2. Objectives
• To look at why Pulp Fiction is considered a
post modern film
• To understand how post modern features
are used, uniquely in this film
• To consider to what extend it is post
modern
3. Scenes we will watch
• The opening scene in the car and killing
sections (Vincent’s story)
• Vincent and Mia and Jack Rabbit Slims.
• The killing of the black youth and the clean
up.
• Butch and the weapons and rescuing
Marsellus Wallace
4. The film
• Made in 1993 with a production budget of only $9Million.
• Directed and written by Quentin Tarantino
• Followed the success of ‘Reservoir Dogs’, 1992, also
directed by Quentin Tarantino.
• Won numerous awards including the Palme d’Or at
Cannes Film Festival.
• Known as being containing many post modern features.
For many, it is the quintessential post modern film.
5. Pulp Fiction as a post
modern film
• Intertexuality
• Confusion over Space and Time
• Unconventional narrative structure
• Absurdity of plot and dialogue often
concentrating on the trivial and mundane
• Style over substance
7. 1. Inter textuality
• The film is post modern as it references a
huge amount of other films, owing to
Tarantino’s almost encyclopaedic knowledge
of film and desire to play with inter
textuality.
• What intertextuality did you notice?
8. 2. Confusion over Space
and Time
• There is confusion over what time period
the film is set in with conflicting details in
the film, so the audience may conclude it has
deliberately not been set in any time
period, which as this is an unconventional
part of the plot and narrative, is a post
modern.
• How was this shown?
9. 3. Unconventional
Narrative structure
• The narrative is non linear. This means it jumps from one
period of time to another and is purposely playful.
• Why would this be post modern?
• What examples can you think of that show this?
10. 3. Unconventional
Narrative structure
• It reminds an audience that it is a film (not
real life where events happens
chronologically), and draws attention to
narrative convention.
• Another feature which is playful and self
referential is when Mia draws a square on
the screen - reminds you it is a film and
draws attention to construction of graphics
on the screen.
11. 4. Absurdity of plot and
Mundane dialogue
• Pulp Fiction devotes time to random killings which seem absurd and
mundane discussions or activities without any such narrative
function.
Interestingly the mundane conversations are often about verbal definition,
and the difficulty of making it.
Why is this post modern?
What examples can you think of?
12. 4. Absurdity of plot and
Mundane dialogue
• These conversations about trivial meanings seem to relate both to:
a) a kind of realism (most of us spend quite a bit of time in trivial
conversations) and to
b) postmodernism’s sense of the slipperiness of the meaning of words and
wordplay
Scenes which do this are: Le Big Mac, Is a dog a filthy animal? The Foot
massage.
13. 5. Style over Substance
• What do you think?
• Some think there are too many inter textual
references and that they get in the way of the film
being enjoyable.
• Tarantino wanted film critics to discuss the film and
was very conscious of rewarding cultural capital to a
select few elite viewers with film knowledge
• It remains a po-mo classic, and was a commercial
success, but is still relatively cult with a niche audience.
14. Slides to watch from Colourful,
but long, Pulp Fiction PPT
• Intertextuality - 3, 28, 11, 18, 14, 17, 26, 42
• Unconventional narrative: Space and Time -
54
• Time period - 4
• High and low art - 50
• Realism - 9
• Bible - 8
15. Themes and meaning
• It is a tragic film without the sadness and a comedy
without a comic plot.
• It champions itself as a film that bends political
correctness.
• From the beginning the title makes reference to the
pulp American trashy novels that were popular and full
of violence and by sanitising and glorifying the
violence, it plays homage to it at the same time as
being self referential and mocking it.
16. Themes and meaning
• It looks at male honour (Butch rescuing Marsellus
Wallace; Butch’s dad’s watch)
• It also looks at American consumerism. (robbing
wallets in Diner; 50c milkshake)
• Women have secondary roles but the females are
empowered and it is not sexist.
• One of the themes is that you must take consequence
for your actions, this moral message is seen when Vincent
and Jules are seen cleaning the blood from the car in
which the black youth is murdered.
17. Conclusion
• It has several post modern features
• It can definitely be concluded as post
modern film
• Its post modern features, especially
intertextuality are predominant and heavily
used.
