It’s hard to argue that 1994 didn’t have two of the most influential and iconic movies to date. Both “Pulp Fiction” and “Forrest Gump” are movies that some would say are the best ever. Now, if you were to compare these two movies, it would seem absurd with each being on completely opposite spectrums of the moral ethics scale. However, on the surface Pulp Fiction may seem like another gangster, action, crime flick, but if a closer look is taken and the content really analyzed it can be seen that Pulp Fiction is really about redemption and how the characters seem to find it regardless of their actions. Through each separate story that Pulp Fiction tells, redemption runs at the core of the dynamic characters.
If you aren’t familiar with Pulp Fiction, it isn’t your typical movie. It consists of three separate story lines that are seeminglessly integrated and twisted together. Each story has their own little plot, but as an overall movie these plots don’t combine to make a coherent narrative. We as the watchers need to piece together a coherent narrative of the movie as Pat Dowell states in his article Two shots at Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. With that being said, it may seem hard to believe that the theme of redemption stays consistent throughout the whole movie.
By the end of the movie, two of the central characters have seen a life changing event and have decided to reform their ways. Both Butch and Jules have seen the error of their ways and have made the decision to drastically change them. Let’s start off with talking about Jules. Jules is the kind of guy that carries around a wallet with the words “Bad-ass Mother Fucka” on it. If that doesn’t give the sense of what kind of a character he is, there might not be an item tha...
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...st killed Honey and Pumpkin on account of that they tried to steal their wallets, however Jules doesn’t. His actions back up his words.
For a movie to be considered a redemption movie, usually all the main characters find redemption one way or another. However this isn’t the case. Some may argue that Vinne as a character didn’t find redemption, so with him being the main character how is this still a redemption movie? Just because Vinnie didn’t change his ways doesn’t mean the whole point of the movie changes. Vinnie is the only main character to die. He is also the only character that seems to be solely focused on himself. He spends a lot of his time trying to justify his actions. For example, when Vinnie shot Marvin he blames it on the way Jules is driving. Now yes, this was an accident but in order to have shot Marvin, Vinnie needed to have his gun pointed in his
War is seen as a universal concept that often causes discomfort and conflict in relation to civilians. As they are a worrying universal event that has occurred for many decades now, they posed questions to society about human's nature and civilization. Questions such as is humanity sane or insane? and do humans have an obsession with destruction vs creation. These questions are posed from the two anti-war texts; Dr Strangelove by Stanley Kubrick and Slaughterhouse Five written by Kurt Vonnegut.
Like most things captured on film for the purpose of being marketed, the richness of gangster life, with sex, money, and power in surplus, is glorified, and thus embraced by the audience. And as a rule, if something works Hollywood repeats it, ala a genre. What Scarface and Little Caesar did was ultimately create a genre assigning powerful qualities to criminals. Such sensationalism started with the newspapers who maybe added a little more color here and there to sell a few more copies, which is portrayed in Scarface’s two newspaper office scenes. Leo Braudy denounces genres as offending “our most common definition of artistic excellence” by simply following a predetermined equation of repetition of character and plot. However, Thomas Schatz argues that many variations of plot can exist within the “arena” that the rules of the genre provide.
The Outsiders and The Wednesday Wars deal with misunderstandings among young people in the 1960’s and show how people can form friendships despite their differences. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is about two rival gangs, the Greasers and Socs. Ponyboy Curtis and some Greasers befriend Cherry Valance, a Soc. She spies on the Socs and helps out the Greasers. Ponyboy and his friend, Johnny Cade, become involved with the killing of a Soc, so they run away to an abandoned church. When the church catches on fire, Ponyboy, Johnny, and their friend Dallas Winston, save a few children who were trapped in the burning building. Johnny gets injured during the process and later dies. The boys are mentioned in the newspaper as heroes. The
Genre and Narrative Establishment in the Opening of Pulp Fiction, The Krays and Goodfellas In this piece of coursework I am going to study, compare and evaluate three films in order to show how the genre and narrative are established in the opening five minutes of each. The three films I have chosen to study are 'Pulp Fiction', 'The Krays' and 'Goodfellas'. Pulp Fiction was released in 1995, it was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and was star studded with the likes of John Travolta (Vincent Vega), Uma Thurman (Mia Wallace), Samuel L Jackson (Jules) and Bruce Willis (Butch). Pulp Fiction has a non-linear narrative; the film follows Vincent's life and the scenarios he transpires within just a few days.
The second scene of the film opens up to Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield drivi...
Comparing Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos and Cruel Intentions the Movie It is my intention to compare the book, Dangerous Liaisons by Choderlos de Laclos, to its modern movie version, Cruel Intentions, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. I intend to examine how the original French text was modified in reference to plot, character, morals/values, and themes. I also plan to discuss how these transformations change the meaning of the story and reflect different cultural/historical contexts. There are some major differences between these two works, if only because of when they were written. First, the plots of both works need to be discussed and explained how they are different.
Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction is one of the most daring, puzzling, and ultimately exciting pieces of cinema to hit the screen in years. As wholly original as it is a copy of hundreds of films before it about tales of hit-men and criminals, it dares you to step out of the dull and enter a colorful, exhilarating world that could only be Los Angeles. The intensity level of the movie is off the scale. People are laughing like crazy in the theater to the intelligent dialog and other scenes that have the audience gasping for air in shock over what just happened. Although one might say that Pulp Fiction is overly violent and disturbing, it is in fact, one of the greatest movies ever produced. Quentin Tarantino’s incredible screenplay, the intensity of the actors, and music to set the mood, created movie worthy five stars.
Quentin Tarantino has proven time and time again to be one of the most confusing directors to understand when attempting to unravel the personal ideologies in his films. Each of his films deals with race, sexuality, and gender to some extent, and it is often difficult to know whether or not Tarantino is making a commentary on these things or if he truly believes much of the problematic discourse found in his films. Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2 are a testament to this understanding of Tarantino’s films, as they appear to be extremely feminist films at surface level yet, upon deeper inspection, have some very problematic qualities. Looking at Kill Bill Vol.’s 1 and 2 through both a feminist and anti feminist lens can allow the audience to better
In both Japan and America, the film industry is a big industry. Part of that industry is the genre of horror. Movies like this include the themes of an evil entity usually killing people or causing havoc and the protagonists, which are represented as good. Many cultures have their own takes on horror movies. How they’re done and the themes that they believe are evil or that they’re scared of. Ultimately horror movies are dark and invoke fear. Japan and America are two good examples of how horror movies in different cultures can be different, similar and how they can influence each other.
As agents of justice and philanthropists of duty one must evaluate the criminal justice system and its approaches to the solution of crime to determine what is good, appropriate, and what will reduce recidivism. As a western society the United States has changed and adapted its judicial system in hopes of conforming to our changing society and the increase in criminal behavior. Through these adaptations emerged a system within criminal justice that changes the focus of rehabilitation of the offender to not only include imprisonment, but to include reconciliation with the victims and the community that the offender harmed. The restorative justice approach takes a look at the crime, the criminal, and the offended; with hopes for healing and justice
culture. Initially slasher films don’t seem to break the barriers of American Cinema; they still
The camera is more still and focused on Jules as he intimidates the men inside whereas before when it was casual, the camera is loosely following the two down the hallway. This brings a whole new level of tension to the scene and Jules draws out what the men in the apartment know and what we as the audience know to be inevitable; that the men were going to be killed. For a lack of a better term, Jules was shooting the shit, taking bites out of the man’s burger and it really makes him seem like a confident and cool gangster, that this wasn’t his first time nor will it be his last. But he mentions something in passing as he eats the burger, that his girlfriend is a vegetarian and that by extension, he is as well. This humanizes Jules by hinting that within his relationship, outside of his work as a gangster, he has a normal life with a partner. More so, he isn’t in control of his relationship like he is of the situation at hand. We feel the tension rise as Jules delivers his speech, a verse he has taken from the bible that he recites every time before he executes someone. The verse ends with, “And I will strike down with great vengeance and furious anger, those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee” and they shoot two of the men in the apartment. The scene begins to pulse with a red glow, adding to the chaos of the scene, symbolizing almost a heartbeat stopping and eyelids closing in death. However, by chance, a man that was hiding in the bathroom pops out and unloads a clip at both Jules and Vincent but misses every single shot. Jules is convinced it was divine intervention and that his existence was deemed important enough by God to have
The only real way to truly understand a story is to understand all aspects of a story and their meanings. The same goes for movies, as they are all just stories being acted out. In Thomas Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Foster explains in detail the numerous ingredients of a story. He discusses almost everything that can be found in any given piece of literature. The devices discussed in Foster's book can be found in most movies as well, including in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, “Pulp Fiction”. This movie is a complicated tale that follows numerous characters involved in intertwining stories. Tarantino utilizes many devices to make “Pulp Fiction” into an excellent film. In this essay, I will demonstrate how several literary devices described in Foster's book are put to use in Tarantino’s film, “Pulp Fiction”, including quests, archetypes, food, and violence.
Forrest Gump and the Blind Side both have strong characters, inspirational moments, and incredible hardships. The movies show two very smart people who are misunderstood by many.
First, crime is harmful to all who are involved (Cullen & Jonson, 2017). Second, the aim of corrections ought to be to reverse the harm that has been done (Cullen & Jonson, 2017). Third, the abovementioned goal is accomplished by restoring all involved to their original state (Cullen & Jonson, 2017). These principles all coalesce to form what we know to be restorative justice.