Pulp fiction ezekiel verse12/26/2023 Once they arrive, both shift to all-business mode, but it’s Jules who takes the lead and undergoes the most visible and terrifying transformation. On the way to the job site, they’re engaging in the kind of low-key mundane, digressive chatter that would become a Tarantino trademark, on everything from fast food in Europe to the purpose of TV pilots to where foot massages rate on the scale of physical intimacy. Take his first scene where he and his partner, Vincent (Travolta), carry out a hit. Image from the Academy's Pulp Fiction collection He’s always keeping you guessing and always manages to surprise, no matter how many times he’s done this shit before. He may be remembered most vividly as a fearsome instrument of vengeance, but he’s really a conundrum: loquacious, expressive, funny, yet elusive, constantly shifting tonal registers depending on his audience, his objective, and his own fancy. In Jackson’s hands, Jules is a man of many moods and dimensions, arguably the most of any character in Pulp Fiction. While Fishburne is a fine actor and would have brought his own unique flavor to the role, I can’t see him inhabiting every fiber of it the way Jackson does. Indeed, Jackson himself believed it was, although Tarantino has since revealed he wrote it for Laurence Fishburne, who turned it down. Allowing for hindsight bias from dozens of intervening movies and “motherfuckers,” it still reads like it was written for him. To this day SLJ is so closely associated with Jules it’s both remarkable he went on to have as diverse a career as he did and impossible to imagine anyone else playing the part. Still, even among an impressive array of star-making and career-reviving performances, Jackson’s stands out. Practically every character in Pulp Fiction and every beat of their talky, casually violent, non-linear narratives have become embedded in our zeitgeist, whether it’s John Travolta and Uma Thurman doing the twist at Jack Rabbit Slim’s, Bruce Willis tersely pronouncing “Zed’s dead, baby” to his girlfriend as they ride off on a chopper, or Harvey Keitel supervising a messy body disposal while for some reason wearing a tuxedo at 9 am. At least, it wasn’t long before high school and college boys of the mid to late ’90s were sporting “BAD MOTHERFUCKER” wallets and reciting his “path of the righteous” speech – without, of course, anything resembling SLJ’s diction or élan. With his jheri curl helmet, glowering eyes, and stentorian voice, Jackson’s gun-toting, Bible-quoting Jules Winnfield became an instant icon. Jackson on Hollywood’s map, Pulp Fiction (1994) made him a star. “ And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.” We're celebrating each of the upcoming Honorary Oscar winners with a few pieces on their career.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |