Component 2d Essay- Pulp Fiction Narrative

“Unfamiliar approaches to narrative can be both difficult and exciting for the spectator.” Discuss this comment in relation to your film study.

Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’ is a comedic and yet brutal take on the crime genre of film that promises to be engaging right from the start with an unconventional narrative structure that actively involves the viewer to think about how the plot and story are developed. Tarantino’s unique style of storytelling through his varied use of narrative structure gives Pulp Fiction a far more tense and exciting atmosphere than if the film had gone about telling the story of several hitmen, a crime boss and a boxer who all intersect each others lives but in a linear fashion.

Narrative structure in Pulp Fiction differs greatly from other traditional films emerging at the time because of Tarantino’s creative narrative choices, but this isnt to say that he goes completely against narrative convention. Propp, a Russian scholar, devised 7 character roles most associated with storytelling that are all present within the film and given a modern Tarantino spin for the setting of 1990’s America. For example, the princess role is best assigned to Mia Wallace, wife of the hitmen’s crime boss, however unlike in more traditional films, she is given a more independent role rather than being based around the hero’s prize. When her husband asks Vincent to look after her for an evening, she is more than capable of handling herself such as when she willingly volunteers to dance in front of people in stage but ultimately it’s Vincent who acts as the hero character when she overdoses and he has to inject her with adrenaline, saving her life. The modernisation of Propp’s theory of character roles is more culturally appropriate in 1994 at the time of the release of Pulp Fiction as American society had converted from the western loving country in the 1960s to a crime ridden place due to the increasing easy access to weaponry such as guns. Therefore, Tarantino is able to better reflect the social aspects of society whilst delivering a more entertaining experience for the audience who are able to resonate and understand the characters’ personalities and motivations in the film.

Tarantino however ignores Propp’s theory that a story has 31 narrative functions but not in its entirety, as he often uses some of these narrative functions just not in there traditional chronological pattern. The non-linear structure of Pulp Fiction means that there is no absentation, where somebody goes missing at the beginning or a wedding after the villain is defeated at the end according to Propp’s ideas, instead Tarantino completely ignores this chronological structure, beginning and ending in the same place during the same event. The film opens with Honeybunny and Pumpkin, two amateur robbers set on robbing the café they are dining at. Both characters stand up and begin to threaten the customers and staff before there is a cut away from the action to an intertitle before cutting to a completely different location at a different point in time where Vincent and Jules are en route to retrieve a briefcase. This has a huge impact on the audience as it leaves them wanting to know what happens to the robbers, which isn’t answered until the very end scene, when Jules and Vincent are in the same café whilst the robbery takes place. This is incredibly exciting for an audience as they are made to wait to find out what happens so that when they do, they are aware of the ruthless and brutal traits of the two hitmen that has been shown across the film, content with killing their boss’ enemies and even their own partner, they will surely take down two amateur robbers in over their heads, but Jules’ enlightenment that happened just beforehand in the plot but long before in the story creates an understanding as to why he has mercy for them. Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction conforms to a non-linear structure to great effect, creating tension in a scene as the impact on the viewer is far greater now than if they had started off with the hitmen driving as there is an established sense of direction to the film that is all the more thrilling for the viewer.

Tarantino has never conformed to tradition rules which is why his films are so entertaining for the audience. On occasion though, his films conform to certain narrative ideas such as Levi-Strauss’ Binary Oppositions Theory where the basis of a story is built on to become engaging because two or more characters are in opposition to one another. This is most noticeable in Pulp Fiction in the performances of the characters. There is an established set of positive vs negative forces in the film or good vs evil that can be identified, with the dialogue of the characters creating the perception that Vincent and Jules are the positive forces despite being killers, whilst people such as Pumpkin and Honeybunny are the negative forces. On screen, the audience only see Pumpkin and Honeybunny for a brief amount of time, in which time they discuss threatening civilians and robbing them, making it difficult to sympathise with them. On the other hand, Jules and Vincent can often be seen discussing trivial matters such as cheeseburgers and taking a lady out to dinner which is far more relatable to the audience and so its more likely that the audience will be invested in what the two hitmen are discussing as the mundane conversations are entertaining because they are a breath of fresh air away from the violence involved in their jobs.

