Introductory Reflective Essay

R ubble is crushed under his boots. Debris and soot clouds the dark skies. The devastation of witnessing the death of thousands tears at his heart.As the havoc caused by the Twin Tower terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 pierced the nation, Frank Silecchia looked up to see an unforgettable sight, a symbol of hope in the thick of so much sadness and loss: 2 steel beams unintentionally arranged into the shape of a cross during the explosions, found standing tall among piles of debris.

In times of chaos, people will go to extreme lengths to find a glimmer of “peace” in the midst of distress. The World Trade Center cross found by Frank Silecchia in the wreckage of the Twin Towers served this exact purpose. It was an improbable occurrence, seemingly sent from God, which became a symbol of comfort and peace to so many Americans amidst all of the chaos and sadness of 9/11. Whether it’s a nation throwing it’s support behind an emerging leader during civil war to gain a sense of security, or someone turning to drugs for a temporary sensation of “happiness” after losing a loved one, this instance is seen time and time again. This is because humans psychologically seek for any sort of hope, whether real or manufactured during difficult times in order to persevere.

Quentin Tarantino’s trademark is, without a doubt, the vast amount of violence that his films are engorged with. Every movie is overflowing with scenes of people being shot, tortured, sexually assaulted, etc. While some critics believe the abundance of hyper-aggression in Tarantino’s films is a statement serving to comment on the violence which riddles life outside of film, Tarantino has made it clear that he only includes such mass amounts of violence in his movies because he simply likes the feel it gives his movies. Whenever Tarantino is asked about this in interviews, he expresses his annoyance and immediately responds with retorts such as, “If you ask me how I feel about violence in real life, well, I have a lot of feelings about it. It’s one of the worst aspects of America. In movies, violence is cool. I like it.”

While Tarantino’s films are crowded (in my opinion) with bloodshed around every corner, this in turn allows for moments of peace to be intentionally emphasized because of the stark contrast. These moments of tranquility, carefully sandwiched between hours of brutality, stick out like a sore thumb to the audience. They are rare and short in Tarantino’s films, but this is purposefully done in order to highlight raw words and feelings and to draw attention to minute yet important details without distractions.

In all of Quentin Tarantino’s films, I am always particularly drawn into these distinct and memorable scenes rather than the more violent parts of the movies. Besides just finding the violent scenes a little to much to handle for my fainthearted self, I prefer the subtle but strong moments of peace because they give you a chance to feel more connected to the characters- to understand what’s beyond their gun, or to deeper understand the relationships between them. It reveals more by simply showing less.

I first actively became aware of this type of scene that I find particularly interesting while watching the Hateful Eight. The “peaceful scene” in this movie is one of the more obvious instances of scenes that fit this mold. There is a scene- squeezed right in the middle of plenty of blood and gore- that shows a momentary “ceasefire” where the two opposing forces in Minnie’s Haberdashery seem to finally be merging into something pleasant and controlled. While this scene isn’t long, it is powerful in its effect. We get to peer further into the characters than ever before, an essential moment for the movie as a whole.

Once I recognized that I am drawn to scenes like this, I started to become more aware of them in other Tarantino films and I looked into them closer. For example, in Jackie Brown, there is a short instance- again, placed carefully between violent moments- where we see a contrasting calm arise. As Max Cherry and Ordell get in the car, turn on the CD player, and the reoccurring song “Didn’t I” by the Delfonics starts playing, you can immediately feel the atmosphere of the conversation changing- it becomes more intimate, while simultaneously and ironically being the only forewarning that Ordell could have picked up on about his upcoming murder. Through this raw and simple detail, we are allowed to see the different relationship and feelings between the characters crashing together.

We also see this echoing theme of peace amid disarray in Inglorious Basterds as the theater full of Third Reich Generals and honored men resonated with sounds of gunshots galore. In my second essay, I discuss how the German propaganda film, Nation’s Pride, being shown to this group is a much needed break for the crowd. Joseph Goebbels, the producer of Nation’s Pride, made this film to give the officers and soldiers fighting in WWII a break from all of the death and sadness. It was a momentary “armistice” that allowed us to see through the monstrous personalities of Joseph Goebbels and Hitler. It allowed us to see something more human: a movie director and a proud mentor.