Jackie Brown DRAFT 1

JACKIE BROWN

Quentin Tarintino. 1997.

"This Christmas, Santa's Got A Brand New Bag"

COMPANY CREDITS

Production Companies:

• Miramax Films
• A Band Apart
• Lawrence Bender Productions

Distributors:

• Miramax Films
• Bac Films
• Columbia TriStar Egmont Film Distributors
• Miramax Home Entertainment

USER COMMENT

"Contrary to Pulp Fiction which had a very unusual editing and flashy situations, Jackie Brown focuses more on characters that are basically humans with very focused problems, for instance getting older which is an eminent theme tackled in the film. No one's evil in all this. They all have interestingly real personalities and I felt strangely comfortable watching them talk, eat, kill and argue with each other. Tarantino is an excellent storyteller and I wish I could write dialogues as interesting as his. The film flows with a slower pace than Pulp, with all it's many streched takes and lenghty scenes, but by doing so leaves us more time to grasp the characters with all their differences. A more mature Tarantino. Still loving what he does. And he said it himself before the film came out: "This one is at a lower volume then 'Pulp.' It's not an epic, it's not an opera. It's a character study."

NOTES AND ANALYSIS

Jackie Brown, most say roots from the Blaxploitation genre, which emerged in the 1970s. These were films that featured mainly black actors and actresses. The genre began some argue with the film "Shaft". Tarantino has indeed featured a mainly black cast and would have shocked the audience even from the posters, before the film was released. 

The film is centered around Jackie Brown herself, a black, 44 year old female air hostess. Already this is unusual, especially in the thriller genre, challenging the stereotypes of today.

As the film begins, the credits run through. However, throughout this Tarantino has used a tracking shot of Brown for the whole time. This allows the audience to familiarize with the character, and make perceptions and first impressions of her. It also shows her in a day to day routine, so possibly Tarantino does not want us to judge brown as yet, as she is simply doing what any normal person does. With awareness of the plot however, we are aware she is a drugs mule. This suggests the tracking shot is a chance for Brown to show her side- she is completely contented, and does not look at all anxious, does this suggest no regret, or that she conceals it beautifully? Until this question is answered it is impossible to make an honest perception of her.

(skip further into the film)

We are now introduced to two more characters. The costume reveals a lot about these characters. Ordell is dressed in simple, yet a strong black, whereas Beaumont is in a loose, exposing basket ball vest. The all black immediately connotes crime, and a shadowed character. In contrast, Beaumont is vulnerable in his attire and far younger than Ordell. 

Ordell shows him the car boot and it explains they are doing and he is part of the plan but must be stowed in the boot until they reach the destination. The car boot is of course an obvious generic convention; It lacks basic human needs- light, sound and air. The space is claustrophobic and is connected with murder. From this the audience wills Beaumont to not agree, however we are also put under a false sense of security, as Ordell sounds so believable and calm, explaining how he had bailed him out of jail... so he must be good? All we do know is that Beaumont has no choice in this, and if he is lucky, he will survive. The whole time Beaumont is chattering hysterically to Ordell, saying there is no way he is going to do it, but is soon convinced. The shot is seen from the boot, a low angle shot looking up to the two characters. As the audience we do not have a full screen, as it is cropped by parts of the boot, therefore the audience have a rough feeling of how it would feel to be in there. It almost puts the audience in an awkward position, as if we are the car boot, and they are referring, looking and talking about us, immediately making it personal to us, thus drawing us into the scene between them. 

When Beaumont is in the boot (still talking madly) Ordell gets into the drivers seat. He is seen putting black gloves on. This not only adds to his solid attire, but is also another generic convention for crime and murder, preparing us for a murder. On the other hand we are still lulled into disbelief, as Ordell then puts on chilled almost 'happy' music as he flips the key into the engine, so this still makes us unsure. I think that Tarantino has definitely done this to confuse and enhance the character of Ordell. 

He begins to drive along dark deserted streets, and drives into an area of wasteland. The area is chilling, with a lack of humanity and optimism. It then cuts to a long-shot of the car, looking down on it. We see Ordell get out of the car, with the music still playing, opens the boot and we hear a snippet of Beautmont's complaining and then 3 gun shots. Ordell closes the boot and returns to the drivers seat. Many aspects of this scene are interesting here. I think that having the same song playing highlights how cold-blooded he is, as so many people associate the songs they listen to to an emotion, whereas Ordell simply sings along and does not seem phased by what he has done. The long shot also means there is a detachment to the murder, mirroring hoe Ordell feels about what he has done; he does not staple emotion and remorse to his actions.

He then drives straight out if the waste land.