Stella red carpet screening: Pulp Fiction at the Duke Of York’s
Chris Dyer heads to the Duke of York’s to see his favourite old film on the big screen at last
There are a handful of films that I have often thought, ‘what would it have been like to see that for the first time in the cinema?’
In the case of Pulp Fiction this was not impossible as I’ve probably seen it around 8,000 times already (no exaggeration), I know every word and every cut by heart. I was not old enough to see it at the cinema the first time around, but I gave the screening at the Duke of York’s Theatre on Tuesday 22 May a go.
Given that it was in the Duke of York’s, surrounded by Stella Artois stands (they sponsored the event), the myriad of adverts reminding us Pulp Fiction won the 1994 Palme d’Or at Cannes and the trendy Bohemian types hanging around in the foyer getting their photos taken, you could be forgiven for thinking we were in some continental film festival. Plus everyone was drinking beer, out of a glass, in a cinema, just like Vincent Vega told us we Europeans do in the very film we were there to watch.
A curious attraction in the main theatre was a massage area set up at the front of the stage beneath the screen for people to go and have a ‘Tony Rocky-Horror’ foot massage (not from a Samoan though and presumably without getting thrown four stories through a greenhouse afterwards). We also got to see the original trailer, which although seemed at little dated, was an interesting insight into what the distribution company saw as the best bits to entice the audience into the cinema.
Once the film began and the first scenes rolled it was strange to see such a familiar movie in a cinematic setting. It felt as though I was seeing it in a different way and even to some extent with fresh eyes. I even got goose bumps when Honey Bunny screamed at the diners and the iconic title music began.
The visual aesthetics were not much different, after all we weren’t watching the actual ‘old-fashioned’ projected film that was shown at Cannes. But the greater canvas we were given to view the washed-out mise-en-scene gave another dimension to the familiar scenes. It made every close up all the more intimate, gave added menace to every lilted Samuel L Jackson speech and accentuated every piece of drab ‘90s, lo-fi, Los Angeles décor.
The major difference though was the surround sound, an acoustic that cannot be achieved in your average living room. In a cinema it made every crash more piercing, every gunshot more intense, Christopher Walken’s voice even croakier, Samuel L Jackson’s even more rhythmic and the dialogue seem even more pleasurable.
Of course another difference between watching at home and the cinema is the fact you are surrounded by others, sharing in this kind of collective group experience. This extended to a girl sitting a few seats away that could not control her embarrassing giggle that sounded a bit like a trapped dog crying for help, at a less then funny moment (Marvin getting accidentally shot in the face). This caused an even more prolonged round of laughter from other areas of the audience, giving the scene more comedic value then it deserved. There was also a bizarre cheer/laugh at the sight of Steve Buscemi appearing for his Buddy Holly waiter cameo.
All in all, despite having seen the film many times before, it was a new and enjoyable experience, for me and the few that did turn up to the earlier screening. As we stepped into the warmth of the early evening sunshine, with throngs of people gathering outside awaiting the next showing, we had the famous lines and the sound of the Ventures ringing in our ears. It left me wondering what other classic films I should see next at the cinema that I was too young to at the time; Goodfellas, The Godfather, The Usual Suspects… maybe Scarface? I bet that 1980s organ soundtrack would sound great.
See all the photos from the Stella red carpet screening in Latest 7, Tuesday 29 May.
