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Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Erik Tóth

Intertextuality in the Cinematic Production of

Bachelor‟s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Tomáš Pospíšil, Dr.

2011

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

……………………………………………

2

Acknowledgements

In the first place, I would like to express my gratitude and respect to my supervisor, doc. Tomáš Pospíšil, for his initial inspiration, patient guidance and kind help which he has provided during the writing of the thesis.

I would also like to thank my parents for their love and heartful support during the whole course of my studies.

A special thanx belongs to Lucie Hofmannová without whose belief, motivation and encouragement this work could have never been finished.

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Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 5

Chapter 1: Intertextuality ...... 7

Chapter II: Quentin Tarantino – The Uncrowned King of Intertextuality ...... 13

Chapter III: – An Intertextual Feast ...... 17

3.1 Synopsis ...... 18

3.2 Intertextuality in Pulp Fiction ...... 21

3.2.1 Pulp fiction ...... 22

3.2.2 Jack Rabbit Slim‟s ...... 23

3.2.3 Direct Referencing ...... 28

3.2.4 Recycling Famous Lines ...... 32

3.2.5 Scenes and Shots ...... 34

3.2.6 Holland ...... 37

3.2.7 Other ...... 37

3.2.8 Connections to Other Tarantino‟s Movies ...... 41

Conclusion ...... 44

Works Cited ...... 47

Résumés ...... 51

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Introduction

When doing a research on intertextuality in of Quentin Tarantino I discovered a great lack of plausible work on this point of issue. I found this rather intriguing as intertextuality has become a crucial term in cultural studies of the 2nd half of the 20th century and Tarantino – one of the most influential figures of contemporary

Hollywood – fills his movies with intertextual references. I would go as far as to call it a Tarantinoesque1 trademark of the . There is no other screenwriter or director who would wittingly accumulate so much allusion2 in his work. With this thesis I am going to attempt closing this unjustifiable gap in cultural studies and give an overview on the use and importance of intertextuality in the cinematic production of Quentin

Tarantino.

The first chapter deals with the theoretical perception of intertextuality. I will look on the brief history of this term, overview several theoretical approaches and various meanings by different scholars and finally choose the most fitting theory for analyzing a Tarantinoesque motion picture.

The life of Quentin Tarantino is on the scope in chapter 2. I will try to find and highlight any possible influences that might have been important in forming his cinematographic style. Based on numerous interviews, essays, reviews, bibliographies or actor statements on his behalf, I will show how Tarantino‟s life is truly interwoven with intertextuality.

The last chapter will concentrate solely on the peak of Tarantino‟s carrier – Pulp

Fiction. The purpose of this chapter is to find and analyze any trace of intertextuality

Tarantino might have placed or hidden in this film. I am going to discuss what function

1 A widespread term in cinematography; an adjective used to describe anything (movie/a dialogue/a scene) which is reminiscent of the works of Quentin Tarantino 2 Allusion, reference and many other similar terms all come under a more general term, which, by some critics (whose theories will be presented further) may be referred to as intertextuality 5 intertextuality possesses in Pulp Fiction becoming the ultimate cult movie.

Finally I will summarize the most important points of the thesis answering the question what role intertextuality plays in the popularity of Quentin Tarantino.

The purpose of this thesis is neither a theoretical analysis of the concept of intertextuality, nor writing a bibliography on the life of Quentin Tarantino, but simply to give a thorough analysis of Pulp Fiction as an intertextual masterpiece inside an intertextual frame on Tarantinoesque background.

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Chapter I

Intertextuality

“We create our texts out of the sea of former texts that surround us, the sea of language

we live in.”

(Charles Bazerman)

Before being able to start any analysis of the importance and use of intertextuality for Quentin Tarantino or the role its specific instances play in Pulp

Fiction, there is an inevitable need to define this widespread term and find the most suitable place it stands in the world of art, especially cinematography. This need emerges as there is no clear and unified definition of intertextuality, as the term “has come to have almost as many meanings as users.” (Irwin, 228) Thus this chapter is going to outline the various theoretical approaches linguists and critics have taken in the definition of this term. Ultimately this should lead to the most applicable definition of

Tarantinoesque intertextuality and help the reader get a better understanding of the meaning of this term in cultural, namely cinematic studies.

A possible would be to look at the most common and accessible sources of word definition for the common people – dictionaries. Surprisingly, the only prominent dictionary that has an entry for the searched word „intertextuality‟ is

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. The definition goes as follows: “the complex interrelationship between a text and other texts taken as basic to the creation or interpretation of the text” – which might be referential, but by no means sufficient.

The phrase „complex relationship‟ is vague to say the least. To get a greater understanding of the term, we must trace its theoretical origins. I put a strong emphasis on the world theoretical, because practically, as we will see further in this chapter,

7 intertextuality is as old as art itself.

To find the origins of the concept of intertextuality one must trace back so far as the beginning of the 20th century to the structuralist linguistic movement. The renowned

Saussurean semiotics3 stressed the importance of the relationship of signs to each other

(a sign as a whole of two components – the signifier and the signified) within the structure of a text. These concepts where extended by the poststructuralist theorists, represented by a Bulgarian-French literary critic, psychoanalyst, sociologist and philosopher Julia Kristeva4. She claimed that “every text is from the outset under the jurisdiction of other discourses which impose a universe on it” (qtd. in Culler, 105), meaning that every text5 is a collection of references to other texts without which this text could not exist. She referred to texts in terms of 2 axis: a horizontal axis – connecting the author and reader of a text, and a vertical axis, which connects the text to other texts6. Kristeva was greatly influenced by a Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin and his theory of dialogism - “examination of the multiple meanings, or „heteroglossia‟, in each text and word (Irwin, 228).” According to him every text is in a kind of constant dialogue with other texts. As dialogue is never single-line, but it is based on interaction and response, the previous text is just as influenced by the new one as it applies the other way around. To add to this, Kristeva points out that meaning is never transposed straightly from the author to the reader of a text, but „filtered through codes adopted and modified both by the author and the reader‟ (Holý, 20) as the result of any experience

3 The Saussurean semiotics are the fundamental semiotic theories of Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) 4 Kristeva is now a professor at University Paris Diderot and became internationally recognized as an influential critic after publishing her first book Semiotiké published in 1969. And that is the book, where she coined the term intertextuality. [wiki] 5 We must consider a wider meaning of the general term „text‟, which refers to not only literature but any kind of art – music, painting, drama, and thus film as well. 6 John Fiske, a Danish film theoretician, extended this distinction into what he labels as vertical (a film making a reference to a book / song or vice versa) and horizontal intertextuality (reference on the same level – films to films). 8 other texts might have left on them. Graham Allen, in his prime work Intertextuality, captures Kristeva's point:

We must give up the notion that texts present a unified meaning and

begin to view them as the combination and compilation of sections of the

social text. As such, texts have no unity or unified meaning on their own,

they are thoroughly connected to on-going cultural and social processes.

(37)

Another important theorist of the 20th century, the French Roland Barthes, contributed to the issue of intertextuality with his notions in the essay The Death of the

Author declaring that “a text's unity lies not in its origin but in its destination”. The title unambiguously suggests that the position of the author is severely threatened as “the

Birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author” (Barthes). His ideas are supported by Goldschmidt‟s view on authorship. He suggests that:

„Authorship‟ was a historical invention. Concepts such as 'authorship' and

'plagiarism' did not exist in the Middle Ages. Before 1500 or thereabouts

people did not attach the same importance to ascertaining the precise

identity of the author of a book they were reading or quoting as we do

now. (qtd. in Chandler)

Putting these two theories together, we get a conclusion that we do not face the „death of the author‟ as the author was never really „alive‟. It is only the society which changed their views on the individuality of the author, thus assigning an important identity to him.

In addition to the authors virtual input in the forming of the text, the readers response is just as important. As previously shown, the reader and the author have a fair share in creating the meaning, which spreads through codes adopted by both sides. The

9 famous German writer Johan Wolfgang Goethe believed (as often quoted) that: “We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.” So if the text is created by both the reader and the author, who have been „shaped and fashioned‟ by different codes, the outcome or the meaning of the text might differ greatly. Thus the reader will never be transposed to the absolute will of the author, who can only suggest or hint the meaning, but it is ultimately up to the audience to decide whether to accept it or create its own.

Before getting to any conclusion, there is one last literary critic and theorist –

Gerard Genette7 – whose division of terminology related to the topic of intertextuality is, I believe, of a great importance and brings a certain clarification for the reader.

Instead of „intertextuality‟ he proposed a more inclusive term „transtextuality‟ and listed

5 subtypes:

intertextuality: quotation, plagiarism, allusion;

paratextuality: the relation between a text and its 'paratext' - that which

surrounds the main body of the text - such as titles, headings, prefaces,

epigraphs, dedications, acknowledgements, footnotes, illustrations, dust jackets,

etc.;

architextuality: designation of a text as part of a or genres (Genette refers

to designation by the text itself, but this could also be applied to its framing by

readers);

metatextuality: explicit or implicit critical commentary of one text on another

text (metatextuality can be hard to distinguish from the following category);

hypotextuality (Genette's term was hypertextuality): the relation between a text

and a preceding 'hypotext' - a text or genre on which it is based but which it

7Gerard Genette is associated with the structuralist movement and said to be greatly influenced by Roland Barthes and Claude Levi Strauss. 10

transforms, modifies, elaborates or extends (including parody, spoof, sequel,

translation).

(ctd. in Chandler)

In conclusion I would like to point out that the most prominent figures on the issue of intertextuality Kristeva and Barthes hold that any text is like an unstructured network constituted entirely by “the practice of integrating a variety of foreign discourses within a text through such mechanisms as quotation, commentary, parody, allusion, imitation, ironic transformation, rewrites, and decontextualizing / recontextualizing operations,” (Ryan, 6) or as we would call it nowadays – „piracy‟. An author „steals‟ even if he is not aware of it, his language is always somebody else's first.

On the contrary, „stealing‟ (or intertextuality) when wisely used can become a powerful artistic tool. Thinking about a famous work of art, say film, we can predicate that:

no-one today - even for the first time - can […] watch a famous film

without being conscious of the contexts in which the text had been

reproduced, drawn upon, alluded to, parodied and so on. Such contexts

constitute a primary frame which the reader cannot avoid drawing upon

in interpreting the text. (Chandler)

Playing on this fact, the author is in the position to willingly transpose any kind of message on the reader by transferring the meaning of other texts which intertextual references he intentionally hid in his own text. (However, we must remember that the reader has the power to accept, decline or create his messages.) I am convinced that this perfectly applies to the work of Quentin Tarantino. He is the archetype of an author using another work to create meaning within his own work. This is a particularly self- conscious form of intertextuality: it credits its audience with the necessary experience to make sense of the author‟s allusions and offers them the pleasure of recognition. And

11 this pleasure of recognition is what might make Tarantino‟s movies so popular and allow them to become cult movies.

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Chapter II

Quentin Tarantino: The Uncrowned King of Intertextuality

“When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, 'no, I went to films.”

(Quentin Tarantino)

Quentin Tarantino and his works have been closely associated with the term intertextuality ever since the release of his first movie. His arrival has brought a new approach to filmmaking, “one that admits that movies are bastard beasts, their themes and characters easily swapped into new scenes and circumstances” (Pinsker) He accepts the poststructuralist theory of intertextuality and builds on it by intentionally hiding intertextual references all over his movies, rarely revealing his initial inspiration. On the contrary he leaves the pleasure of finding and the tension of never being truly sure, whether the reference was intentional or not to the audience. The purpose of the first part of this chapter is to find impulses8 that formed the artistic style of Quentin

Tarantino – the Tarantinoesque intertextuality. May this be an unconventional glimpse at the roots of one of the most prominent features of the Uncrowned King of

Intertextuality.

In the spring of 1963 Connie Tarantino9, a 16-year old nurse abandoned by her husband, gave birth to a son. Persuaded that her son would be someone extraordinary and famous (as perhaps every other mother), she decided to give him a special name. At that time a successful television series called Gunsmoke (1955-75) ran in

America and Connie, in platonic love with the leading character – a brave cowboy called Quint Aspen (starring Burt Reynolds) – decided to name her newborn baby after

8 All factual data in this part were collected from the two most credible biographies of Quentin Tarantino: King of Pulp by Paul. A Woods and Shooting from the Hip by Wensley Clarkson. 9 Now Zastoupil, after his second husband 13 him. Thus, even from day one, little Quentin‟s life had been predestined to be forever connected with Hollywood. At a very young age, he would spend a lot of time at her grandmother‟s who would let him spend hours sitting in front of television, which fascinated him from the first time he set his sight upon the screen. As , one of the stars of , explains: “When I saw Pulp Fiction, the little boy watching this big TV [young Butch], being alone in the room, the TV being his friend – to me, that‟s Quentin” (Woods 11). The forming of a movie fan continued, when Connie started taking him to the cinema from the age of about six. Wensley Clarkson who devoted a full chapter to Quentin‟s mother in his biography writes:

Connie saw no reason why Quentin`s age should prevent her – or him –

from enjoying the controversial new crop of Hollywood movies. (…)

Little Quentin was entranced. As corporate life began to pay off for

Connie, she was given season tickets for local baseball and football

teams, deciding to take along her son. `I thought it would be a great thing

to take a boy to, but I couldn`t get Quentin to go to the games. He wanted

to the movies. (Clarkson 13)

And the movies of the 70s10, the so called B-movies showed in cheap American cinemas, would form the fundamentals of Tarantino‟s influences. His obsession with cinematography would grow so big that at the age of 15 he would drop out of school to attend full time drama classes. However he soon realized that being an actor meant bondage and yielding to the will of the director.

My favorite actors were character actors, and I realized they still had to read for parts. I didn't want to be fifty years old and reading for parts. I wanted some control over my own destiny, and it seemed to me that directors [had control over their destiny]" (Peary

10 „the cinema‟ - term proposed by Tarantino himself for movies like spaghetti westerns, Japanese samurai movies Hong Kong martial arts flicks and explotation films 14

135). After doing some part time jobs (like usher at an adult cinema – a tendency to stay as close to the movies as possible) he would finally land in what would seem like a paradise for a movie geek (who, by the time, Tarantino certainly was). In the 1980s

Quentin Tarantino worked in a rental video store, watching thousands of movies of all genres – he states this experience to be the biggest influence on his cinematic career and for a huge movie fan and a director candidate that was certainly the perfect place.

The movies of Quentin Tarantino are mixes of various genres, stuffed with re-used scenes, shots and lines and marked with hidden references all over the place. I believe that it is all thanks to the passion to the world of cinema, he has built over the course of his life. However, many critics have accused Tarantino of not being able to create anything new, but only recycle what had already been done. Despite these accusations of stealing, Tarantino has never abandoned this style. He explains: “I've had people write that I've seen too many movies. In what other art form would being an expert be considered a negative? If I were a poet, would I be criticized for knowing too much about Sappho? Or Aristotle?”(“Internet Movie Database”) I believe that Tarantino perfectly understands the meaning of intertextuality that any text [film] is the mixture of every text created previously, with the strongest influence of what the author of the text is fond of. Moreover he uses this fact to his own advantage, in creation of his unique style and original movies. To get a idea how Tarantino‟s mind works when working on a movie, Samuel L. Jackson, an actor that appeared in almost all of Tarantino‟s films, described Tarantino‟s directing:

Quentin will come in and describe a scene to you in terms of like 6

different films. So it‟ll be: „Well, the first part of the scene is the opening

shot from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and then you get this other

thing and it‟s Days of Wine and Roses and then you go from there into

15 the… and then you... that Road Runner cartoon? Right in that, there‟s this road runner thing when he falls down the cliff and he looks back up – that‟s the moment, that‟s the moment.‟ (Jackson)

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Chapter III

Pulp Fiction: An Intertextual Feast

“I made Pulp Fiction to be entertaining. I always hope that if one million people see my

movie, they saw a million different movies.”

