Misirlou

Tuesday night was the 20 year anniversary of Pulp Fiction. I was 14 when it was originally released so never saw it in the cinema. I think the first time i saw it was on a Pirate video at school.

I also remember one night watching it with Phil and our then girlfriends when he lived about the wedding shop in Woodford. It feels like yesterday even though its over a decade ago.

Re watching it today had several effects. Firstly its still shocking, strong violence and the language it is certainly not politically correct. I could certainly see that it was made on a budget, but despite some aspects being firmly 90's only a couple of mobile phones, people using pay phones, it didn't feel dated as some films of the era.

The violence in Pulp Fiction is less comic, and less bloody than in Tarantino's later films like kill bill and inglorious bastards.

In my opinion Tarantino redefined cinema with Pulp Fiction. Prior to its release that films had become extremely formulaic, to the point when with ever single line of dialogue existing to further the plot. Pulp fiction turns that on its head, presenting the narrative out of sequence and adding scenes only to entertain with dialogue. Yes the language and tone are shocking, again this is a pastiche of 70s cinema (where some of the visual style comes from and what was considered a golden age of cinema). There scenes with Samuel Jackson discussing burgers or John Travolta dancing badly (remember he was best known for his dancing in Saturday night fever).

Overall I really enjoyed re watching a modern classic.