Quentin Tarantino's Cinematic Rebellion Through Technique

In this analysis, I am going to focus on one director over 3 iconic films from him; Kill Bill Vol 1

Django Unchained and lastly ,Reservoir Dogs. The question I want to ask is how does Quentin Taratino Use Techniques to depict common theories but at the same time go against the norm.

Kill Bill Vol 1 (Hegemonic masculinity theory)

As R.W Connell said “The theory of hegemonic masculinity has been used in gender studies since early-1980s to explain men’s power over women”. (Connell and Messerschmidt, 2005) You see evidence of this in most pop culture films however. The narrative of a strong female lead character has been rarely, but successfully used in previous films a good example of this is Alien (1979). We see evidence of this by director Ridley Scott He took a risk to cast a lead female character, This was a massive risk but this paid off, and helped to influence other directors such as Tarantino in creating protagonist roles for female characters within their films.

Looking at the film we see at the opening scene of Kill Bill Vol1, the screen reads: “‘Revenge is a dish best served cold’ – Old Klingon Proverb”(Martin, 2019). While the origin of this quote is unclear, it's suggested that the act of revenge is the most satisfying when it is unanticipated or unsuspected. Tarantino uses multitude cinematic techniques in the form of not only visual but audible, in an effort to paint a theme of revenge. It was controversial for many reasons; the gratuitous violence, it being released in two parts but perhaps most noticeable and important was his decision to have a female protagonist. After being witness to a horrific attack by her previous employer and lover, the main character known as “The Bride” for the entirety of the first film, The reason this was of note was because of its bold reversal of gender roles. As “The Bride” plays a violent role that is traditionally played by men, especially in Kung Fu films. This is particularly interesting seeing as Tarantino and many other directors usually have strong males playing these violent roles.

Although the premise alone offers an adequate assurance of revenge killing to occur in the film, Tarantino also uses several different methods to communicate this theme. Not more than a few scenes deviate from the, striking colors normally seen in the film and are instead shown in black and white; there is a non-linear storyline. This allows for a gradual build-up of emotion behind each violent killing. Tarantino in no way sacrifices “The Bride” feminine qualities in his portrayal of her as violent Killer, it only emphasizes her masculine actions further. There are breaks from the action sequences which is replaced with animation and voiceover narration; there are noises which do not have a source on-screen which are present consistently throughout the film verging on overuse, but it is added with a purpose; he has also added interesting juxtaposition of traditional “western” cultures which serve ultimately as many symbols for revenge. This is probably best depicted by the image of her wielding a samurai sword whilst in her wedding dress; two images which purposefully and humorously contrast the two gender roles “The Bride” so easily switches between.

We are constantly reminded of this throughout the film. We have another reminder of “The Bride” and her masculinity which is contrasted with her more masculine code name of 'black mamba'. In the same way that she is masculinized so are the other members of the 'deadly viper assassination squad', which, like Bill, she seeks to kill, revenging the death of her child after their attempted assassination on her. This squad is said to be heavily influenced by the 1973 film the “Doll Squad” in which there is also a group of elite female assassins like ones depicted in this film. Another gender parallel can be drawn here, when “the Bride” goes to assassinate Vernita who is the first on her revenge list their fight which is conducted Kung Fu in style, with standard slashing sounds, however this is interrupted by the arrival home of Vernita’s daughter once again reminding the audience that these masculinized assassins lead the double life of mothers and other typically female gender roles.

The majority of the film is shown in full color maybe oversaturated to boost the details, but there are a few notable scenes which are shown only in black and white, entirely absent of color even after the audience had already bare witness to a bloody battle. Two examples of this include the opening scene in which the audience is shown “The Bride” lying on the ground in her wedding dress, battered and bloody; the next occurs much later in the film, when The Bride faces off against the entire “Yakuza” clan in Japan and destroys nearly every person in the building, initiating her journey with the simple mission to kill O-Ren Ishii, who was previously one of her fellow assassins and currently the leader of the Yakuza. Clearly, these were conscious choices made by Tarantino, but I ask the question was these choices made in order to emphasize the bloodshed or to take away from the masculinity of the lead. Looking into this theory I have come across some less reputable sites like (Wikipedia, personal blogs, etc.) suggest that this decision was made in order to avoid a higher age rating upon the film, which could quite possibly be a significant reason for Tarantino’s choice, to use black and white during these scenes. A more likely reason, however, is the classic, theatrical effect of using black and white in a film. An article about the history of film noir’s evolution in the American cinema claims, “One of the major accomplishments of (Kerner, 2019) is to replace the melodramatic combat of arms between the hero and villain with a richly elaborated ‘ceremony of killing’. Death in such films usually takes the form of a professional execution or a sadistic ritual” (Naremore 19). These particular scenes that where chosen to be shot in black and white which were already horrific in nature, as they depicted the very Merciless slaughtering of several characters, but at the center of the violence is always the heroic and villainous figures. Although there were many other violent encounters throughout. The scenes that were shown in black and white were crucial moments captured for “The Bride” characterization, and Tarantino quite clearly wanted these scenes to stand out.

