The Redemptive Elements of Pulp Fiction
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- Опубліковано 3 лип 2024
- At its heart, Pulp Fiction is a film about redemption. And yet, despite being considered one of the greatest movies ever made, Pulp Fiction isn't about its heart in the same way other great films are. So what exactly is this film doing differently? And why does it - and Tarantino - get away with it?
Movies Under The Surface is a series of video essays that explores what makes great films great. The videos are about understanding movies at a deeper level, beneath plot and story, at their heart.
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Footage from:
Pulp Fiction (1994), Dir. Quentin Tarantino
The Social Network (2010), Dir. David Fincher
Chinatown (1974), Dir. Roman Polanski
Coffy (1973), Dir. Jack Hill
Baadasssss Cinema (2002), Dir. Isaac Julien
Mad Dog Killer (1977), Dir. Sergio Grieco
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song Trailer (1971), Dir. Melvin Van Peebles
Music from:
You Never Can Tell, Chuck Berry
Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon, Neil Diamond, Performed by Urge Overkill
Flowers On The Wall, The Statler Brothers
Comanche, The Revels
The Social Network Soundtrack, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Mad Dog Killer Soundtrack, Umberto Smaila
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song Soundtrack, Melvin Van Peebles, Performed by Earth Wind and Fire
Surf Rider, The Lively Ones
Bustin’ Surfboards, The Tornados
For educational purposes only.
Every one of these is so good....these videos deserve as much attention as Thomas Flight, NerdWriter1 or Lessons from the Screenplay, every analysis is so well done and a take ive never really heard before. thanks so much for doing these!
thanks so much! glad you like them
Just as I think you oversold Social Network, I also think you undersold Pulp Fiction. Still good videos though.
We watched this film in Existentialism class almost 20 years ago. We discussed Jules as Kierkegaard and Vince as Neitzsche. One of the very few things on which they (the philosophers, not the characters) agreed is the need to chose in time. When you take a break from your life, choices get made for you and your future is foreclosed upon. Notice how every time Vince goes to the bathroom, something bad happens. This is most noticeable in Mia's house, as he plays hos next actions over and over and when he comes out, he no longer has any choice, he just has to improvise and try to save her.
Here, by the way, is what Nietzsche says about redemption: "To turn every 'it was' into a 'thus I would have it', only this do I call 'redemption'." It is my favorite quote of all time.
Interesting! Do you think Tarantino was aware of this when he made the film? Do you think it is what he was going for?
@@MoviesUnderTheSurface Yes. Tarrantino is a smart guy. He knows this stuff. By all accounts, he did not intend the soul interpretation of the contents of the briefcase. It was a series of coincidences all the way down to the bandaid on Wallace's neck. But he was certainly aware of these existentialost ideas and played with them. Whether or not he couod quote Nietszche, I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised.
@@Sam_on_UA-cam I know the soul thing wasn't intended (I specifically said it was a fan theory in my video). I don't know about the philosophy stuff. Has Tarantino ever spoken about it? I just don't see it as intended in the film. When I watch Pulp Fiction, I see tons of references to pulp, foreign and domestic films, religion and spirituality, relationships and perspective and maturity, but I don't see any references to philosophy. There's nothing in the film telling me I should be thinking about it from a philosophical perspective, meaning to do so seems like the audience putting something into the movie that isnt there, or if it is there, isn't really what the film is doing. I might be forgetting or missing something though, if so please tell me.
You know what would've been a super easy way to drop a nod to philosophy in the film? Have the book Vincent is reading be a philosophy book. Do this (or something similar) and the film has a philosophy reference that tells me it is meant to be looked at philosophically. But without a single aspect like this, not even a fleeting visual or throwaway line of dialog, it just doesn't seem like what the film is doing, and to look at it that way becomes akin to overanalyzing.
@@MoviesUnderTheSurface You're making the same mistake as Jules in the beginning, thinking this is just some cool gangster shit without any meaning. Here's a philosopher who wrote a paper on nihilism in the film doscussing it on a radio show:
ua-cam.com/video/C89zYMSQ-B8/v-deo.html
The real discussion starts about 13 minutes in. And it does not rely on the soul theory. In fact, the fact that the contents of the briefcase are meaningless is the point of the breifcase in his view.
@@Sam_on_UA-cam I listened to that clip you sent me, and to me, it sounds like classic overanalyzing. That doesn't mean they are wrong, and the film could very well be doing those things, but every conclusion they draw, its just as easy to draw another conclusion from the same material. For example, the watch is a symbol of manhood and also a piece of shit? Sure, but it could also be a symbol of love and a valueless item that is also priceless. You could literally interpret it either way because there is nothing in the film to indicate one over the other. Likewise, the idea that the contents of the briefcase don't matter could be a reference to nihilism, or it could be a reference to classic Hollywood MacGuffins. In this case, I would actually argue that there is more evidence for the latter than the former.
To me, the people on that radio show are seeing one and not the other because it is what they want to see, not because it is specifically what the film is doing. What the film is doing, in my opinion, is looking at redemption, paying homage to Hollywood and foreign films and pulp and B-movies, and telling three (or really one) great stories. Maybe I'm being Jules, maybe I'm not. But again, I would ask, what does the film want me to be doing? What is the film telling me to do? If it wants me to be philosophical, I think it needs more hints/references than it has.
This of course could just be me watching movies in a different way than others (cinematically vs philosophically, maybe?), which is fine. Again, I'd really love to hear Tarantino speak on this subject, to see if these things are what he was going for.
Loved this video. Please keep making more of them and often. You have a magic eye for films
thanks! I appreciate you comment a lot!
I clicked soooo fast when i saw this uploaded. Thank u for the vid, love it!!!!!!
thank you for watching it!
