The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee 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.
Say what you will, but this is probably the single most important film of my lifetime. I have written before how "Star Wars" shifted the goal of filmmakers away from making works of art and closer to jockeying for the box-office crown. "Pulp Fiction" showed filmmakers that there was still love out there for those that chose to do things their own way. Tarantino packs every classic trick into this film: nonlinear storytelling, long, slow scenes, and even title cards. What was most refreshing about this film was that it didn't really care about being art AND it didn't care about making lots of money; this movie's sole goal is the pursuit of cool. From the soundtrack, to the smooth-as-silk actors and actresses, all the way through all the little quirky touches, this movie is straight up cool as ice. I would venture to say that the scene where Vince and Jules recover Marcellus Wallace's breifcase is probably the coolest scene in cinema history. Any single line taken from the scene instantly ratchets up a conversation's cool factor. Try it sometime: "Say "WHAT" again!", "That is a tasty burger!", "What does Marcellus Wallace look like? Does he look like a *%)#$? Then why you try to *$(# him like a &$*#(?"
Just for the record, according to Tarantino himself, the briefcase contains "whatever the viewer wants it (to contain)".
No comments:
Post a Comment