(Quentin Tarantino)

Pulp fiction is considered the best Tarantino movie up to date. Some critics would even go so far to say that it is one of the most influential movies of the 1990s cinema. As far as facts are concerned Tarantino has manage to succeed on both „fronts‟

– commercial and critical too. Being produced by now-defunct , the most acknowledged independent production company of the 1980s and 1990s, it is classified as an indie film, which makes the commercial success even more astonishing – on an estimated budget of $8,000,000 it has managed to gross $107,928,762 in the US alone and $213,928,762 worldwide. At the 1994 it has been nominated for seven Oscars, taking home the Best Original Screenplay Award. It was also awarded the renowned Palme d‟Or Award at the . Moreover Pulp Fiction has been ranked 9th best movie on the Empire magazine‟s „500 Greatest Movies of All

Times‟ list, 94th „Greatest Movie of All Time‟ by the and with a rating of 9.0/10 stands as the 5th best movie on the Internet Movie Database „Top 250 movies list‟.

As my analysis is going to show, this major success is to some extent due to the new approach to movie making that Tarantino has brought. Pulp Fiction is like a tribute to cinema or the history of cinematography. After the success of Reservoir Dogs (1992),

Tarantino was finally green lighted to make his visionary movie, which he started writing even before his first screenplay – My Best Friend’s Wedding (1987). Even

17 though placing intertextual references in his movies has been characteristic for

Tarantino‟s cinematography ever since, as for Pulp Fiction intertextuality it seems quintessential. As I am going to show in my analysis, Pulp Fiction flourishes with film references, it is filled up with pop cultural allusions, intertextuality leaks throw every scene. The reason why he made such clear referencing is, on the one hand, his movie obsession and a desire to pay a tribute to cinema, which means everything for him. On the other hand, more importantly, Tarantino made Pulp Fiction, with the intention that anyone watching this movie could look for and recognize several allusions, connections, references – a practice which, for the pop-cultural audience, seems highly entertaining.

What is more, building on postmodern understanding of intertextuality – a text being a mosaic of every other text previously created, the audience is free to find even such references, which were not hidden intentionally by Tarantino, but are present because of the very nature of the text. As the quote opening this chapter says, Tarantino encourages his viewer to such practice.

3.1 Synopsis

Tarantino uses nonlinear storyline in order to tell three stories from the perspective of three leading characters, all eventually uniting in one story. The film opens with a prologue – a couple of robbers discussing their criminal life over breakfast in a restaurant called Hawthorne‟s Grill. They call each other Pumpkin () and

Honey Bunny (), decide to rob the restaurant and start off with an outcry. At that moment the scene changes to the main titles of the movie and surf music starts playing. After the credits the focus of the story shifts to what is considered a prelude to one of the main stories called „The Bonnie situation‟. Two hitmen, Jules

Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (), are on their way to

18 recover a briefcase apparently stolen from their boss, discussing casual topics as if they were traveling to a regular job. They enter an apartment and after finding the briefcase, with mysterious glowing contents, they kill everyone except Marvin (Phil LaMarr), who is supposed to be their informant. The focus is shifted again as the first story – „Vincent

Vega and Marsellus Wallace‟s Wife‟ – begins. In an empty strip club Marsellus Wallace

() buys off a boxer, Butch Coolidge (), for dropping his following fight. Suddenly Jules and Vincent arrive to the club to hand over the recovered briefcase to their boss – Marsellus. The bartender and Jules mock Vincent for he has been asked to take out his boss‟s wife Mia () to dinner that evening. Before arriving at Wallace‟s to pick up Mia, Vincent stops by at his dealer

Lance‟s house () to buy some heroin and get high. On Mia‟s request they go to Jack Rabbit Slim‟s, a 50s & 60s themed restaurant. They have a long conversation over the dinner, at the end of which they enter and win a dancing contest of the restaurant. Back at Mia‟s home, while Vincent moves to the bathroom to persuade himself not to sleep with his boss‟s wife, Mia mistakes Vincent‟s stash of heroin for cocaine and overdoses. Vincent immediately takes Mia to Lance‟s where they stab an adrenaline shot into her heart and save her life. Vincent takes Mia home and with their agreement never to mention what have just happened to Marsellus, the story ends. The second story „The Gold Watch‟ starts with a of young Butch visited by

Captain Koons (), who served in war with Butch‟s deceased father.

Captain Koons tells Butch the story of a gold watch which has been handed down from generation to generation between the Coolidge fathers and sons. At the exact moment when Koons hands over the watch, the story shifts back to the present to Butch‟s dressing room before the bribed fight. However Butch double-crosses Marsellus, wins the fight by accidently killing his opponent and escapes in a taxi to his girlfriend

19

Fabienne (). The next morning he realizes that Fabienne, who was supposed to pack their bags before fleeing together, had forgotten to take the gold watch and he is forced to return for it, risking facing the gangsters, who are looking for him all over the town. After recovering the watch at his apartment, Butch finds a suppressed machine gun on the kitchen desk, picks it up and kills Vincent who suddenly turns up in the toilet door. On his return to Fabienne Butch encounters Marsellus crossing the road and runs him over crashing the car. When they come around, Marsellus chases Butch to a pawn shop, where the owner (Duanne Whitaker) breaks off their fight with a shotgun.

Marsellus and Butch find themselves tied in the basement of the pawn shop, when Zed

(Peter Greene), a police officer, the owner‟s friend, arrives and chooses Marsellus to be the first to be raped. Butch manages to get free from his ties but before escaping decides to help Marsellus and returns to the basement with a katana, which he finds on the racks in the pawn shop. Killing the owner he sets Marsellus free, who shoots Zed in the crotch and decides to let Butch go upon the condition that he leaves the country and never returns again. Butch takes Zed‟s motorcycle, picks up Fabienne and escapes to freedom.

There‟s another flashback that sets off the last story – „The Bonnie Situation‟. We are back at where Vincent and Jules killed off the gang that stole their boss‟s briefcase. However, this time a man who was hiding in another room appears and shots an entire round of bullets at Jules and Vincent, not hitting even once. Jules calls it a miracle and a sign of God, Vincent a mere luck. In an ardent discussion over the past actions, Vincent accidentally shots Marvin (the informant) in the face, messing up the entire interior of the car. As they must promptly hide the filthy car they drive to Jules‟s partner, Jimmie Dimmick‟s (Quentin Tarantino) house. Winston „The Wolf‟ Wolfe

(Harvey Kietel) is called to solve the situation as Jimmie‟s wife Bonnie (Venessia

Valentino), who cannot find out about the gangsters, is about to arrive from her night

20 shift (therefore „The Bonnie Situation‟). The Wolf readily acknowledges the situation, distributes tasks and they succeed in solving the problem in due time. After the car is cleaned and the body disposed of at an associate‟s junkyard, the imperturbable hitmen,

Jules and Vincent decide to have a breakfast before finally returning the briefcase to

Marsellus. The story focus shifts one last time to the very beginning of the whole story

– the Hawthorne‟s Grill, as the hitmen happen to choose the very same restaurant that the criminal couple is just about to rob. In a discussion over breakfast with Vincent,

Jules announces that because of the „miraculous‟ events of that morning he has decided to quit his criminal life, when suddenly Pumpkin and Honey Bunny begin their robbery, cleaning the counter and collecting the costumer‟s wallets. But when Pumpkin tries to claim Jules‟s briefcase they face an unexpected resistance. In a classical Mexican standoff (everyone pointing guns at each other) Jules shows Pumpkin the contents of the briefcase, gives a biblical speech, demands his wallet back and eventually decides to let the robbers go. The movie closes when Jules and Vincent put away the guns and their shorts and leave the restaurant too.

