8. Son Of A Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction has a number of wonderfully crafted music moments and this is one of them. The non-linear, almost vignette style with which Pulp Fiction is filmed affords Tarantino copious opportunities to show off his flair not only for picking the right songs, but showing them off and making them memorable, so this may not be Pulp Fictions last entry on the list. Son of a Preacher Man soundtracks the first time we meet Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman). All that we know of her to this point is theres a rumour doing the rounds that one of her husband Marsellus men got thrown from a 4th storey window for giving her a foot massage. Whilst Vincent (John Travolta) doesnt condone these actions, he understands them. Tasked with keeping her company for the evening, he is understandably approaches their meeting with trepidation. The audience knows about as much as Vincent does as he enters Mias apartment. There is a flash of white and Son of a Preacher Man starts to play, Mia is a mystery and Tarantino creates the scene almost like a dream as he continues to keep her identity hidden whilst the song plays. We see the back of Mias head, then her lips in close up, then hear her, she remains almost ethereal to us and to Vincent. This is pretty assured filmmaking for someone making their second movie. As drink and drugs are consumed the music gets louder. The camera follows Mias bare feet into the room where Vincent is waiting and the music stops. Tarantino is playing with the audience just like Mia is playing with Vincent and just like Vincent, we dont know what just happened but were intrigued. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRqah4s7dW0