Detail View: Graduate Thesis Collection: Stuck in the Middle: Quentin Tarantino, Hollywood, and Counter-Cinema

Stuck in the Middle: Quentin Tarantino, Hollywood, and Counter-Cinema

Curtale, Emanuela Betti

Thesis (M.A.) -- Cinema Studies

Savannah College of Art and Design -- Department of Cinema Studies

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"In this thesis, I explore Peter Wollen’s call for a cinema that combines the critical qualities of counter-cinema, while also entertaining elements of classical cinema. Building on Wollen’s essay Godard and Counter Cinema: Vent d'Est, I discuss the films of Quentin Tarantino. As a filmmaker, Tarantino combines elements of Godard’s counter-cinema while working in conjunction with traditional Hollywood language; he engages through familiarity while simultaneously subverting traditional and familiar forms. I argue that Wollen’s call for an integration of classical and counter-cinema is visible in Tarantino’s film style, as he uses counter-cinema techniques (such as distanciation and anti-realism) to create an active yet engaging experience. I argue that, while working within the boundaries of Hollywood conventions, Tarantino’s subversion of traditional codes result in a cinema that escape the boundaries of classical cinema, and therefore can comment and critique Hollywood ideologies."

Keywords: counter-cinema, subversive cinema, distanciation, spectatorship, anti-realism, dominant cinema, classic Hollywood, pastiche/parody

Savannah, Georgia : Savannah College of Art and Design

2016-03

PDF : 35 pages