3.2 Intertextuality in Pulp Fiction

There are certain patterns in the intertextuality found in Pulp Fiction. I have grouped them in certain categories, where each one of them follows certain common features:

Pulp fiction (magazine fiction as template)

Jack Rabbit Slim‟s (referencing in a fictional themed restaurant)

Direct references (films mentioned by the actors, shown on TV, printed on T-

shirts; names from pop-culture etc.)

Recycling famous lines (Lines resembling lines from other movies)

21

Scenes and shots (shots copied from other movies)

Holland (Tarantino‟s homage to the country where he had finished the script)

OTHER (important references with no apparent common features)

Connections with other Tarantino movies (Pulp Fiction in relationship with

other movies of Tarantino)

As there is no official guide from Quentin Tarantino on how to read Pulp Fiction

(which features were among the intentional references), both the viewer and critic can rely only on their knowledge of the cinema and thorough observation. As one can hardly find anyone as fond and knowledgeable of the American cinematography as Quentin

Tarantino, applying this practice becomes rather challenging. Fortunately, when analyzing a cult movie as this one, one is able to depend on the fact that the film has been viewed and analyzed by [as Tarantino would wish] a million viewsers11, all of which are making connections, finding references, expressing their opinions. For my analysis I have used two kinds of sources for references: a) hard evidence (from the author) – interviews, scripts, notes, etc. of Quentin Tarantino and the people closely associated with Pulp Fiction; b) soft evidence (from the audience) – movie databases, trivias, blogs, forums, fan sites, Wikipedia etc. I consider both to be of same importance as a text, is co-created by both the author and the reader and the one cannot be separated from the other.

3.2.1 Pulp fiction

In order to find the first example of intertextuality in the movie, one does not

11 A term coined by Kristen M. Daly by merging „user‟ and „viewer‟ to describe the „modern cinematic viewer‟ as being a fusion of the classic viewer and modern technology user. (161) 22 have to look further than the very title – „pulp fiction‟ – which Tarantino chose as homage to a magazine fiction from the 1st half of the 20th century. There are 3 references in the movie that underline this fact:

The movie opens with an entry from the American Heritage Dictionary – 2

definitions of the world pulp. It is the 2nd one that Tarantino wants his audience

to acknowledge with – “a magazine or book containing lurid subject matter and

being characteristically printed on rough, unfinished paper.

The working title of the movie was Black Mask – a pulp fiction magazine

In the movie, in both cases when Vincent‟s on the toilet, he reads a book –

Modesty Blaise – a famous pulp novel. The two scenes are:

Fig. 1 Vince killed in Butch‟s toilet. Frame captured Fig. 2 Vincent on toilet at Hawthorne‟s Grill. Frame by author from Pulp Fiction. 2011. captured by the author from Pulp Fiction. 2011. Features typical for the fiction (violent plot, punchy dialogue and lurid exploitative stories) are also present in the movie. I believe Quentin Tarantino not only wanted to show his fondness of pulp, but by naming the movie after it and defining what it meant, even before the first scene, he hinted the trend of the whole piece – intertextuality and referencing.

3.2.2 Jack Rabbit Slim’s

An analysis can be thorough and satisfying only when all the features of a text have been analyzed. As Fish, in his article about interpreting poems states: “readers of poetry know that no part of a poem can be slighted (the rule is "everything counts") and

23 they do not rest until every part [every line, phrase, word, punctuation, even space or omission] has been given a significance” (Fish 10). The same can be applied to any text, especially a film. In Pulp fiction every, scene, setting, expression or movement can be interpreted as an intertextual reference. Given the length of a feature film, it would be nearly impossible to analyze every frame of Pulp Fiction and that is why I have chosen one part in particular, which I believe is the most representative of intertextual referencing used by Tarantino – the Jack Rabbit Slim‟s12, a fictional 1950s & 60s theme restaurant where Jules takes Mia out for dinner. I categorized the findings in the scenes as following:

Cars – the design and idea for JRS‟s dining car seats is taken from a late

1960s movie Speedway (1968). Furthermore, the shot where Vincent takes a

long look at a car game is from a movie called Red Line 7000. Tarantino

makes a brief note about it in the original draft of the script – “Vincent

during his "Racecar in the Red" rant.” (Tarantino, 1994)

Fig. 4 Speedway Club Frame Fig. 3 Jack Rabbit Slim‟s. Frame captured by the captured by the author from author from Pulp Fiction. 2011. Speedway. 2011.

Posters – there are several promotional posters of low-budget B movies from

the late 1950s, half of which were directed by a prominent

director of the time. Tarantino is known for his admiration of B-movies and

states Corman as one of his favorite directors. The following movies are

referenced in the restaurant: Dragstrip Girl (1957), (1957),

12 JRS‟s for further reference 24

Motorcycle Gang (1957), Daddy-O (1958), (1957), Machine-

Gun Kelly (1958), (1959), Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958),

The Young Racers (1963), Something for The Girls (1957), Attack of the

Crab Monsters (1957) and High School Confidential! (1958).

The Waiters – the guests at the restaurant are served by waiters

impersonating famous actors from the 1950s-1960s. We can see Buddy

Holly, (in her famous dress from Seven Year Itch), Zorro,

James Dean (in his famous garb from Rebel Without Cause), Mamie van

Doren, Donna Reed and Ed Sullivan (not a waiter, but the maître d‟ of the

restaurant). Moreover when Vincent and Mia enter JRS‟s there is an

impersonator of a singer Ricky Nelson singing one of his songs Waiting in

School.

Fig. 5 Seductive Skirt by Marilyn Monroe Fig. 6 Seductive Skirt by Impersonator. Frame captured by the author from Marilyn Monroe Frame Pulp Fiction. 2011. captured by the author from Seven Year Itch. 2011. Menu – even the menu in the bar bears thematic references and we discover

that because of the orders. As for the meals – Vincent orders Douglass Stirk

Steak and Mia orders Durward Kirby hamburger, the first being reference to

a 1950s director, the 2nd one a 1960s TV series actor. However, the drinks are

where Tarantino showed his mastery – Mia orders a really expensive $ 5

shake. The waiter asks her whether she wants Martin & Lewis or Amos &

Andy. Both are references to comedy duos of the 1950s, the first being a

white duo – allusion for vanilla flavor, the second a black duo – for

25

chocolate flavor. Mia chooses the second one, which might refer to the fact,

that white actors where much preferred to African-Americans at the time.

The square – before entering JRS‟s, at the end of in the car

Mia tells Vincent (as a response to Vincent‟s first sight disapproval of JRS‟s)

that an Elvis man should love it [JRS‟s], calls him a Daddy-O and finally

tells him not to be square and draws a rectangle with her fingers on the

screen. She means that she considered Vincent to like the music from the

Elvis era and mocks him as being too old (like a father, a Daddy-O) and a

square – a person who rejects new trends and is limited by the 4 corners of

their traditional world. The square sign and graphic overlay was first used in

a cartoon named Three Little Bops (1957). However, it is more probable that

Tarantino took it from a later movie called The Parent Trap (1961), where it

was used in a similar sense (square parents disapproving of new waves of

music). There is one more appearance of the square in American cinema –

the favorite Disney cartoon – . In the episode13 Betty draws

the imaginary square to show how square Fred is, because he does not like

the new style of music. The reason why this piece could have solely been the

inspiration for Tarantino is the fact that the Flintstones appear in the movie

on one more occasion – on Judy‟s T-shirt during the adrenaline shot scene.