Django Unchained

Diawara says, “The manner in which Black spectators may circumvent identification and resist the persuasive elements of Hollywood narrative and spectacle informs both a challenge to certain theories of spectatorship and the aesthetics of Afro-American independent cinema.” (Bernstein, 1995) The approach of this film with the idea of Race Theory, The formal elements of the film that are immediate to the viewer there changes in the language and pace of the plot throughout the film. Tarantino creates his typical film which is filled with flashbacks and and non linear timeline, this is forcing the viewer to stitch all the aspects of film.The first part of the film flies by, where “Django” is freed, taken under “Dr. Schultz’s” wing, and kills the “Brittle Brothers”. Once the hero’s find where Broomhilda is located, Tarantino slows down the pace of the plot and dialogue, with more focus on the conversations between characters and trademarked scenes of violence. However this time not using the trademark black and white “film Noir” Technique focusing on the colour of the Mise-en-scène. This allows the narrative to develop in a more mature manner, with the increased interactions between characters. It constructs a complex narrative for the viewer, to interpret each character and the representation behind each one. The language in addition reflects the identities of each character and allows the viewer to separate the different representations of each type of character. The slurred and less coherent slang of the slaves throughout the film reflect the separations in education and social status caused by generations of slavery. In contrast, the sly dialogue from Dr. Schultz creates a superior attitude to the generic American countrymen. It also allows him to fool and deceive the ego of Candie, who is attracted to the subservient manner of conversation from Dr. Schultz and Django. The Cajun essence of Candie and his clan, with mixtures of French and an old European undertone of insect with female relatives reflect a different representation. All these diverse dialects of language throughout the film create a different representation to each viewer and allow them to identify differently with each character.

“Representation is specifically talking about how a single image of an ethnic character can manipulate the way we form stereotypes and think about that ethnic group as a whole”(1). It is interesting to analyze how the perception of different ethnic characters in films from different time period usually reflect the overall social perception of that ethnicity’s stereotype. The viewer can be influenced by the overall positive or negative presentation of a stereotype, while the overall film can create a connotation of bigger picture of social commentary. An example is the representation of women in television throughout the latter part of the 20th century. The series I Love Lucy, that ran from 1951-1960, is a “traditional” wholesome production where the woman is naïve character that is always being surprised by her male counterparts. This represents women in a fashion of dependency and a culture of social submission to the husband, though all displayed in a lighthearted fashion. One can skip 50 years in advance, to a modern series like House of Cards. Though Clair Underwood isn’t the politician in action, she is the main cog in the Underwood machine for power, and is presented as a strong, independent, smart, charismatic person who is an equal to her politician husband 100%. She represents the modern woman, who plays the mother, the provider, the supporter, and the protector, among other roles. If women from the 1950’s viewed House of Cards, they wouldn’t feel represented in a positive light by Claire Underwood, and vice versa by modern women observing I Love Lucy. Analyzing the Django Unchained with the aspects of representation, taking the African American perspective towards this western slave film with a Tarantino twist. There are two characters that represent a mixture of modern and past stereotypes of the African American community. We will examine the characters of the former slave turned bounty hunter Django, and the loyal house slave Stephen. The character of Django reflects a strong, loving, dedicated hero who is set on finding his wife no matter the cost, while still containing the uneducated, rough primitive aspects of his slave persona. On the other cost, you have Samuel L. Jackson playing a loyal, educated, well mannered house slave, that contains the “Uncle Tom” aspects of discriminating his fellow black slaves, throwing his people under the bus for the good graces of Candie. These two foils of characters not only reflect a social commentary of the antebellum era, but also a distinct racial-social commentary of today’s modern black society. Modern blacks probably feel positively represented by the physical and heroic aspects of Django though feel conflicted by also being attracted to the well-educated aspects of Stephen. Because Stephen is “betraying” his people, it leaves the viewers resenting his representation of the black community, because he isn’t taking care of the rest of the slaves in the house. He has stark comparisons to Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas, who as one of the most influential black Americans he is perceived to not represent the best interest of his community. The following conversation displays Stephen’s representation.

