Kiss Me Deadly 6.20pm (Aldrich, 1955) & Pulp Fiction 8.40pm (Tarantino, 1994):
Prince Charles Cinema
Continuing the season of films that influenced Quentin Tarantino, here's a fascinating Hollywood film noir coupled with the director's hugely enjoyable crime thriller from the mid-1990s.
Chicago Reader review of Kiss Me Deadly:
'The end of the world, starring Ralph Meeker (at his sleaziest) as Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer (at his most neolithic). Robert Aldrich's 1955 film is in some ways the apotheosis of film noir—it's certainly one of the most extreme examples of the genre, brimming with barely suppressed hysteria and set in a world totally without moral order. Even the credits run upside down. This independently produced low-budget film was a shining example for the New Wave directors—Truffaut, Godard, et al—who found it proof positive that commercial films could accommodate the quirkiest and most personal of visions.'
Dave Kehr
Here is the opening with the amazing credits. The ending is one of Hollywood's greatest.
Time Out review of Pulp Fiction:
'A sprawling, discursive fresco: three stories bookended by a prologue and epilogue. In the first story, a mobster (John Travolta) is charged with looking after the irresponsible wife (Uma Thurman) of his vengeful boss. In the second, a washed-up boxer (Willis) tries to trick the Mob by failing to throw a fight. And in the third, two hitmen (Travolta and Jackson) carry out a job, only to call on the services of a 'cleaner' (Harvey Keitel) when it gets messier than planned. It's the way Tarantino embellishes and, finally, interlinks these old chestnuts that makes the film alternately exhilarating and frustrating. There's plenty of sharp, sassy, profane dialogue, and there are plenty of acute, funny references to pop culture, though the talk sometimes delays the action, and the references sometimes seem self-consciously arch. And there are, too, the sudden lurches between humour and violence - shocking, but without moral depth. What writer/director Tarantino lacks, as yet, is the maturity to invest his work with anything that
might provoke a heartfelt emotional response to his characters. Very entertaining, none the less.'
Geoff Andrew
Here is the trailer
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