French Fries, French Foxes and Crazy Frenchmen in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994) and Roger Avary's Killing Zoe (1994): Reading Hollywood “Frenchness” / French Readings

International audienceThis article focuses on the representation of Frenchness in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction and Roger Avary's Killing Zoe, which were both released in 1994 and made by directors who regularly collaborated at the time. The treatment of Frenchness is different in both films, Pulp Fiction containing several anecdotal references and one French character, while Killing Zoe takes place in France with an almost exclusively European cast. The representation of Frenchness in these films will be my starting point to determine the readings possible for a spectator who is or is not familiar with French and French culture. “Frenchness,” which Pierre Verdaguer has shown is generally associated with “feminine weakness,” will be shown to be a Hollywood-produced set of norms the films play on as they do on generic norms. Particular attention will be played to how Frenchness contributes to structure the films' narratives, and to the ways French contributes to a form of polyphony which multiplies and complexifies readings. I will argue that Killing Zoe literally (and violently) excludes the spectator not familiar with French, denying access to much of the film's plot and subtext, whereas Pulp Fiction includes both, although both films ultimately construct an ideal spectator that, in the end, may be a mere narcissistic reflection of the auteur director capable of understanding and linking all levels of the film