Boorman, 1972).³ He was allowed to go and see whatever movies were showing at local theatres, and these included most of Sam Peckinpah’s movies⁵, which remain some of his favourite films. These cinema visits became a habit of his and he has always treated himself to a movie on his birthday.

PULP FACT

Tarantino never went to film school.⁴

Tarantino dropped out of the ninth grade at junior high and is proud to have achieved what he has despite his lack of education. He’d hide in his house until Connie, a nurse, went to work. Then he’d spend the day watching television or looking through his comic collection, gaining an education of a different kind which would prove useful in later life. This love of movies and comics is clear in his films, and the two combine most notably in True Romance. Who would ever have thought that skipping school could have turned out so well?

At the age of sixteen Tarantino took acting classes while working at porno cinemas. It was during this time that he started writing film scripts.

PULP FACT

Tarantino wrote his first screenplay – ‘Captain Peachfuzz and the Anchovy Bandit’ – in 1985.

He got a job in Video Archives, a video store in Manhattan Beach, California, when he was twenty-two. It was at Video Archives that Tarantino and Roger Avary, who wrote parts of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, spent all day watching, discussing and recommending videos.⁶

Lance Lawson, manager of the video store where Tarantino worked has said that he ‘read an extreme amount of thrillers and comics, loved Elvis…and always celebrated his birthday by going to the movies’.⁷ Tarantino’s early life is reflected in a number of his films. The most notable example is in True Romance, which is arguably the most autobiographical of Tarantino’s scripts, probably because it was one of his earliest. In it Clarence always goes to the movies on his birthday, his hero is Elvis, and he loves comics.

Tarantino’s wide knowledge of cinema no doubt arose from his regular cinema visits and his video store job. Without his particular upbringing and the job at Video Archives it is unlikely that Tarantino’s films would have the referential nature that we know and love.

PULP QUOTE

‘Half of my inspiration is from life and the other half is from those movies I watched’⁸ – Tarantino

In 1986 Tarantino made his first film, My Best Friend’s Birthday, which remained unfinished. He then wrote the script for True Romance a year later. His second script, Natural Born Killers, was written by 1988 and he sold True Romance in 1990 for $50,000, intending to use the money to produce his third script, Reservoir Dogs.

Tarantino left Video Archives and started doing rewrites for a small Hollywood production company called CineTel, where he met Lawrence Bender, who was to produce all of the feature films both written and directed by Tarantino, even appearing in three of them. He also produced and made a brief appearance in Four Rooms.

Bender, through contacts from acting classes, managed to get the Reservoir Dogs script to Harvey Keitel, and Keitel was sufficiently impressed to raise some more funding, act in the film and help Tarantino cast the main roles. This story of how he got to direct his first film and what followed is described by Tarantino as ‘my American-dream story’ ⁹. The rest, as they say, is history.

Reservoir Dogs showed at the Sundance Film Festival early in 1991 and was released in 1992. It received critical acclaim and soon established itself as a cult film. Prior to the release of Reservoir Dogs Tarantino was an unknown, but he did a lot of self-promotion when the film came out, both in the US and globally, which helped to put him in the media spotlight. Along with this promotion was the fact that the violence contained in the film caused quite a stir, attracting further media attention, especially in relation to the ‘ear-slicing’ scene (to be discussed in Chapter Two). All of this helped in building his reputation as a new, fresh and somewhat maverick filmmaker.

With the release of Pulp Fiction (1994), the second film both written and direct by Tarantino, his notoriety went through the roof and he won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay along with his writing partner Roger Avary. The film also won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, the equivalent of Best Picture at the Oscars. With this time-twisting film, Tarantino’s reputation as a great and original writer/director was sealed.

