Narrative technique · used in 6 films
Writing long speeches where characters talk in detail about films, music or other pop culture. How they analyze these small things shows you who they are.
Examples
Quentin Tarantino · 1992
Mr. Brown's opening analysis of Madonna's 'Like a Virgin' sets up Tarantino's world immediately. These characters define themselves and each other through cultural references, well before they do it through action.
Where to see it: The entire diner opening. The criminals debate tipping etiquette and Madonna for several minutes before anyone mentions the crime they're about to commit.
Quentin Tarantino · 1994
Tarantino uses conversations about foot massages, the metric system in Europe and McDonald's menu names to build character relationships as precisely as any dramatic confrontation would. Jules and Vincent's argument about what a miracle means is structured like a debate about God, only it's carried out in crime-movie banter.
Where to see it: The opening diner dialogue. There is also the foot massage conversation in the hallway before Jules and Vincent go into Brett's apartment.
Wes Craven · 1996
Randy, the video store clerk, explains the rules for surviving a horror movie to a room full of drunk teenagers. Don't have sex, don't drink or do drugs and never say "I'll be right back." It is a joke and a warning, and the film then uses those rules on its own characters.
Where to see it: The party at Stu's house. Randy lays out the rules in front of the TV while Halloween plays and the other guests talk over him.
Guy Ritchie · 2000
Brick Top delivers his monologue about pigs with the casual expertise of a man explaining a routine part of his job. It makes him more dangerous than any gun. That is, the specifics of the speech (soak time, bone disposal) are the whole character.
Where to see it: Brick Top's pig-farm speech. The monologue works as a character portrait, a threat and black comedy all at once.
Quentin Tarantino · 2004
Bill talks at length about Superman and Clark Kent. One reading is that the speech tells you more about Bill's view of the world than about comics. It makes the villain feel like a person who has thought about this for years.
Where to see it: Truth serum talk: Bill gives his speech about Superman while the Bride is under the truth serum.
Quentin Tarantino · 2009
Hans Landa talks like a man giving a long performance, full of film-history knowledge and control over his listener. His speeches about detection, about milk and about cinema are always perfectly built. They show a man who understands that reality is a performance. Tarantino uses the monologue to make Landa the most terrifying character in the film through words alone.
Where to see it: Landa's opening interrogation monologue. It's the speech about 'the Jew hunter'. Its self-awareness and elegance introduce the most dangerous mind in the film.
Questions
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