Charles Crispin on “Pulp Fiction”: Reeling in the glory of ‘90s pop culture

Charles Crispin has an overt preference for the works of director Quentin Tarantino, and undeniably so. Whenever someone asks him to list down his favorite films, these two top the list: Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Pulp Fiction (1994). While both are critically acclaimed, Pulp Fiction remains to be Tarantino’s best reviewed and most popular among his masterpieces.

Charles Crispin. Image Credit: imdb.com

Considered as one of the most influential films of the ‘90s, Pulp Fiction is famous for its stylized direction, unconventional plot structure, and recurrent cultural references, albeit it is the latter element that has elevated it to its current cult status. The film is a veritable hodge-podge of classic cinematic references that is hewn in seven sections, chronologically disarranged.

Charles Crispin. Image Credit: imdb.com

It is this never-before-seen cinematic oddity that manages to hook long-time fans like Charles Crispin into faithful followership.

The most famous example is the dance competition scene featuring lead stars John Travolta and Uma Thurman. It is purportedly a homage to Jean-Luc Goddard’s film, Bande à part, which incidentally is also the namesake of Tarantino’s production company.

Several other film bits have been found to be homage to directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Francois Truffaut, and Robert Aldrich—all of whom have influenced Tarantino in one way or another.

Although it primarily capitalized on the prevalent pop culture of previous generations, the movie eventually went on to become a distinct pop culture phenomenon altogether. As Ken Dancyger put it, its imitative yet innovative style represents “a new phenomenon, the movie whose style is created from the context of movie life rather than real life.”

It’s no wonder that even after 18 years, it still continues to captivate generations upon generations of movie geeks the world over.

Charles Crispin. Image Credit: imdb.com

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