The “perfect” scene Quentin Tarantino called “as good as I’ve ever done in a movie”
Quentin Tarantino fans don’t come much bigger than Quentin Tarantino, which makes it remarkable that he managed to settle on just one of his self-directed scenes as perhaps the best he’s ever shot.
That said, there are plenty to choose from. Every single one of his nine features to date has at least one standout sequence, and in most cases, many more than that. The man knows how to compose a frame, and he knows how to direct the ever-loving shit out of it to elevate it into iconic territory.
He also knows that he knows that, which is why he’s so often guilty of getting high on his own supply. Is Tarantino really tied for first as Hollywood’s best director alongside David Fincher? A lot of people would agree, but there’s an overwhelming whiff of self-aggrandisement to the two-time Academy Award winner saying it about himself.
Still, he’s inarguably one of modern cinema’s most important figures, albeit maybe not its most innovative, with so much of his filmography inspired by his encyclopaedic knowledge of motion picture history, as opposed to tricks, techniques, and foibles that he’s developed himself, apart from maybe all the foot stuff, but nobody’s really asking him to keep indulging that particular quirk.
Tarantino considers Inglourious Basterds to be his masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to be his favourite from his own back catalogue, and Kill Bill the movie he was born to make. That leaves Pulp Fiction, potentially his magnum opus, out in the cold. On the plus side, the crime classic does contain the scene he thinks is as good, if not superior, to everything else.
“To tell you the truth, almost from the point where the date starts, you know, it starts with that little piercing conversation, and he’s over at Eric Stoltz’s house,” he told Ain’t It Cool, referencing Pulp Fiction‘s prelude to an overdose and adrenaline-fuelled resuscitation. “From that point to the end of that story, to the tomato joke, is as good as I’ve ever done in a movie.”
“It’s what I’ve always tried to do, and I think that section completely worked for me in its own seamless way,” Tarantino continued. “You can completely disagree with me, but for what I’m trying to do, that was the perfect musical number.” It’s a great scene, which can’t be questioned, although you wouldn’t have to travel too far to find someone who doesn’t even think it’s the best scene in Pulp Fiction.
That’s not intended as a slight; it’s because there are so many of them. Whether it’s Marvin getting shot in the head, bringing out the gimp, Samuel L Jackson’s monologue, Christopher Walken talking about a watch being hidden up multiple arses over a number of years, the Big Mac conversation, and many more, Tarantino’s sophomore flick is overflowing with indelible soundbites and imagery.
Since he wrote and directed it, though, he’s got a stronger perspective than anyone else. If he thinks it’s everything leading up to the adrenaline shot, then it’s hard to disagree.
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