As cartoons have their references in the movie too, it might suggest that

Tarantino is a cartoon, especially Flintstones fan and he wanted to pay

homage to them too.

13 The episode aired in 1961 and it is called “The Girls Night Out” (season 1, episode 15) 26

Fig. 7 Mia Drawing a Square to Vincent. Frame captured by the author from Pulp Fiction. 2011.

Fig. 8 Pig Drawing a Square to Fig. 9 Betty Drawing a His Friends. Frame captured Square to Fred. Frame by the author from Three Little captured by the author from Bops. 2011. Flintstones. 2011.

The Dance – one of the most famous scenes in Pulp Fiction is the dance

scene from JRS‟s. From an intertextual view, this also brings many allusions

and references. The most apparent might be a dancing Travolta as he is one

of the most famous Hollywood dancing stars because of his hugely

successful movies (1977) and Grease (1978). Seeing

Travolta dance in a two minute long scene is a thing that no one might have

expected but everybody longed for it. Although Tarantino claims that the

scene was not included because of Travolta, having Travolta dance, could

not have worked out better.

The new French wave cinema has had a great influence on Tarantino and his

films. Especially the famous French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard is the one

that has left visible footprints on Tarantino‟s work. There is no doubt that the

dance competition is influenced by Jean Luc Godard‟s Band of Outsiders

(from original Bande à part14) as Uma Thurman and John Travolta has been

shown the famous dancing scene from the movie to give them the idea how

14 Tarantino‟s fascination for Goddard led to naming his now defunct production company „‟ 27

to perform their own dances in the movie. Further, John Travolta said that he

used some of the moves from the „Batusi‟ dance which first appeared in the

1966 Batman series:

Fig. 11 Vincent‟s Batusi Dance. Frame captured by Fig. 10 Batman‟s Batusi Dance. Frame captured by the author from Pulp Fiction. 2011. the author from Batman. 2011.

The Joke – At one point Mia and Vincent‟s discussion turns to Mia‟s short

acting career – the of the failed fictional TV series, Fox Force Five,

copied after an actual failed TV series pilot called Fox Force (1977). The

connections between the two are clear as both feature a special group of

professionals each having a distinct special skill. But what is interesting that

Mia has a gimmick too – in each episode she tells a joke. And it might be

taken from a series called Welcome Back, Kotter (1975), for which this

gimmick is typical. On top of that, John Travolta started off his acting career

in this series

3.2.3 Direct Referencing

A very direct intertextual style used in Pulp Fiction. According to Gerard

Genette‟s classification of transtextuality (see chapter one), this is considered paratextuality. The are 2 reasons why Tarantino included all these in the lines of the characters: 1. So that the conversations appear real, everyday-like, in order to make the characters and what they as credible as possible for the reader; 2. to homage (again) all his favorite movies, actors, characters. I have recognized 4 different types of these references in Pulp fiction: movies mentioned by characters, names, movies on TV,

28 movies on T-shirts, musicians. The movies on the posters of JRS‟s belong here too.

Movies mentioned by characters

o Wake Island (1942) – by Captain Koons in his „Gold Watch‟ scene

o Captain Kangaroo (1955) – by Butch in the song he sings in his car

before hitting Marselus

o Cops (1989) – by Vincent when discussing the „miracle‟ of not being

hit. There is supposed to be a similar situation in the movie

o Super Fly T.N.T. (1973) – by Jules, when cleaning up the car at

Jimmie‟s place, he says he‟s Super Fly T.N.T

o The Guns of Navarone (1961) – by Jules to Vincent during his „You

Ready to Blow?„ rant

o (1965) – by Jules during the discussion with Vincent of

what constitutes a filthy animal

o Kung Fu (1972) – by Jules in the finale passage of the movie, he says

he'll "Walk the earth" like Kaine from Kung Fu

Musicians

o Madonna – by Fabienne saying that she has a bit of a tummy like

Madonna when she was doing „Lucky Star‟

o Elvis Presley – see section „JRS‟s – The Square‟

o Kool & the Gang – by Jules to Jimmy while drinking coffee during

the Bonnie situation

Movies on TV

o The Losers (1970) – a biker film in Butch and

Fabienne's hotel room

29

o Clutch Cargo (1959) – watched by little Butch before Captain Koons

arrives to give him the watch

o Brideless Groom (1947) – watched by Lance before getting

interrupted by a phone call from Vincent

T-shirts

o (1967) – worn by Lance during the adrenaline shot

scnene

o The Flintstones (1959) - Jody is wearing a t-shirt with Fred

Flintstone on it when Vincent shows up.

Names

o – Jules tells Yolanda and Pumpkin to like Fonzie, the

famous star of (1974)

o Tony Horror – Antwan Rockaora‟s nickname adapted from a

fellow independent director Jim Scharman„s movie The Rocky

Horror Picture Show (1975)

o Ringo – Jules calls Pumpkin Ringo for his British accent after one of

the Beatles members Ringo Starr – a significat pop-cultural figure

o Cowboy and cowgirl - Mia calls Vincent „cowboy„- John Travolta

starred in Urban Cowboy (1980). In return Vincent calls Mia

„cowgirl‟ - Uma Thurman starred in Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

(1993).

o English Bob – Paul Calderon's character, the bartender, is named

'English Bob' after a character from (1992)

o Winocki - Captain Koons refers to Winocki in the story about the

gold watch he tells young Butch. Winocki is the name of John

30

Garfield's character in Air Force (1943) directed by ,

one of Tarantino‟s favorite directors o Coolidge vs. Wilson; Vossler vs. Martinez – The boxers that get

announced before Butch‟s fight. Coolidge vs. Wilson references

American presidents Calvin Coolidge and Woodrow Wilson. Voosler

vs. Martinez references Tarantino‟s friends from back when he

worked in a video store (Russel Vossler and Jerry Martinez) o Jules and Jimmie – Jules and his friend Jimmie are ex-partners, the

Bonnie situation takes place at Jimmie‟s house. Might be a reference

to another French New line cinema producer Francois Truffaut's film

Jules et Jim (1962) o Vincent and Jules – Although highly unlikely to be Tarantino‟s

inspiration for the names of the main characters (a duo), in Twins

(1988) released 6 years earlier, the main characters (also a duo)

starring and Danny de Vito are called

Vincent and Jules. o Lash LaRue – Wolf calls Vincent Lash LaRue at the end of „The

Bonnie Situation‟ story at the junkyard. Lash LaRue was an actor of

western movies of the 1940s and 50s appearing as a cowboy.

Tarantino has always been a huge western movie fan. o Bava – Lance offers Vincent different kinds of heroin one of them

being Bava, a reference to , whose film‟s Black Sabbath

was the inspiration for the non-linear 3 story-line of Pulp Fiction

31

o Flock of Seagulls – Jules calls Roger 'Flock of Seagulls' at the very

beginning of the film due to his hairstyle, which resembles the crazy

hairstyle typical for the musician band Flock of Seagulls

o Palooka – Vincent calls Butch „Palooka‟ as a reference to a cartoon

character named Joe Palooka, portrayed as a heavyweight boxing

champion in the cartoon Palooka (1934). Vincent showed how he

looked down on Butch because of his profession and loss of pride for

selling out the fight.