PULP QUOTE

‘A Tarantino film wouldn’t be one without at least some of his encyclopaedic video-geekiness finding its way onto the screen.’¹⁰

Pulp Fiction cemented and substantially increased his reputation, and was the largest grossing independent movie of its time. It also had a major effect on Miramax, the studio that backs all the films written and directed by Tarantino. Pulp Fiction effectively turned Miramax ‘from an art-house haven into a major studio’.¹¹ In fact, Tarantino’s impact on the studio has been so important that studio chief Harvey Weinstein has likened it to Mickey Mouse’s on Disney’.¹²

Four Rooms and the penultimate episode of season one of the television series ‘ER’ were Tarantino’s next outings in 1995. The first got a lukewarm reception at best and the second was only directed, not written by him. These were followed by From Dusk Till Dawn (1996), directed by his friend Robert Rodriguez and based on his script. Tarantino took a lead role in this film, which met with a mixed response from movie goers.

Also helping in his somewhat meteoric rise to fame have been the films that he’s written, but not directed, which are also included in this book. These are True Romance (Tony Scott, 1993), Natural Born Killers (Stone, 1994), and From Dusk Till Dawn (Rodriguez, 1996).

PULP QUOTE

‘I don’t think there’s anything to be afraid of. Failure brings great rewards – in the life of an artist.’ Tarantino talking about the pressure for further success after the release of Pulp Fiction¹⁴

Jackie Brown (1997) was his next movie and disappointed those who were hoping for the same energetic fare that the two previous films delivered. However, Tarantino stated at the time, ‘I’m not trying to recreate the phenomenon of Pulp Fiction, but I intend to keep breaking ground,’¹³ and this is exactly what he did with this film, both in the use of a female lead and in the slower pace which was suited to the character study within the narrative.

There were nearly six years between Jackie Brown and Kill Bill Volume 1. In this time Tarantino’s relationship with actress Mira Sorvino broke up and he was arrested twice for brawling outside restaurants, once with one of the producers of Natural Born Killers. He also pursued his desire to further his acting career, appearing as the lead in Wait Until Dark, which was an off-Broadway production of an old thriller. However, reviews of his acting were not kind.

Then Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003) came out with its plethora of filmic influences and references, along with fountains of blood thanks to the swishing of samurai swords. It was a hit at the cinema and re-established his waning reputation with its vibrant narrative, that was tied up shortly afterwards with the release of Kill Bill Volume 2 (2004).

This second film displayed a slower pace and far less blood than the first, however what Volume 2 lacked in pace and blood it gained in characterisation and mood.

Following Kill Bill Volume 2 Tarantino directed and provided the story for the season five finale of American detective drama series ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ in 2005. By this time he’d also appeared as a guest judge on the television program ‘American Idol’ and had acted in three episodes of drama series ‘Alias’. Besides appearing on TV he has added to his notoriety by acting in such films as Desperado (Rodriguez, 1995) and Little Nicky (Brill, 2000). These appearances, along with his other non-feature film work, have helped to create a growing body of work that is set to expand as he continues to be involved in the film industry, and the fact that he only just turned forty-two in 2005 means that his contribution will hopefully continue for a long time yet.

As well as acting in other people’s films, Tarantino also likes to appear in his own work. He was Mr Brown in Reservoir Dogs, Jimmie Dimmick in Pulp Fiction, Chester Rush in Four Rooms, and the answer machine voice in Jackie Brown. He also played Richard Gecko in Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn, possibly his best and most convincing performance to date.

PULP FACT

Tarantino planned to direct an episode of The X Files, but refused to join the Director’s Guild of America. The Guild turned down his request for a waiver, which meant he couldn’t direct the show.¹⁵

Tarantino not only has a habit of casting himself repeatedly, he also has certain actors that he likes to use again and again. Harvey Keitel has appeared in Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and From Dusk Till Dawn. Tim Roth was in Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Four Rooms. Michael Madsen had roles in Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2. Uma Thurman can be seen in Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2. Samuel L. Jackson has appeared in Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown and Kill Bill Volume 2. And Steve Buscemi was in Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. He was also one of the stars in Robert Rodriguez’s film Desperado.

It is also of note that Tarantino has not only acted, written, and directed, but has also produced a number of films. These include both From Dusk Till Dawn sequels (From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999) and From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter (2000)) and, most noteworthy of all, the 1994 movie Killing Zoe. The latter is particularly significant because it was written and directed by Roger Avary, who was Tarantino’s co-writer on Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.

