Ezekiel Pulp Fiction

The Ezekiel s25:17 scene of pulp fiction, starting with Marvin opening the door and ending with Brett being shot, contains many important cinematic techniques in order to create the director’s desired effect. Quentin attention’s intentions for this scene is to create a lot of tension by constantly building it up using a variety of techniques. He also mixed humour with the violent gangster behaviour to create black comedy feel to the film. The scene begins with Jules and Vincent, the hit men, entering Brett’s apartment.

It is immediately identifiable from the mise en scene who the important characters are. Jules and Vincent are dressed in black suits which not only shows that they are important men but also the black colour of their clothing symbolises death, which is essentially what they are to the occupants of the apartment compared to the young men’s more casual shorts and t-shirt and lighter coloured clothing, a dichotomy is created showing the difference between the two sets of characters.

The first thing that Jules says as he walks in is “hey kids” and followed “how you boys doin”?. his shows that the gangster know that they are superior to them as he continues to refer to them in this throughout the scene this friendly way of speaking also adds to the tension being gradually built up through Jules change in attitude from charming man to killer. Jules greets the young men politely, introduces himself and offers a hand to be shaken he remains cool through the scene which the audience into anticipating him to abrupt, which of course does happen when he shoots “flock of seagulls” in the face and throws the table across the room.

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What Pulp Fiction Scene

Jules change in attitude is accentuated by his wise non-blinking eyes and raised voice. Jules behaviour is countered by Vincent’s less civil manner. He says when walking in and lights up a cigarette without consent. He also hands in the background as a threat lurking behind Brett to make him feel uneasy and also because he is only interested in getting hat they came for and shooting the target.

This plays with a “good cop/bad” idea between the two gangster which is typically used in police interrogations in order to intimidate the suspect. With Vincent standing in the background and Jules in the foreground, they have created a trap with Brett stuck in the middle. The gangster are in a position of power as they are standing above Brett who is seated. This idea is reinforced as Jules gestures for Brett to sit back down when he attempts to stand. he way this scene in the film is edited is different to that of the previous scene here the shots are shorter apposed to the lengthy steadicam shots on the approach to the apartment this changes the rhythm of the film which adds to the building up of tension and also suggests to the audience that a scene of violence will erupt building up of tension and suggests to the audience that a scene of violence will erupt at the end editing also helps create the desired effect when Jules takes Brett’s sprite.

There is one continuous shot of Jules drinking the entire cup full which is contrasted to the fast paced shots of the rest of the scene. The audience expects a cut away to Brett, which they don’t get; this makes the shot relatively humours because of Jules’ impertinence of finishing all of the drink and also the lack of edit brings tension even more, the humour used in this is subtle so that it doesn’t affect the tension being built up. When Jules shoots “flock of seagulls” in the head to interrupt Brett there is an element of comedy in it but not so much that it fails to shock the audience.

There is also something funny about Jules threatening to shoot Brett is he says “what” again. This is a good example of the use of black comedy because the audience finds a scene funny which involves a gun being pointed in somebody’s face. There are also small ironic points that can be seen as comical. Jules mentions that technically he is a vegetarian which seems ironic when he shoots two men dead. Quentin Tarantino likes to put clear aspects in his films that can create discussion in the media. The most dominant of these aspects in this film is the briefcase.

Because you never see what is in the case, it immediately establishes curious ad intrigue because they expect the contents to be revealed at some point in the film, there the audience will be very interested in which the film in its entirety this is knows as a Mcguffin, something that the audience deem to be important but is actually nothing at all however, it could be said that the contents of the case is more sinister than expected, it is said that the contents of the case is the soul of Marsellus Wallace, the gangster due to a plaster on the back of his neck this could then make it a important aspect of the film in terms of symbolism, when the case is opening, the combination is 666, suggesting evil and the devil and a bright light is emitted from the case this light can be seen when the shots of Jules and Vincent are edited together which brings back the symbolism of evil. Tarantino manages to successfully establish the relationships between the character in this scene through the use of effective camera techniques.

When Jules and Vincent walk into the apartment at the beginning of the scene, there is a two shot of the two characters, this two “two shot” has both characters in and establishes a closeness or bond between the two, however in the interrogations shots involved Jules and Brett the camera switches between each of the characters so that they have there own frame, this is intended to suggest that the characters are opposed to each other and that there is a dispute The sound used in this scene is minimal as the scene relies predominately of dialogue to create the director’s desired effect. There is no music as that would story the ever-growing tensions created by the mind games Jules plays on Brett.

The sound of the fun changes the feeling of the scene as it is a sudden loud and unexpected noise that interrupts the calm conversation. The gun is the turning point in this scene as it begins the alteration in Jules’ behaviour towards Brett. The sound of loud gunshots also ends the scene and could e called the climax that Jules’ tensions developing mind had been building up to. The acting in this is scene is of course vital inc eating the right atmosphere as most of Tarantino’s film are supported by the well written dialogue, the lines need to be delivered to a high standard, each characters in this scene is displaying different emotions an reactions to the situation.

Brett (Frank Whiley) is clearly uneasy about the gun men’s presence and so stutters when he speaks and shifts in his chair. He also shows that he is uncomfortable about Vincent lingering behind him by turning his head and also tries to stand in order to manoeuvre himself away from the he’s encased in. Vincent (John Travolta) remains relatively unemotional through the whole scene. This shows that is he uninterested in “toying with his prey” and hovers in the background pacing in circles, reminiscent of a vulture. He is also shown preparing his gun when he feels Jules is nearly ready for the kill which also leads you to believe just wants to get it over with. Marvin, (Phil Lamar) the inside man also clearly doesn’t really want to be a part of the situation.

He is standing as far away as he can in the corner close to the exit, Jules also cuts him off he tries to hurry the situation along by telling where the case is hidden and Marvin shows that he is intimidated by the gangster Jules (Samuel L Jackson) plays it fairly cool at the beginning of the scene and then gets more violent towards the end. Throughout the whole scene he still looks intimidating as that is still the intentions for that scene. I believe Tarantino was successful in creating he tension in this scene the variety of techniques previously mentioned, his film aiming style is celery identifiable I this scene and has established this scene as a classic, well known and quoted scene in cinema.