3.2.4 Recycling Famous Lines

Another important intertextual tool in dispose of an author is paraphrasing. Genette calls it hypotextuality – the author creates his text as a certain modification of its preceding „hypotext‟. Tarantino loves paraphrasing certain catchy lines from different movies with the assumption that what has caught on before, should work just as fine today. I have selected the following lines which resemble, to a smaller or greater extent, some famous lines from other movies:

“I‟m gonna call a couple of hard pipe-hittin„ niggers to go to work on the

homes here with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch” (Marsellus Wallace)

In the pawn shop, after being freed by Butch, Marsellus shots Zed and

informs him what is going to happen next. In 's film Charley

Varrick (1973), a character named Maynard warns a bank manager that some

mobsters "will go to work on you with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch".

"That gives us exactly... forty minutes to get the fuck out of Dodge."

Wolf – to summarize the Bonnie situation and acknowledge Jules and

Vincent how much time they have. The line is taken from a famous western

Gunsmoke (1955), where the sheriff tells the villains to “Get the hell out of

32

Dodge”

“That was my 15 minutes.”

Mia – on Vincent‟s question about her short acting career. The expression

comes from Andy Warhol who in 1968 said that "In the future, everyone

will be world-famous for 15 minutes."

"You want that gun Zed? Go on, pick it up. I want you to - There ya go!"

Butch –after killing the pawn shop owner, he tells Zed to try to pick up his gun if he dares to. As Tarantino states Rio Bravo (1959) to be one of his all time favorite films, it is highly probable that this line comes from this movie. When a guy tries reaching for his gun John Wayne says to him, "you want that gun? Pick it up, I wish you would" .

"My name is Paul and this is between y'all."

English Bob – says to Vincent after mocking him for taking out

Marsellus‟s wife to diner to indicate that „he is just saying‟. The exact same line was used in Tarantino‟s fellow independent director Spike Lee‟s School

Daze (1988).

“Because you are a character, doesn‟t mean you have a character.”

Wolf – to Monster Joe‟s, the junk yard owner‟s daughter at the end of the

„Bonnie situation story‟. The Conversation between Wolf and the daughter is taken from (1963) in a similar conversation: “That's not what I said, kid. I said you are a natural character; you're an incredible flake.”

“If I had not made it… Major Coolidge would now be talking to my son,

Jim.”

Captain Koons – to young Butch when he comes to hand him over the

33 gold watch. It is certainly a reference to the renowned Apocalypse

Now (1979): “I would like someone go to my home tell my son everything”.

“You probably... You went over a bump or something.”

Vincent – to Jules to justify that shooting Marvin in the head was an accident. In The Fury (1978) after one character gets in a car, he points a gun at another character‟s stomach saying: "I'm afraid that we might run over a bump and the gun will go off."

"Any of you fucking pricks move and I'll execute every motherfucking last one of you."

Honey Bunny – at the beginning of the move when she and Pumpkin start off the robbery. There‟s one movie, in which the line and especially the tone and sound seem mutual with Pulp Fiction – in Beyond

Thunderdome (1985) towards the end of the movie a kid with guns stops a train and screams: "This is a Stick-up! Anybody moves and they're dead meat!"

Jules‟s speech & :17

Although Jules claims in the movie to have memorized the passage of

Ezekiel 25:17 from the Bible, it bears only a slight resemblance to his speech. During an interview Quentin Tarantino admitted that [the speech] was something he remembered from a movie The Bodyguard.

He said he never read it in the bible, and it is taken almost word for word from that film. Despite being homage to a Tarantino favorite, this speech and the manor and tone in which Jules recites it, makes a huge impact on the viewer. And the assertion that it is from the Bible gives the speech a totally different dimension, which captivates the audience.

34

3.2.5 Scenes and Shots

A typical Tarantinoesque way to pay a homage to a favorite director or movie, is making a very similar shot or setting up a resembling scene. There are quite a few such scenes and shots that might be taken as a reference to other movies. Re-using successful scenes that might have left a footprint in the viewers memory might bring similar feelings as the original shot, a notion that Tarantino certainly builds on

The scene in the „Gold Watch‟ story where Butch is driving away with his

retrieved gold watch and sees Marsellus crossing the road resembles a scene

from ‟s Psycho (1960) where Janet Leigh sees her boss while

she pulls up to him. Hitchcock, as well as Tarantino, was famous for his

depiction of various ways of violence and thus this could be considered as a

homage to one of Tarantino‟s models.

Fig. 12 Marsellus – The Look. Frame captured by the Fig. 13 Boss – The Look. Frame author from Pulp Fiction. 2011. captured by the author from Psycho. 2011.

Certain driving scenes pay clear homages to the classic „fake‟ driving scenes

from the 1950s and 1960s. In these scenes it‟s clear that the actors are only

pretending to drive because of the explicitly fake background. In Pulp Fiction

such scenes are the cab driving scene (Butch‟s run away from the boxing match)

and the heroine montage (Vincent shooting up on heroin at Lance‟s).

35 Fig. 15 France‟s Drive. Frame captured by the author from . 2011.

The scenes with a briefcase of glowing contents illuminating the characters‟ face

were taken from ‟s (1955). On the one hand this Fig. 14 Vincent‟s „High‟ Drive Frame captured by the author from Pulp Fiction. 2011. too could be considered as homage to a great American film maker, on the other

one Tarantino might have used it to create the kind of mysterious feeling around

the briefcase as in Aldrich‟s original movie, a goal which he certainly achieved.

Fig. 16 Boss – The Glow – Marsellus‟s Briefcase. Fig. 17 The Glow – original. Frame captured Frame captured by the author from Psycho. 2011. by the author from Kiss Me Deadly. 2011.

The rape scene at the basement of the pawn shop is inspired by two distinctive

movies: (1972) and ‟s A Clockwork Orange (1971).

Both depict a rape which bears some similar features with the rape in Pulp

Fiction. While in Deliverance, the is also the moment when the largest guy is

chosen to be raped by his captors, while the other is tied up, in A Clockwork

Orange there is the same red ball mouth gag used to silence the victims. What is

more Kubricks‟s fascination and depiction of violance resembles that of Quentin

Tarantino.

Fig. 18 Marsellus‟s Raped Frame captured by the Fig. 19 Victim Raped. Frame captured by the author author from Pulp Fiction. 2011. from Deliverance. 2011.

36

3.2.6 Holland

Among others there is a minor common feature in all Quentin Tarantino movies

– he keeps to the tradition of incorporating Dutch aspects in them. After the success of

Reservoir Dogs and getting his first major paycheck, Tarantino decided to travel in

Europe. He evetually stayed in Amsterdam where he wrote a major part of Pulp Fiction.

The fascination and admiration of the country can be seen hidden in several references in Pulp Fiction:

Vincent Vega mentions getting back from Amsterdam, his experiences, cultural

differences and fondness of the country in 3 scenes of the film: when buying

heroin from his dealer, at the beginning of the movie in discussion with Jules,

and during the dinner with Mia Wallace. As a matter of fact Mia Wallace also

mentions travelling to Amsterdam “to chill out for a month or two every now

and then”.

At JRS‟s Vincent rolles a Drum rollling cigarette for Mia and himself, which is a

Dutch tobbaco company. This is with contrast to all other tobbaco products in

the movie where „Red Apple„ cigarettes are being smoken. Red Apple is a

fictional brand that Tarantino frequently uses in his movies as a sign of his

opposition to product placement.

Butch calls Fabienne a „tulip‟, which is the national flower and trademark

Holland

3.2.7 Other

There‟s a selection of very important intertextual references which cannot be

37 skipped, but share no common features with any other references.

