Pulp Fiction (1994)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino is an odd director for a christian viewer. His films are typically filled with vulgar langauge, odd sexual themes, and explicit violence. A few years ago, before I had seen Pulp Fiction, I was extremely wary of watching Tarantino, despite the great things that I had always heard about the film. The fact that this film is included on this list should tell you what my viewing of the film yielded.
Fresh, inventive, and bold are just a few terms I would use to describe the experience of watching this film. The editing, performances, and dialogue all still feel fresh to me when I watch the film today. Pulp Fiction's influence on countless films of the 90s and 2000s is a testament to just how great this film is. Talking about it's greatness would really just sound like a shopping list of the great scenes and dialogue, so I'll keep my words to a minimum.
Quentin Tarantino is an odd director for a christian viewer. His films are typically filled with vulgar langauge, odd sexual themes, and explicit violence. A few years ago, before I had seen Pulp Fiction, I was extremely wary of watching Tarantino, despite the great things that I had always heard about the film. The fact that this film is included on this list should tell you what my viewing of the film yielded.
Fresh, inventive, and bold are just a few terms I would use to describe the experience of watching this film. The editing, performances, and dialogue all still feel fresh to me when I watch the film today. Pulp Fiction's influence on countless films of the 90s and 2000s is a testament to just how great this film is. Talking about it's greatness would really just sound like a shopping list of the great scenes and dialogue, so I'll keep my words to a minimum.
I will say this regarding the potential conflict between the content of Tarantino's films and being a Christian viewer. Should a Christian be 'okay' with watching this film? Without getting into any long drawn out discussion, I believe that Pulp Fiction is not only an 'okay' film for a Christian to watch, but that the film actually has a lot to offer the Christian viewer. This is in no way an endorsement of wanton violence, vulgar language, or sexual themes. What I am saying is that althought these things are present to an extent in this film, they are (for the most part) in the service of very mature and adult messages and themes. This is not a film for young children nor is it really for young teens either, but to a mature young adult or older, there is a lot of good stuff present. That it happens to be crisp, creative and entertaining as well, is what makes it truly essential for me.
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