Jules: "Eh fuck nigga, what the fuck you do to his towel man?"
Vincent: "I just dried my hands."
The ensuing debate about washing hands was brilliant. And that's the exact moment when I knew Vincent Vega was an asshole and I was just waiting for him to get murdered. Lol. He literally washed his hands of blood, disowning any personal wrong doing, in any context.
He had already been murdered by that point
@@rexdavidson4028 - right. Yeah, we watched the scenes in order in film class and re-edited the film. Crazy experience.
Wahey another vid keep up the work!
thanks! I appreciate it!
Great channel, your content is great!
thanks!
i've never watched pulp fiction cause everyone who ever talked about it to me made me feel like it might be overrated? and i didn't want to maybe encounter disappointment if i watched it? but then my best friend watched it and told me it was just ok, and that left me in a very confused position, even more undecided on whether i should break the tie formed in my mind, but this nice video of yours is actually the level headed conclusion i was looking for :D thnx
thanks for your comment! That's awesome that the video connected in that way. I definitely recommend you watch the movie though, it is a great film!
I was also disappointed by my first viewing but it grew on me the weeks and months after watching. Now I have rewatched it several times and love it.
This is one of the greatest movies ever made in the 90s
I feel like no matter how much praise pulp fiction gets, it will always be underrated, but I might just be biased..
love your channel! keep it up! :)
thanks!
Tarantino likes to de-construct genres, to me Pulp Fictions is a large deconstruction of hollywood cinema, it is almost a satire where he just takes many of the popular cliches on screen and drags them down to "Pulp", it is almost as calling them Bullshit.
Great video! I really hope your channel gets the followers it deserves(:
thanks for your comment! Pulp Fiction as a satire is an interesting perspective, I'll have to think about that next time I watch the movie!
Pulp Fiction is about redemption, but also brings in interesting ideas of divine intervention and religion in general. The film pretty intentionally has some of the stupidest plot conveniences of all time. That one guy hiding in the bathroom conveniently misses every shot against Jules and Vincent, Butch conveniently running into Marcellus while he's buying donuts, Butch conveniently running into Vincent while he's getting his watch, Jules conveniently being at the same place and time as the two robbers, etc.
The idea that certain things happen for a reason makes for a far tighter script, but also gives quite an interesting idea on metaphysical levels. That God gives these people chances of redemption. If they accept, they're rewarded, if not they suffer for it. Vincent chooses not to redeem himself, so he dies like a fodder. Whereas, Jules chooses to leave his lifestyle, and gains enlightenment and becomes a better person. This applies to several others like Butch, Mia, and even Marcellus, and it's all through the idea of divine intervention. What could have easily torn Pulp Fiction apart is precisely what made it so amazing.
in Pulp Fiction, every act of divine intervention either sets up or delivers redemption, hence why I put redemption at a deeper level in this film
@@MoviesUnderTheSurface I think redemption of more of the surface level thing, and the idea of divine intervention leading to the idea of fate being the deeper level of the movie. But I may be overextending myself on this one.
@@errwhattheflip no worries! there's definitely different ways to interpret this movie, much of having to do not necessarily with the movie itself, but how the individual watches it
You really altered how I think about this movie! I loved it before but this is some serious gourmet shit.
thanks! lol
Excelente analisis. Saludos desde Lima - Perú.
thanks!
This is a great analysis. I feel sad this will be removed from UA-cam :(
hopefully I'll be able to get it put back once it is gone
Thanks for a very interesting video on my all-time favorite movie. I don’t much care about symbolism or “deep meaning”. When I watch a movie, I want to be entertained, and this is storytelling at its very best.
Is there any way you could do a video on The 400 Blows?
Hah! I love that film. Maybe one day. That's some really advanced filmmaking, it would be a really hard video to do.
can you please analyze Her
I'll consider it. I wasn't a huge fan of that movie, but thanks for the suggestion nonetheless
"Trying to control his rage..."
Cut to butch screaming at his gf and thrashing the hotel room. LOL.
cut to him stopping himself in the middle of what you are saying he is doing
@@MoviesUnderTheSurface ...with his partner crying and huddling afraid in a corner.
@@applepower5 hence him "trying to control his rage and anger" not him actually controlling it
@@MoviesUnderTheSurface Fair enough. That's a good point.
This is amazing! I hope you can create something in time for this year’s oscars 😅
Im working on a new video, but it isn't Oscar related unfortunately. Maybe I'll do one once I've seen more of the nominated movies. I've seen some but not all of them
Yes but why is Jerry Seinfeld shooting at Joules and Vincent?
I love your videos but your profile picture doesn’t stand out in my notifications so I sometimes miss new videos from not paying enough attention
thanks for the feedback, I'll look into it
I loved this video! I think it is very fair assessment of pulp fiction. The first time I watched it I hated it. It was super overrated in my opinion. But I think u critique the movie in the lens that it is supposed to be looked at! It is crazy that something as meaningless as the plot is now be compared to masterpieces like godfather and Shawshank. Great video!
thanks for your comments!
Butch beat an innocent man to death.
Fact: Without the prior existence and work of myspace Zuckerburg would be a bum. He didn't innovate; he AND his colleagues barely refined. He took an article of clothing and removed a pocket here and added one there. That's all. He saw what was annoying about the standard of the time and adapted it. He did not invent. He did NOT create. He was NEVER a visionary. Clever opportunist at best.
I think you commented on the wrong video
Great video!!! Although you kind of like showing that rape scene a bit much... Thanx!!!
Thanks! Pulp Fiction is very subdued in its rape scene depiction, which is why I didn't think it was too much to show what I did. Sorry if it bothered you, that wasn't my intention!