Food scenes are aplenty in Quentin Tarantino's movies and they communicate more than meets the eye. In 1992, the director entered the scene with the crime thriller Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Tarantino's body of work boasts certain recurring visual motifs such as feet shots, dancing, trunk shots, and back and white suits to his intended movie themes and to elevate the storytelling.
While movie characters are commonly seen eating and drinking, Quentin Tarantino's movies fully utilize the power of food and drinks to develop themes, establish character traits, propel plots, and pace dialogues. His commonly ed and iconic food-centric scenes serve the dual purpose of framing conversation and providing those tiny missing clues about the characters' backgrounds. Tarantino's characters mostly draw out a scene by gorging on food, cooking it, mentioning their food preferences, or simply talking about what they would or wouldn't buy. Food and beverages are a crucial visual motif in Tarantino's movies and they carry a metaphorical value.
2 Quentin Tarantino Uses Food & Drink To Better Develop His Characters
Pulp Fiction is told out of chronological order and it opens with Pulp Fiction's diner robbers Honey bunny and Pumpkin casually planning a low-level heist over coffee. This breakfast scene immediately establishes they are deranged sociopaths who act without rhyme or reason. One of Pulp Fiction's memorable scenes features hitman Vincent Vega (John Travolta) telling his partner Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) that in Paris a Quarter Pounder with cheese is called a "Royale with Cheese." This enriches Vincent's personality and says a dishonorable/ shady person like him is still into observing ordinary things like cheeseburger names, condiments and food cultures outside of America.
Jules murders for money but refuses to eat Bacon because of hygiene reasons. He stresses religion has nothing to do with his choice but at the same time, it's hypocritical of him to fervently quote Ezekiel 25:17 Bible verse before executing people. Calvin Candie's rotten teeth in Django Unchained are explained through his excessive sugar intake. In Inglorious Basterds Lt. Aldo Raine casually eats a sandwich after German soldiers are executed in front of him. This not only shows his apathy but indifference and lack of comion toward Nazis. Tarantino uses food in his movies for characterization, but the power of this food motif goes well beyond.
1 How Quentin Tarantino Uses Food To Show Power In His Movies
Tarantino's most influential films like the neo-noir Pulp Fiction and the war satire Inglourious Basterds are arguably the most food-heavy. He uses food to establish character dynamics and as a means to assert power and dominance over others. The antagonist, Inglourious Basterds orders strudels to intimidate and assert dominance over Shosanna Dreyfus. He also orders her a glass of milk to remind her of the day her entire family was slaughtered at his behest on a dairy farm. While Landa gorges on his delectable dessert, a palpable sense of loss and grief is visible on Shosanna's face.
Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction orders the $5 Shake not only to wave off Vincent's opinion but to convey she's used to getting her way. Similarly, Jules bites into the Big Kahuna Burger to intimidate his boss' double-crossing associate and to remind him he's in charge. Quentin Tarantino's movies use food and drinks to exert power and control in ways that dialogue alone cannot. The food motif works in harmony with the screenplay. This in turn adds an extra layer of complexity to the scenes as well as the characters and brilliantly conveys underlying messages that the director intends.