Weapon selection

The depiction of the weapon selection is significant for showing three of

Quentin Tarantino‟s inherent features – violence, martial arts and pride. After

Butch decides not to leave Marsellus behind and help him escape from the

rapists, there is an extraodrinary scene of Butch choosing the weapon to defend

himself and Marselus. In the scene he picks up several tools, all as homages to

films where these tools played roles of deadly weapons, in the following order:

o hammer – (1978)

o baseball bat – Walking Tall (1973)

o chainsaw – The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

o katana (samurai sword) – virtually any Japanese samurai film, e.g.

Shogun Assassin (1980)

Eventually he chooses the katana. This is not only another homage to Japanese

martial arts movies by Quentin Tarantino, but it has a deeper meaning. A

samurai is known to have a great honor towards his master and honor and pride

are virtues that Butch as a modern warrior (a boxer) holds high.

Black and White / Yin Yang

Quentin Tarantino is known for his admiration of Asian action movies. In

an interview on the topic he has mentioned A Better Tomorrow II (1987) as an

inspiration for the black and white suits worn by his characters. In this movie,

moreover, we can see a close-up scene of the main character pointing a gun at

his victim, similar to the famous shooting scene from Pulp Fiction, from the

beginning of the movie.

38

Tarantino admires not only Japanese movies, but also Asian culture and

Fig.philosophy. 19 Vincent Pointing With Histhis Gun in .mind, Frame capturedit might by appearFig. that 20 theJapanese way Gun Mia Point. and Frame Vincent are the author from Pulp Fiction. 2011. captured by the author from A Better Tomorrow. 2011. dressed in JRS‟s is not accidental. Both wear black and white colored clothing,

Mia having a majority of white, Vincent of black. When they step on the dance

floor and start dancing, there‟s a shot where they appear to unite and perfectly

complement each other. They resemble „taijitsu‟ – the classic Chinese sign for

the philosophy of yin yang – which represent the interconnection of dualities –

in this case the complementarity of woman and man, joined in perfect oneness.

Fig. 21 The Dance of Mia &Wallace. Frame captured by author from Pulp Fiction. 2011.

The briefcase

One of the stories of Pulp Fiction revolve around a mysterious briefcase

that was stolen from Marsellus Wallace and in the course of the film, it‟s being

recollected and returned to him, by his hitmen Jules and Vincent. The mystery

39

around it comes from the fact that its contents are never revealed to the audience

in the course of the movie. The only thing the viewer sees when the suitcase is

opened is an orange glow illuminating the face of the characters that always

seem absolutely captured by what they see inside. Although Quentin Tarantino

said15 that the contents of the briefcase are “whatever the viewer wants them to

be” (Tarantino, 1997), the 2 most likely interpretations are supported bellow:

1. Diamonds – it is the same briefcase that Mr. Pink got away with at the

end of the previous Tarantino film Reservoir Dogs after everyone was killed in

the famous massacre scene. This theory is actually confirmed by Roger Avary16

as the original intention of the creators of the movie, but as Tarantino thought

this to be too shallow he decided not to hint this possibility in the movie.

2. Marsellus Wallace‟s – Despite being ever supported by Tarantino

there are many connections that lead to a conclusion that the briefcase contains

the Marsellus‟s soul taken by the devil, but which he is reluctant to get back.

First of all, according to Chinese mythology, when one‟s soul is taken away by

the devil, it is removed through the back of the neck – in the first half of the

movie Marsellus is always shown only from behind to reveal a band aid at the

back his neck is supposed to cover some scar17 from the removal. Further the

combination that Vincent enters to open the briefcase is 666 – a biblical allusion

to the devil. And finally the glow of the opened briefcase and the awe on the

character‟s face looking at it might hint to the soul itself.

15 In an interview on Howard Stern Show in answer to a question by one of the listeners 16 was a colleague of Tarantino from the video rental story in the 1980s. He is also an uncredited co-writer of the scriptFig. 22 of Marsellus‟s Pulp Fiction Band. Aid. Frame captured by 17 However Tarantino claimsauthor that the from reason Pulp Fiction.the patch 2011. is there, was simply to hide the actual scar of the actor Vig Rhames who had cut himself shaving his head off.

40

Fig. 23 The Briefcase Lock. Frame captured by author Fig. 24 Jules Showing The Contents to Pumpkin. from Pulp Fiction. 2011. Frame captured by author from Pulp Fiction. 2011.

3.2.8 Connections to Other Tarantino’s Movies

A common feature that every single Tarantino movie shares, is the fact that

Quentin Tarantino has interwoven them all. From the very first to the latest one, there are certain details and relations present in one or the other thus creating an intertextual web. By only touching upon this kind of intertextuality, while putting Pulp Fiction in the heart of this web, the following connections emerged:

Vincent Vega (John Travolta; Pulp Fiction) and Vic Vega (Mie Madsen;

Reservoir Dogs) are brothers. Tarantino has been planning to make a movie in

leading roles with the Vega brothers ever since the release of Pulp Fiction, but

since he killed of both brothers in their respective movies and the actors are

aging and changing, according to Tarantino himself a prequel would now be

impossible.

Vic Vega retrieves a gas tank from the trunk of his car with the intention to burn

the cop he tortures. The exact same gas tank is seen in the trunk of the car driven

by Vincent Vega after accidentaly shooting his colleague in the face.

Fig. 25 The Gas Tank in Vincent Vega‟s Car Trunk . Fig. 26 The Gas Tank in Vincent Vega‟s Car Trunk. Frame captured by author from Pulp Fiction. 2011. Frame captured by author from Reservoir Dogs. 2011.

41

Jimmie (Quentin Taranino; Pulp Fiction) and Larry "Mr. White" Dimmick

(, Reservoir Dogs) might be related.

Samuel L. Jackson as Jules (Pulp Fiction), after experiencing what he believes to be a miracle of not being shot, decides to put an end to the life of a hitman and “Walk the earth like Kane, in Kung Fu”. In Kill Bill vol. II he is player in the church during the Bride‟s wedding rehearsal and is shown in a scene where David Carradine enters the church. David Carradine plays Bill in

Kill Bill and is also the star of the Kung Fu series referenced in Pulp Fiction by

Jules.

Steve Bushemi plays Mr. Pink, the only „Dog‟ who refuses to tip the waitress in the opening scene of Reservoir Dogs. At the end of the film he is the only one who survives and escapes with a briefcase full of diamonds. As ironical as it might seem, Steve Buscemi plays , the waiter serving Mia and

Vincent in Pulp Fiction – a film where one of the stories revolves around a stolen briefcase.

As for the briefcace, as I mentioned earlier, initially it was considered the to be the one with the diamonds from Reservoir Dogs. Eventually, they never really made any clear hint of this in Pulp Fiction.

The Bonnie situation, one of the three central stories of Pulp Fiction, revolves around Jimmie Dimmick and his wife Bonnie, who is a nurse. In Reservoir Dogs we can find a references to this in a deleted scene (featured on a special DVD).

In the scene Nice Guy Eddie, Mr. White and Mr Pink discuss taking the shot

Mr. Orange to a doctor. A nurse – Bonnie – is mentioned as Nice Guy Eddie refers to „The Bonnie Situation‟. To underline this connection, Tarantino claims

42 to have written 2 out of 3 stories of Pulp Fiction before shooting Reservoir

Dogs.

The woman (Linda Kaye) who is accidentally shot by Marsellus after being run over by Butch in Pulp Fiction is the same as the one pulled out of her car by Mr.

Pink after the robbery in Reservoir Dogs.

In the morning hotel room scene in Pulp Fiction Fabienne tells Butch that "Any time of the day is a good time for pie." – the exact same line used by Alabama in

True .

