10 Greatest Uses Of Music In Quentin Tarantino Films

4. Girl, You€™ll Be A Woman Soon €“ Urge Overkill €“ Pulp Fiction

Converted_file_d95508fb Ok, last Pulp Fiction entry I promise, but it€™s a good one. So far, two of the three Pulp Fiction entries have centred on Vincent and Mia€™s night out. The trepidation of their first meeting accompanied by the sounds of Dusty Springfield and their, maybe-this-isn€™t-so-bad-after-all, drug-fuelled boogie to Chuck Berry. So far Vincent has done a pretty professional job, time to drop her home and call it a night, right? Wrong. As Vincent gives himself a pep talk in the mirror, €œone drink and that€™s it€€ Mia doesn€™t seem hold Vincent€™s insistently professional approach. Tarantino, again fully aware of the importance of music to the scene, shows a close-up of Mia turning on her music system, the music is supposed to be centre-stage here. Tarantino cuts from the static shot of Vincent to the camera fluidly tracking Mia through her apartment to accentuate her mental state. As the music escalates, Tarantino zooms in to Mia who dances frantically. In opposition to the Mia-controlled, Dusty Springfield scene, she has little control over this one. As Vincent continues delivering soliloquys to the bathroom mirror, Mia seemingly settles down, only to discover the heroin Vincent had bought prior to their evening. The song continues to strum away, we the audience know its heroin she€™s found, Vincent know this too, but he€™s not here. As Mia ODs, the song and the scene fade. Although the scene isn€™t as infamous as the twist contest scene, what makes it so good is the choice of song coupled with the skill Tarantino uses to construct the scene. Tarantino makes it feel as if the song was created specifically for this scene. With Vincent out of the way, the audience voyeuristically watch Mia, apprehensively awaiting the inevitable. Tarantino doesn€™t do more than he has to, taking his time and slowly building to the scenes climax and the result is exhilarating. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKLbaausPQo
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David is a film critic, writer and blogger for WhatCulture and a few other sites including his own, www.yakfilm.com Follow him on twitter @yakfilm