22. Riders on the Storm &...

Lyrics

Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm
Into this house we're born
Into this world we're thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor out alone
Riders on the storm

There's a killer on the road
His brain is squirmin' like a toad
Take a long holiday
Let your children play
If ya give this man a ride
Sweet family will die
Killer on the road, yeah

Girl ya gotta love your man
Girl ya gotta love your man
Take him by the hand
Make him understand
The world on you depends
Our life will never end
Gotta love your man, yeah

Wow!

Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm
Into this house we're born
Into this world we're thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor out alone
Riders on the storm

Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm

I am a big fan of The Doors. Their music is wholly unique and very electric. It's no wonder they were quite controversial in 1967. Even now their music feels groundbreaking and new. What is even more astonishing is that they only existed for four years from 1967 to 1971. During this period they have made more great songs than many other bands do for a much longer period. And none of these songs are very much alike. Unfortunately they lived as crazy as some of their songs are, which resulted in Jim Morrison's early death. The Doors and drugs now seem inseparable and when I think of The Doors I also often think of my own relationship with drugs, which is nonexistent. I am terrified of drugs and I will, most probably, never take it. But it can't be denied that The Doors were mostly on drugs while writing their songs and that drugs played a substantial part in making their songs so wonderfully unique. And they are not the only artists whose great work is shaped in part by their drug addiction. Quentin Tarantino for example wrote half of Pulp Fiction in a coffee shop in Amsterdam. Considering that this blog is called Tarantino & The Doors there obviously should be at least one link between a Doors song and a Tarantino movie. Riders on the Storm was the song that introduced me to The Doors and Pulp Fiction was the movie that introduced me to Tarantino.

The Movie: Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)

Pulp Fiction didn't just introduce me to Quentin Tarantino, it also changed my perception of movies. After watching Pulp Fiction I realized for the first time that movies could be more than simple entertainment and that film making might actually be considered a form of art. I realized that there is more than one way to make movies and that movies could be wildly original and astonishingly inventive. And that even violence could be fun in the movies and that there needn't always be a real hero to root for. After watching it I started to really love movies and get more and more interested in them. I've seen Pulp Fiction now about 4/5 times and every time I watch it I find new wonderful things in it. I could write a lot about it, but I'll focus on what I find the most interesting.

We all know by now that Tarantino is a movie-lover who is influenced by other movies, references them and shamelessly steals from them. Watching Pulp Fiction I got the feeling that Tarantino was also influenced by Seinfeld. In 1994, when Pulp Fiction came out Seinfeld was airing for 5 seasons and was probably the most popular TV-show. Tarantino's dialogue is completely original, but especially Jules and Vincents' dialogue could be easily used in an episode of Seinfeld. It's very easy to imagine George and Jerry talking about whether foot massages mean something or whether pigs are clean animals. This does not mean that the dialogue, besides being funny and original, is meaningless. It very often is in the service of the story and the characters. A few examples: The foot massage discussion, besides being funny, serves to establish the fact that Marsellus is a ruthless man, you don't want to anger. It therefore also adds extra tension to Vincent's date with Mia. The famous 'Royale with cheese' conversation is later again used very effectively by Vincent and Jules to taunt their victims. Jules does not quote the bible for no reason. He really believes in God and his faith really has consequences for him. By the way, this quoting of the Bible is even more funny, because almost nothing that Jules says, really is written in Ezequiel 25:17. It's made up by Tarantino. And of course there is the wonderful, hilarious speech by Captain Koons to the young Butch, about the watch of Butch's father, which helps explain why Butch would be willing to risk his life to retrieve his watch.

This basement scene with the 'gimp' is a scene I never really liked. I found it too mean-spirited, ugly and very close to torture-porn. After a couple viewings I realized that it's an important scene that makes the movie even better. If the movie were told chronologically it would have been the last scene in the movie. The movie would start with the retrieving of the suitcase by Jules and Vincent (if you discount the flashback about Butches watch). The youngsters in the room are killed by Jules because they tried to figuratively fuck Marsellus like he was a bitch. In the basement the hillbillies literally try to fuck Marsellus like he was a bitch. When he is saved Marsellus is asked what he is gonna do to the rapist. Well, Marsellus is gonna call 'coupla hard, pipe-hittin' niggers' to get 'medieval on the rapist's ass.' Obviously this is basically what Jules and Vincent were doing when we first met them. So the movie is not only circular in form, but also in content. I recently saw Steven Spielberg's pretty good movie Munich. In the movie Spielberg argues that violence only leads to more violence and that even if you kill one of your enemies he'll simply be replaced by someone else who may even be more vicious. One could argue that Tarantino states the same thing here, only in a much more entertaining way. After all, Vincent is now dead (not that Marsellus knows this) and Jules has quit, but they will simply be replaced by others and the violence will continue.

All of Tarantino's movies are very violent and often the violence is indeed presented in a comical way. But as I argued in the previous paragraph Tarantino does not approach violence mindlessly and I would even call him a relatively moral filmmaker. This is perhaps most obvious in Inglourious Basterds, but it can also be seen in Pulp Fiction and not just in the example I gave in the previous paragraph. Jules for example renounces violence, Vincent does not and Vincent eventually dies. And Butch goes back to save Marsellus from the rapists. For doing the right thing, Marsellus forgives Butch the fact that he screwed up their agreement and lets him go.

A couple of other things. One of the many reasons why this films is such fun is its fantastic use of music. I can't think of any other movie which uses popular music in such a great way. A lot of scenes are accompanied by a great song and the song almost always seems to be a perfect fit for the scene.
The production design is wonderful too. Every room is filled with wonderful and odd details, with of course the Jackrabbit Slim's being the highlight.