As for connections between and Pulp Fiction

o The line "Garçon means boy" appear in both films

o Mia is wearing the identical black suit in the Pulp Fiction that Jackie

(, Jackie Brown) buys and wears.

o Butch drives the same old white Honda in the „Gold Watch‟ story in Pulp

Fiction as the one driven by Jackie

The which Jules tastes before killing off the „briefcase thieves‟ in (Pulp Fiction) is from the Tarantinoesque fictional Hawaiian Big

Kahuna Burger Chain and can be seen referenced in , Reservoir

Dogs, , and .

Mia (Uma Thurman), Butch (Bruce Willis) and Pumpkin (Tim Roth) all smoke

Red Apple cigarettes in Pulp Fiction. Similarly to the burger chain, this tobacco company was created by Quentin Tarantino and appears in his other movies too

– in From Dusk Till Dawn, Kill Bill: Vol. I and II, True Romance, Inglourious

Basterds or Four Rooms.

43

Fig. 27. A pack of Red Apples. Frame captured by Fig. 28 Red Apple Billboard . Frame captured by author author from Pulp Fiction. 2011. from Kill Bill Vol. I. 2011.

Tarantino has managed to create a virtual Tarantinoesque world, which stretches across the borders of one movie to another, a place where his scenes, shots and characters come alive. When the viewer goes to the cinema he does not only see a movie, he is invited to submerge into this world. With this Tarantino creates a certain product with a Tarantinoesque trademark that the reader can expect to get. And with this trademark always comes the entertainment of looking for and finding intertextual references (i.e. (as the last part displays) among the movies of the author himself).

44

Conclusion

In this thesis I have offered an illustration of the place of intertextuality in the cinematic production of Quentin Tarantino. The theoretical demarcation of the term served as a guideline to the perception of the concept and as a background to understanding Tarantinoesque intertextuality. Further I looked at the life of Quentin

Tarantino in search of any footprints that influenced his unique cinematic style in order to show that his extensive use of film and pop-cultural referencing is by no means coincidental but rather authorial signature. All this was done to create an ideal position for an in-depth intertextual analysis of Tarantino‟s most prominent work – Pulp Fiction.

Taking the poststructuralist theory of a text as a compound of every other text written before and building on the fact that Quentin Tarantino‟s life and perception of the world have been shaped greatly by films (as texts), the analysis turned into a thorough collection of all the possible references that might have shaped Pulp Fiction.

Tarantino has never denied his intentional use of referencing in his movies, on the contrary: “I steal from every single movie ever made.” (Tarantino, 1994) With this clear support of poststructuralist notions on intertextuality and at the same time providing little, if any revelation of the origin of his „thefts‟, he invites the reader to co-create meanings inside the film. This invitation naturally stands only for those who are willing to co-operate: “If people don't like [stealing], then tough tills, don't go and see it, all right?” (Tarantino, 1994) However, if the viewer accepts the circumstances a journey of endless entertainment begins. It is exactly the space provided for the realization of the viewer what makes Pulp Fiction so appealing. The viewer becomes a detective who has the power to find every single trace of reference (both intentional and unintentional) and interpret it according to his own experience, knowledge and perception of reality.

By showcasing the range of possible intertextual features and their

45 interpretations in Pulp Fiction a conclusion presents itself that the most important element that makes this movie a cult classic is the author-viewer communication, the pleasure the pop-cultural audience gets in seeking and finding pop-cultural references.

46

Works cited

Primary Sources

Quentin, Tarantino, dir. Pulp Fiction. Perf. Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, and John

Travolta. Miramax, 1994. Film.

Secondary Sources

Allen, Graham. Intertextuality. London: Routledge, 2000. Print.

Barthes, Roland. "Death of The Author." Trans. Richard Howard. Image-Music-Text.

New York: Hill and Wang, 1977. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.

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List of Referenced Films and Series

A Better Tomorrow II Grease

A Clockwork Orange Green Acres

Air Force Gunsmoke

Apocalypse Now Happy Days

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman High School Confidential!

Attack of the Crab Monsters From Dusk Till Dawn

Band of Outsiders

Batman Jackie Brown

Black Mask Joe Palooka

Black Sabbath Jules et Jim

Brideless Groom Kill Bill: Vol. I

Captain Kangaroo Kill Bill: Vol. II

Charley Varrick Kiss Me Deadly

Clutch Cargo Kung Fu

Cops Machine-Gun Kelly

Daddy-O Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

Days of Wine and Roses Motorcycle Gang

Death Proof My Best Friend’s Wedding

Deliverance Palooka

Dragstrip Girl Psycho

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues Pulp Fiction

Four Rooms Rio Bravo

Fox Force Road Runner

From Dusk till Dawn Roadracers

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Rock All Night The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Saturday Night Fever The Toolbox Murders

School Daze

Seven Year Itch Three Little Bops

Shogun Assassin True Romance

Something for the Girls Twins

Sorority Girl Unforgiven

Speed Racer Urban Cowboy

Speedway Wake Island

Super Fly T.N.T. Walking Tall

To Catch a Thief Welcome Back, Kotter

The Bodyguard

The Color of Money

The Flintstones

The Fury

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Guns of Navarone

The Losers

The Parent Trap

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

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Résumé in English

The thesis offers a thorough examination of use and purpose of intertextuality in

Quentin Tarantino‟s film Pulp Fiction. In introduction it outlines the significance of a work on the issue, suggesting that intertextuality is a Tarantinoesque trademark. The main body itself consists of three chapters. The first chapter demarcates the term intertextuality in cultural studies, taking the poststructuralist theories of intertextuality, notably by Julia Kristeva, Mikhail Bakhtin and Roland Barthes, as its basis. In the second chapter it searches and examines any significant events in the life of Quentin

Tarantino that had an influence on the formation of his authorial style, namely intertextuality in his works. Supported by the first two chapters, i.e. having an intertextual frame on Tarantinoesque background, chapter three engages in an in-depth intertextual analysis of Pulp Fiction. The analysis itself is divided into 8 subchapters accumulating intertextual references of a distinct pattern. Each subchapter then analyzes a separate pattern by displaying and examining particular occurrences in the movie.

Thus a collection of various possible references is created, which serves as a basis for supporting the role of intertextuality in the popularity of Quentin Tarantino and Pulp

Fiction.

Resumé v slovenčine

Práca predkladá podrobnú prehliadku použitia a zmyslu intertextuality vo filme

Pulp Fiction režiséra Quentina Tarantina. Na úvod pojednáva význam práce v problematike a predkladá názor, že intertextualita patrí k tyckým rysom Tarantinových filmov. Samotná stať sa skladá z troch kapitol. Prvá kapitola vymedzuje pojem intertextualita berúc za základ poststrukturalistické teórie intertextuality, predovšetkým ako ich popísali Julia Kristeva, Mikhail Bakhtin a Roland Barthes. V druhej kapitole hľadá a preskúmava významné udalosti v živote Quentina Tarantina, ktoré mohli hrať

51 dôležitú úlohu vo formovaní svojského autorského štýlu, menovite intertextuality v jeho filmoch. Na základe skutočností z prvých dvoch kapitol, t.j. v intertextuálnom rámci na tarantínovskom pozadí, tretia kapitola sa zaoberá hĺbkovou intertextuálnou analýzou filmu Pulp Fiction. Samotná analýza je rozdelená do 8 častí, pričom každá zhŕňa určité intertextuálne odkazy podľa zreteľnych spoločných znakov. V jednotlivých častiach je potom analyzovaný špecifický znak na konkrétnych príkladoch z filmu. A tak je vytvorená zbierka možných filmových odkazov, ktorá slúži ako základ pre odôvodnenie

úlohy, ktorú intertextualita zohráva na popularite Quentina Tarantina a jeho filmu Pulp

Fiction.

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