Part of Tarantino’s brilliance as a writer and director has been ascribed to his translation of literary devices to the big screen. These include non-linearity – the stories not following a neat line from beginning to end – and the use of a ‘chapter’ format.

PULP FACT

Claims that Tarantino appeared in Dawn of the Dead (Romero, 1978) or King Lear (Godard, 1987) are incorrect. He falsely included these credits on his acting resume to make up for his lack of real experience.¹⁶

This use of traditionally literary devices could be linked to the fact that Tarantino considered becoming a novelist and actually tried writing about the five years he spent working in Video Archives¹⁷. However, he would have also come across these devices in films such as Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing (1956) and Fujita’s Lady Snowblood (1973), both of which have been an influence on Tarantino, as will be seen in later chapters.

Another unusual aspect in relation to his direction in comparison with others is the fact that he hates product placement in films. Thus you won’t see any real, present day products in his work and this is underlined by the use of fictional or defunct brands, such as ‘Red Apple’ cigarettes and ‘Lucky Strike’ beer.

The fact that Tarantino named his production company ‘A Band Apart’ (founded in 1991) after 1964 Jean-Luc Godard thriller Bande à Part further suggests that the devices he utilises in his films were probably seen in other movies, as Godard also used them, in particular in the film Le Mepris (1963).

Le Mepris (meaning ‘Contempt’) starred Brigitte Bardot and Jack Palance, who many will associate with the role of Curly Washburn in the comedy City Slickers (Underwood, 1991). This movie was part of French New Wave cinema in the late 50s and early 60s. The French New Wave thrived on the creative tension between past cinema and the fresh innovations of directors such as Godard and Truffaut. Here we see a similarity between these directors and Tarantino in that his innovations and fresh outlook are built on previous films, as well as on television to a lesser degree.

Le Mepris is postmodern in that it is a film about films and about itself. This is called ‘self-reflexivity’ in postmodernism, which basically means the film is drawing attention to itself, reminding the audience that it is only a construct. It is a behind-the-scenes story about a film being made. As the film writer Jonathan Romney says, it is ‘a dismantling of the illusion that is created when any film is made’¹⁸.

This self-reflexivity can be seen to a small extent when television programs and films are discussed in Tarantino’s films, such as the conversations relating to ‘Fox Force Five’ in Pulp Fiction. Such conversations bring to our attention the fact that we are only watching a constructed piece of entertainment, not something ‘real’ as such. Another element of self-reflexivity is clear at the start of Kill Bill Volume 2 when Uma Thurman’s character talks directly to the audience and references Volume 1. Further to this are all the homages and references made by Tarantino, drawing our attention to the filmic heritage of his work and reminding us that he has created it, that it is not real.

Tarantino, as well as being a big film collector and fan, is also a big collector of vinyl records, including numerous soundtrack albums. He uses his music to find the songs for his films and has said that ‘looking for that music is finding the rhythm that the movie has to play in. It’s me finding the beat’¹⁹.

This ‘finding the beat’ has worked perfectly in his movies. His soundtrack choices are predominantly 70s tunes and are a great counterpoint to the on-screen retro-style and action, not least in the ‘ear-slicing scene’ in Reservoir Dogs, which will be discussed further in Chapter Two.

Tarantino uses music in a number of ways. Sometimes it’s used as a cue for the viewer, such as the use of alarm sounds in the Kill Bill saga when the Bride sees one of her enemies. Sometimes it’s used as pure entertainment, such as the dance competition at Jack Rabbit Slims in Pulp Fiction. Sometimes Tarantino uses it for emotional or mood enhancement, as with the music played when Max Cherry first sets eyes on Jackie Brown or after Budd has shot the Bride in Kill Bill Volume 2. Sometimes it’s used humorously, as with the ‘Ironside’ theme playing when we see the Bride in her wheelchair in Kill Bill Volume 1. It is also used to heighten tension, building to a crescendo during particular scenes in order to add to the visual elements, such as with the Bride’s escape from the coffin in Kill Bill Volume 2. And sometimes he employs music in juxtaposition to the visual events taking place, such as with the ‘ear-slicing scene’ in Reservoir Dogs. All of these factors help to build another layer of depth to his movies, one that is so good that we want to go out and buy the soundtrack CDs.