“Stephen: Cain’t believe you brought a nigger to stay in the Big House. Yo daddy’s rollin’ over in his goddamn grave, right now. Brought a nigger to stay with us. What kinda shit is that? Calvin Candie: Man, the lip on him! Whoo! He’s getting worse and worse. Now, WHERE IS MY BEAUTIFUL SISTER?”(5)

In addition to utilizing representation to further analyze this film, identification is essential to build the framework of Race Theory in the film. It is important for the film to utilize certain characters that will transcend emotions to the viewer, allowing the viewer to feel either an empathic or resistive feeling towards the certain character. “At a certain point in development everyone has a time when they become aware of the self and the

image that comes with it. This is called the mirror phase because it is the time when we realize that even if we cannot see it there is a mirror image of use that everyone else sees and from that point on our character develops with the knowledge that everything we do will be seen by others and represent us to them as what they do represents them to us.”(1) The manner that we observe the actions and emotions of each character such as a kiss or a death, allows the audience to put themselves in the position of the character.

Though Tarantino directs with plethora of violence, polarizing dialogue and exaggerated storylines, he manages to convey certain emotions that identify with the modern viewer of this slave era film. Throughout the film, we do not physically see Django and Broomhilda together before they are separated at the beginning of the film. We take Django’s word and the purpose of the plot to take their bond seriously. It isn’t until, during the dinner at Candie’s plantation that we internalize their love and suffering. Dr. Schultz has a “meeting” with Broomhilda, where he makes her promise in German she won’t scream. Django pops the door open to Broomhilda’s’ surprise, we notice her shock as she dramatically spills her water and faints. At that moment the viewer takes in the amount of suffer and hopelessness that Django’s wife has had to deal with, and we can only imagine how we would react if we were in her situation. This attempt at emotionally identifying with the viewer crosses all creeds and races to convey the universal feeling of suffering, love and shock.

In contrast, when the party first arrives to Candyland, Stephen greets Candie and the heroes in a humorous and brash fashion. The loyal house slave doesn’t concentrate on greeting the party in a positive manner, but immediately focuses on the fact that Django is on a horse. He continues to racially insult Django as he learns that Django is staying in the Big House as a guest. To Stephen’s astonishment, Django is treated as an equal. And the audiences, though amused by Stephen’s antics, can emphasize with Django about being berated about the right to do as others do. The minority viewers can identify with Django, as the emotions of anger, frustration and patience run through ones body as you can notice Django only gently retorting verbally. Though the fight to be equal was more prevalent back in the slave era, these types of situations and frustrations are not foreign to the modern African American. This leads Tarantino’s intention to have the viewer identify with Django and resent Stephen, though both are black.

With the assessment of representation and identification, the total construction of the Race Theory framework is completed with the spectatorship aspect of the film. The “black spectator” frequently represents the most prominent “resisting spectator”, “some blacks identify with Hollywood’s images of blacks, some white spectators, too, and resist the racial representations of dominant cinema”(4). Viewers of different genders, races, social status’ and ages, and how they disagree against their groups’ representation in Hollywood, and cinema in general can also define the “resisting spectator”. The “black spectator” is a vaster example of spectatorship in Race Theory, due to film’s large and evolving representation of African Americans in American film.

As Tarantino created this conversational slave-western film, the “black spectator” and the overall generic spectator probably reacted similarly to the several polarizing characters and interactions, due to our today’s outlook on slavery and discrimination. Being during the slave era, the “black spectator” is going to positively view the Django, as someone who breaks the bond of slavery and obtains revenge on those who have wronged him. Though his journey is stapled to slavery, many “black spectators” can relate to breaking out from being wronged and progressing positively in life. In this manner, having the main character as a strong, patient, smart black man is positively received throughout the black community and even throughout the generic audience. The vast amount of the usage of the N-word has created loads of controversy and a stark amount of “resisting spectatorship”. The “black spectator” among the overall generic spectator joins the “resisting spectator” when it comes to the use of this word. The word is a negative racial insult of the slave era, that modern society has taken strides to get rid of in today’s culture. Though Tarantino and the cast defended the use, as an accurate part of the era’s dialogue, the overall spectator does not receive the excessive use of the word in a positive light, but as a stark reminder that the word still taints the advancements of today.

New Ideas

1. https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/8195?lang=en
2. https://omeka.colorado.edu/hist4546/exhibits/show/masculinity-tarantino/kill-bill
3. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44018897?read-now=1&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Works Cited

1. Kill Bill Vol 1
2. Connell, R. and Messerschmidt, J. (2005). Hegemonic Masculinity. Gender & Society, 19(6), pp.829-859.
3. Martin, G. (2019). 'Revenge is a dish best served cold' - the meaning and origin of this phrase. [online] Phrasefinder. Available at: https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/revenge-is-a-dish-best-served-cold.html [Accessed 29 Sep. 2019].
4. Kerner, A. (2019). American Film Noir: The History of an Idea. [online] Online.sfsu.edu. Available at: http://online.sfsu.edu/amkerner/CINE726/Students/bethynia%20/AmericanFilmNoir.pdf [Accessed 29 Sep. 2019].
5. Django Unchained
6. Bernstein, M. (1995). : Black American Cinema . Manthia Diawara. Film Quarterly, 48(4), pp.42-44.