Pauline Kael reviews Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Pulp Fiction’
Movie critics aren’t exactly loved in Hollywood. Criticising the quality of any given movie with sharp insight, such film journalists have long damaged actors’ reputations and box-office numbers whilst often having no physical experience of working in the film industry themselves. Still, whilst many are hated, there are some, such as Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel, Mark Kermode and Pauline Kael, who are utterly beloved.
An American film critic for The New Yorker from 1968 to 1991, Kael was known as one of the most influential names in late 20th-century Hollywood, penning focused reviews that reflected her wit and piercingly-opinionated personality. Often elevated as something more than a mere ‘movie critic’, Kael’s work was praised by her peers for reinventing film journalism, developing her own form of idiosyncratic writing that would heavily influence many others.
One such influence was the burgeoning young filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, who studied Kael’s writing during his early years as a student of film, consuming world cinema whilst working at a video store in California. “The critic that’s had the most impact on me is, hands down, Pauline Kael,” the director stated on the Pure Cinema podcast in 2020: “To me [she] was my film professor, and at the end of the day ended up being more influential to me as a filmmaker than any director”.
As if in silent dialogue with each other throughout the early 1990s, whilst Tarantino was studying Kael’s every word, the critic herself was watching his rise from plucky screenwriter to first-time director with Reservoir Dogs in 1992. A massive hit that changed independent American cinema, the true magnitude of Tarantino’s cinematic arrival wouldn’t be felt until he released the 1994 Palme d’Or winner Pulp Fiction.
Beloved by fans and critics alike, Kael gave her opinion on Tarantino the same year as Pulp Fiction was released to the world, stating that he was “certainly talented, but it’s too early to say if there’s any depth to the talent”. As for his iconic 1994 film, Kael recalls: “I laughed a lot at Pulp Fiction. It tickled me the way Paul Morrissey’s 1970 porno-absurd Trash did, and Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator. There’s nothing under Pulp Fiction, no serious undercurrents”.
Drawing two interesting cinematic comparisons to an unlikely duo, Kael’s thoughts are critical but not entirely unfair, praising the style and humour of the movie whilst decrying its lack of substance. Continuing, she adds: “I didn’t find any of the important ‘statements’ I had read about in the reviews, but it’s got a crazy good humour. Tarantino has a flair for pop dialogue, and a flair for casting. He used wonderful people”.
What is Quentin Tarantino’s new movie about?
If we know anything about Tarantino, it’s highly likely that the director sought out Kael’s comments about the film, which surely gave him a considerable boost of confidence rather than taking the wind out of his sails. Clearly, the filmmaker still holds Kael close to his heart with his forthcoming film The Movie Critic, rumoured to be all about the influential journalist living in late 1970s Los Angeles.
A lover of 1970s cinema, Tarantino set his most recent movie masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood shortly before the decade, exploring the nuanced cultural changes that would impact the latter quarter of the 20th century. In addition, the filmmaker has named such movies as Toshiya Fujita’s Lady Snowblood, John Carpenter’s Dark Star and Dario Argento’s Suspiria as some of his all-time favourites from the decade.
The Movie Critic could indeed be his final movie, having long-promised to only make ten movies throughout his career before he retires. Speaking back in the summer of 2021, Tarantino confirmed his plans to retire, stating: “I know film history, and from here on in, filmmakers do not get better. Don Siegel. If he had quit his career in 1979 when he did Escape from Alcatraz, what a final film! What a mic drop. But he dribbles away with two more other ones, he doesn’t mean it”.
Whilst we eagerly await the release of The Movie Critic, enjoy the finest moment from his 1994 Palme d’Or winner, Pulp Fiction, below.
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