Todorov’s equilibrium theory can be applied to Pulp Fiction, but rather than as a whole, it can only be applied to the story and not the plot. Looking closely at one chapter imparticular, ‘The Bonnie Situation’, this equilibrium can be seen functioning in terms of the story but the plot differs from that of a tradition film. The established equilibrium is when Vincent, Jules and Marvin are all in the car after they successfully retrieve a briefcase, but then Vincent accidentally shoots Marvin in the face, forcing them to go to a friends house and call for help. The equilibrium is disrupted here and they recognise this and attempt to resolve the problem before there is a new equilibrium established where Jules and Vincent are no longer in danger from the police but Marvin remains dead. The story aspect of Todorov’s theory fits perfectly into this chapter but the plot differs slightly as the non-linear structure of the narrative means that the audience are aware that Vincent has already been seen to be killed by Butch but it hasn’t happened in the story yet which is a thrilling revelation for the audience as creates intrigue as to what sequence of events led to his downfall.

Typically, traditional films will have an established narrative perspective set out from the beginning of the film, whether that be from a first person viewpoint or a limited third person, it is clear from the start who the audience are encouraged to follow and therefore sympathise with so it is key to the enjoyment of the audience that the main focus or perspective viewpoint of the film is someone who is actively engaging. Pulp Fiction’s first person restricted view throughout conforms to typical narrative structures used within film, but the focus on the experiences of Jules, Vincent and Butch rather than just one perspective adds a greater depth of understanding as to what is happening within a short space of time, allowing for a larger flow of information to the audience as we are left to piece together how each individual story coincides with the others such as when butch shoots Vincent, seen through the first person view of Butch. The effect of this is that having three perspectives gives more information to the audience but doesn’t overload them, allowing them to infer key elements of the story.

Pulp Fiction doesn’t conform to traditional ideas about narrative structure, causing the film to be far more engaging and entertaining for its audience than it would have been should it have blindly followed traditional narrative structure theories. Tarantino’s unique and modern twist on how a story can be structured creates an exciting and tense experience for the audience who are challenged to think about what they are watching.

Re-draft Essay

Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’ is a comedic and yet brutal take on the crime genre of film that promises to be engaging right from the start with an unconventional narrative structure that actively involves the viewer in terms of considering how how the plot and story are developed in a innovative manner for effect. Tarantino’s unique style of storytelling through his varied use of narrative structure gives Pulp Fiction a far more tense and exciting atmosphere than if the film had gone about telling the story of several hitmen, a crime boss and a boxer who all intersect each others lives in a linear fashion that left no room for audiences to piece the films story together.

Narrative structure in Pulp Fiction differs greatly from other traditional films emerging at the time because of Tarantino’s creative narrative choices, but this isnt to say that he goes completely against narrative convention. Character roles are a key part of all narrative films as is the case with Pulp Fiction. When looking at a character such as Mia Wallace, wife of Joules and Vincent’s boss, her assigned role is that of the princess character as devised by Propp, a Russian scholar who conceived of 7 character roles most associated with storytelling that are all present within film. Unlike in mOre traditional 1990’s crime films, a modern Tarantino spoon allows for Mia to have a more independent role in the film rather than being just a prize to the hero. When Mr Wallace asks Vincent to look after her for an evening, she is more than capable of handling herself despite her constant substance abuse, volunteering to dance on stage despite Vincent’s lack of enthusiasm, but ultimately it’s Vincent who acts as the hero character, characterised by Propp as being the one to save the princess as she overdoses and it falls to him to save her life. Mia is a modern example of the changing ‘princess’ role within film that better reflects the time the film was produced in comparison to 1960’s and 70’s as 3rd wave feminism became a growing movement. Although not upheld by everyone, such morals as greater women’s rights was a popular belief in America, shared by both men and women and therefore Tarantino is able to better reflect the social aspects of society during the period whilst maintaining an interesting story that excites audiences and appeals to many inner desires of law-breaking and an audience that are able to resonate with the characters’ motivations in the film such as Mia as people know that whilst they may not be married to a crime boss, the characters’ attitudes aren’t something from an inconceivable fairytale.

The non-linear format of Pulp Fiction creates great challenges but allows for some interesting storytelling viewpoints that help make the film even more engaging to an audience. The film begins and ends in the same location, opening with two robbers, Honeybunny and Pumpkin, threatening customers and staff at a cafe before there is a cut away from the action to several days beforehand when Vincent and Joules are en-route to retrieve a briefcase. Tarantino disregards Propp’s theory that a story must contain 31 narrative functions which has a huge impact on the audience as rather than an absentation at the beginning where somebody goes missing and the hero must find them, the audience are left wanting to know the result of the robbery, with Tarantino promising to show them in the final scene which creates dread and tension for the innocent customers. Tarantino’s master stroke comes when its revealed that Joules and Vincent are in the same cafe later on, in which Tim the audience have seen what the two men are capable of and therefore dread and fear shifts away from the customers and to the robbers. Propp states that at the end of the story the villain must be defeated and whilst the two robbers back down, they are both allowed their freedom as does other villain characters such as Mr Wallace who is freed by Butch from a rapist. Tarantino’s lack of a chronological structure has a positive impact on the tension of the film as by ignoring Propp’s set narrative functions and providing reason as to why we should fear for a group of characters as it establishes a sense of direction that is thrilling for the viewer and allows for a greater understanding of the plot and the characters that makes the audience form a motivation for wanting someone to see bad done to them or succeed.

To say that Pulp Fiction goes completely against narrative theory would be incorrect but doesn’t mean that the film loses any of its entertaining qualities. Within Pulp Fiction, the performances of the characters establish positive vs negative forces that can be identified, such as dialogue from Vincent and Joules discussing mundane topics such as cheeseburgers creating the illusion that they are good men despite the fact they are both killers, whilst people such as Honeybunny and pumpkin are portrayed as being negative forces as on screen they only discuss threatening innocent people and robbing them, making it difficult for an audience to sympathise with them. This narrative idea is in line with Levi-Strauss’ Binary Oppositions Theory where the basis of a story is built on two or more characters being in opposition with each other. Tarantino’s characters aren’t positive in that they seek to do good, rather that characters so far from the reality of the viewer such as Joules and Vincent are able to be relatable, makes an audience find what they say more entertaining and engaging than if two store owners discussed the same mundane topic.

Lookin closely at one chapter, “The Bonnie Situation”, Joules, Vincent and Marvin are all driving in a car after retrieving the briefcase, but suddenly Vincent accidentally shoots Marvin in the face, forcing them to go to a friends house and call for help so as not to be spotted by the police. Narrative theory is both present here and disregarded when considering Todorov’s equilibrium theory, which can fit the story but not the plot. The established equilibrium is when they are driving but the equilibrium is disrupted when Marvin is killed and they recognise they need to fix the situation before a new equilibrium can be established where they aren’t in danger of the police because the car is clean and the body is gone. The story aspect of the theory fits perfectly but the plot differs as the non-linear structure of the narrative means that the audience are aware that Vincent is killed later on by Butch but it hasn’t happened in the story yet which is an intriguing revelation for the audience as it leads to questions as to what led to his downfall which keeps the audience engaged with the film.

Pulp Fiction contains a first person view throughout which follows traditional film narratives where there is an established narrative perspective from the beginning. Which makes clear who the audience are encouraged to side with and so its key that this person is someone who is actively engaging so that the audience remain entertained and encouraged to side with them. Pulp Fiction differs from this set structure as the viewpoint shits between three characters, Joules, Vincent and Butch rather tan just one which adds a greater depth of understanding as to what events are taking place and at what point in time which allows for a larger flow of information to the audience who are left to piece together how each story coincides with another, such as when Butch shoots Vincent which is seen through the perspective of Butch. By using three perspectives, Tarantino allows for a lot of information to be passed to the audience in small chunks that doesn’t overwhelm which creates a sense of mystery for the audience as they desire to know what happens next and how other events occurred.

Pulp Fiction doesn’t conform to traditional ideas about narrative structure, causing the film to be far more engaging and entertaining for its audience than it would have been should it have blindly followed traditional narrative structure theories. Tarantino’s unique and modern twist on how a story can be structured creates an exciting and tense experience for the audience who are challenged to think about what they are watching.