The second Quentin Tarantino film to emerge from the ‘90s, “Pulp Fiction” was a catalyst, changing the way directors and producers approached filmmaking, as well as transforming the way pop culture seeped into the medium.
 |
| Image source: litreactor.com |
The movie continued where its earlier-released brother, “Reservoir Dogs,” left off, bringing in a superb and eclectic cast that included Bruce Willis, Samuel Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, and John Travolta (whose career the movie resurrected with a literal bang).
But it’s not so much the powerhouse cast that made the film a cult classic as the style; Tarantino redefined independent filmmaking of the time, playing around with kilometric, quirky dialogues and how time can be manipulated in a film. The scenes were always on the brink of violence but strangely muted by the over-the-top conversations that moved from blue-jeans to expletive-ridden. The movie made the audience jump in their seats and laugh nervously at the same time.
The film brought a new sense of cartoon-like appeal to characterization. Actors looked both cool (again) and animated even in their most outrageous moments, as surf music screamed deliriously in the background. “Pulp Fiction” even relived how soundbites are used as lead-ins to soundtrack songs, a phenomenon that would be exploited by other films for the rest of the decade.
And have we mentioned that it resurrected John Travolta’s career? Nothing was more satisfying than seeing him so-trivially ridicule people who use mayonnaise for fries.
 |
| Image source: wired.com |
My name’s Danny Crenshaw, and I’m currently pursuing a law degree at the University of Washington School of Law. When not in school, I work part-time as a barista in a coffee shop in Seattle and watch iconic films from the ‘90s. For more film-related updates, follow me on Facebook.