PULP QUOTE

‘When I’m writing a script, one of the first things I do is find the music I’m going to play for the opening sequence. I can’t go forward until I figure out how I’m going to start – what the opening mood music will be’

– Quentin Tarantino²⁰

Tarantino’s films display numerous postmodern qualities. A basic understanding of postmodernism is important for a fuller understanding of Tarantino’s work because all of his films are filled with postmodern elements; they are examples of postmodern cinema. The elements of postmodernism that are relevant to Tarantino’s work are as follows:

An emphasis on subjectivity, which concerns the act of seeing itself rather than what is seen, for example the scene in Pulp Fiction when Mia Wallace watches Vince via a surveillance camera.

A blurring of morality, such as Mr Orange, a cop, shooting a civilian in Reservoir Dogs.

A blurring of genre boundaries, which is clear in From Dusk Till Dawn and also in the Kill Bill films with their mix of Eastern and Western genres.

Self-reflexivity, as previously discussed.

A leaning towards fragmented narratives, which can be seen in the time-line jumping Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill films.

A lack of distinction between so called ‘high’ and ‘low’ art. This is evident in all of the films Tarantino has both written and directed and is underpinned by his use of literary (‘high’ art) techniques with pop culture references and references to other films (‘low’ art).

Postmodernists don’t believe in any underlying reality. They say that everything is merely constructed of signifiers with nothing real actually being signified. If you view this in relation to Tarantino’s work you can see that the Kill Bill saga, rife with references to other films both on a visual and aural level, don’t reference any recognisable reality, only other signifiers, in this case other films.

One final important part of postmodernism in relation to Tarantino’s movies is the rejection of ‘grand narratives’ which are built on the idea that there are truths that unify the whole of humanity. Instead, postmodernists use ‘mini-narratives,’ which are concerned with localised events and individual perspectives, and are often open-ended. This can be seen in Pulp Fiction, where the stories are all about individuals and localised events, and they are all left open-ended to a degree. For example, what happens to Butch and Fabienne in their new life together?

Pulp Fiction is one of the most postmodern films Tarantino has created. It displays many of the above postmodern characteristics, including a blurring of genres and cinematic styles, the use of ‘high’ art literary devices and ‘low’ art popular culture, the fragmented plot, the effective use of mini-narratives, and the clear existence of signifiers, such as the waiters and waitresses at Jack Rabbit Slims who signify people like Buddy Holly and Marilyn Monroe, but are not the real people.

PULP QUOTE

‘He appropriates cinematic storytelling techniques from older directors and film movements.’²¹

At first glance Tarantino’s films may seem quite shallow shoot-em-ups, gore-fests and revenge blood-baths. Maybe they are on the surface, but they also contain many subtleties and hidden depths that can be explored. As these are revealed the narratives of each film becomes more rich, meaningful and impressive. They serve to show how great each film really is and can add enormously to their enjoyment.

PULP QUOTE

‘I don’t believe in elitism. I don’t think the audience is this dumb person lower than me.’ Quentin Tarantino²²

Many people seem to think that his films are defined by violence, but this isn’t true. Yes, the threat of violence does create a certain tension in many scenes, but it is not the crux of any of his films. The crux of these works is the use of intelligent stories involving convincing characters. Even the toughest of these characters, such as Vince and Jules in Pulp Fiction, are shown to have vulnerability, to be human. They are not mere stereotypes like so many filmic characters we see in contemporary cinema, who might as well be cardboard cutouts. Tarantino’s characters reach out from the screen and grab the audience by the throat.

Another common aspect to Tarantino’s work is ‘his strong penchant for experimenting with the audience expectations associated with various film genres’.²³ This is evident in such things as the criminals in Reservoir Dogs talking about pop culture, something you wouldn’t find for love or money in a De Palma gangster flick. Another example is Bill in Kill Bill Volume