ABSTRACT

In this chapter, we explore a new phenomenon, the movie whose style is created from the context of movie life rather than real life. The consequence is twofold-the presumption of deep knowledge on the part of the audience of those forms such as the gangster films or Westerns, horror films or adventure films. And that the parody or alteration of that film creates a new form, a different experience for the audience. This imitative and innovative style is a style associated with the brief but influential directing career of Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, 1992; Pulp Fiction, 1994). In order to suggest the limits of imitation and a more startling kind of innovation, we look at Milcho Manchevski’s film, Before the Rain (1994). Like Pulp Fiction, it is three stories in a single film.