Why Quentin Tarantino Uses Non-Linear Storytelling and Small Talk Dialogue
Tarantino intertwines these two stylistic elements. Here’s how he does this and what it contributes to the film.
The famous quote, “I’m gonna play you like a puppet, and you’re going to like it!”, by award-winning director Quentin Tarantino accurately describes the type of theatrical rollercoaster Tarantino is building towards with most of his film works. One of his early work’s, Pulp Fiction, is considered a dark gangster comedy that grapples with three intertwining stories of criminals in the Los Angeles area, each with its own protagonist: Vincent Vega who is a mob contracted killer, Butch Coolidge who is a champion boxer, and Jules Winnfield, Vincent’s former partner. This film was greatly received as a success, stemming from its ability to override traditional storytelling tactics by using two untraditional stylistic elements — non-linear storytelling in conjunction with robust dialogue — to create a film with rich complexity and exceptional character building that entrances audience members until the film’s culmination.
Non-linear storytelling, also known as disjointed or disrupted narratives, is a technique used where events are portrayed out of chronological order or do not follow a linear pattern. Quentin Tarantino utilizes non-linear narrative in Pulp Fiction primarily as a tool to introduce the characters multiple times, through different character’s perspectives, in all three timelines. This can be seen in the setting of the diner scene; initially, the film opens with a couple sitting in a diner, discussing the advantages of robbing restaurant establishments (like the diner) instead of banks and liquor stores. The scene then exits out into a new scene, depicting Vincent Vega and Jules Winifred, mob contracted killers on their way to complete an assignment. The end of the film then shows Jules and Vincent in a diner having breakfast; unbeknownst to the audience, it is the same diner the couple was planning to stick up, and the two sets of characters meet for the first time, allowing different character perspectives than had been developed so far in the film to interact.
Another benefit that Tarantino maximized by structuring this film with a disrupted narrative was the ability to increase the amount of tension interpreted by the audience, without having to expend additional efforts on the script. In non-linear films, the audience is forced to pay rapt attention to the work in its entirety, in a vain effort to complete the puzzle before it is revealed to them. Interrelating the three stories increases the difficulty for the viewers in articulating what information is deemed important, and this allows the audience to zone in on possible connections between the narratives, creating cliffhangers in every scene. Employing non-linear strategies in the film is now recognized as a quintessential Tarantino move, due to his application of disruption — used to craft a more impactful ending for the audience — as well as implementation for the increase in tension it provides to the storyline.
It is impossible to hear of extensive and powerful dialogue use, and not be immediately reminded of Quentin Tarantino’s filmography. The inclusion of highly scripted small talk between characters in Pulp Fiction is used by Tarantino as both a hook to entice the audience, as well as a conversation tool in disguise. Although depicted as just passing chatter between characters, Tarantino crafts hook-like dialogue into the beginning of many scenes, instantly sucking the viewer in with loaded words. Pulp Fiction opening line is a great example of this; the first thing the audience hears is the husband in the diner tell his wife, “Forget it. It’s too risky.” According to nofilmschool, regardless of the meniscal information presented, the audience is immediately hooked and aware something big is going to occur. Another way Tarantino manipulates casual conversation is by writing it in a way that disguises character development, scene-setting, and even plot movement. At first glance, this small talk between characters can seem digressive to the continuity of the film, but it is thoughtfully designed to be relevant to the current and upcoming events about to take place. This can be best viewed in the small talk between Vincent and Jules before they carry out their boss’s — Marsellus Wallace — requested hit. As they discuss Marsellus’s attack on a friend — Antwan — over supposed infidelity with Wallace’s wife, the audience can begin to picture Marsellus as a terrifying figure who must not be crossed, while the diction of the conversation sheds light on the two killers as intelligent and humorous men.
Later when Vincent probes Mia Wallace — Marsellus’s wife — on the matter, her comment about the boys exaggerating gossip being “worse than a sewing circle” helps depict the contract killers as more humane than assumed; the killers are shown bantering in seemingly mundane and familiar small talk, while being depicted as charismatic and attractive, allowing the viewer to better grasp the characters individual voices, while also hinting at future plot developments involving Marsellus’s temper against characters who cross him. Quentin Tarantino’s unique ability to structure conversations for his characters in a way that grabs the audience’s attention, as well as builds the character’s personalities and report, while providing hints for future events, allows this film to ascend to a higher level of cinematic enjoyment.
While Tarantino’s utilization of both non-linear narrative and unassuming, but plot commanding, dialogue help create a unique movie experience for his viewers, it is his masterful way of intertwining the two elements that allow his movies to leave a resounding effect. Instituting non-linear storytelling to disrupt the audience’s expectations increases their engagement, forcing the focus towards smaller details in the film — such as dialogue — to bear the most importance until larger arcs can be unveiled. Tarantino recognizes this necessary shift in importance and manipulates his characters’ dialogue to inject context-creating stories through small talk, allowing the audience to overcome the non-linear plotline through connecting past and future conversations.
By reexamining the earlier dialogue between Vincent and Jules, information constructed to form connections for the audience can also be observed. Vincent and Jules discuss Marsellus’s infidelity fueled revenge against Antwan, creating an invisible scene that the audience can use to begin to construct connections between characters that have yet to be introduced, knowing they will be introduced somewhat later in random order. During Vincent and Mia Wallace’s dinner conversation, the story is again retold, allowing the paradigms of Mia and Antwan’s relationship to be introduced, while also connecting the new characters. By using dialogue to bridge the gap between dynamic relationships and changing motivations, Tarantino also gifts a sense of linearity in a plot ordered to incite chaos.
Quentin Tarantino’s main objective when designing his movies is to introduce unfamiliar, and even seemingly unrelated, stylistic elements throughout the film to create a unique experience for his audience, as well as establishing his distinctive style that can be detected by audiences in future films. By scripting the plot to flow in a non-linear order, Tarantino compels the viewers to focus on the small details to connect the segments, forcing a higher level of involvement in the film.
However, it is Tarantino’s choice to pair non-linear narratives with plot-moving, small-talk dominating, dialogue that delivers the ultimate movie-watching experience to his fans; this is done by dropping enough context clues in the dialogue to help the audience reconstruct the linearity of the scrambled plot. Due to the combination of these two elements, and how Tarantino expertly manipulates them to heighten the audience’s experience, his film Pulp Fiction is directed in such a way as to entrance audiences into the chaos, promising an unparalleled film experience.
