Quentin Tarantino’s Food Scenes Explained - A Cookbook for Power Dynamics and Tonal Shifts

Quentin Tarantino food scenes explained - How Tarantino uses food to build character, power dynamics and create extreme tonal shifts.
Quentin Tarantino Food Scenes ►► bit.ly/mm-tf
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Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction to Tarantino’s Food
01:02 - Food and Cinema
01:43 - Chapter 1 - Characterization
02:58 - Chapter 2 - Character Dynamics
05:35 - Chapter 3 - Tonal Shifts
11:02 - Reviewing the Techniques
11:32 - Check out the Blog
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Quentin Tarantino Food Scenes
Food in Quentin Tarantino movies isn’t an accident or an afterthought. Everything a character eats and drinks is a deliberate choice for one or all of the following reasons: to build characterization, to create relationships between characters, or to amplify tonal shifts. In this video, we’re going to bite into everything going on in Quentin Tarantino food scenes to see if we can come up with a recipe for how he uses this motif.
Food scenes in movies are a dime a dozen but the actual food and drinks are typically treated as set dressing, or as busy work for the actors while the dialogue drives the scenes. Food in Quentin Tarantino movies also functions this way but that’s just the beginning. We learn a little more about these characters by their preferred food and drink. Think of Jules’ aversion to pork in Pulp Fiction or how much Ordell from Jackie Brown loves screwdrivers. These small details help make Tarantino’s characters more specific and interesting.
Another way we see food in Quentin Tarantino movies is how it is used to create or enhance the relationships between characters. Sometimes, this is a romantic relationship - like Clarence and Alabama in True Romance having pie. But more often than not, Quentin Tarantino food scenes become a stage for power dynamics to play out. Hans Landa uses the opulence of strudel with creme as a form of control over Shoshanna. Pai Mei rewards his tutee with rice only after Beatrix struggles and succeeds with the chopsticks. And, of course, Jules taking a huge bite out of Brett’s Big Kahuna Burger is the ultimate power move.
The final way we see food in Quentin Tarantino movies is even more unique and specific. And that is to create maximum contrast between food and violence. As Tarantino admits in an interview, he relishes playing the audience like an orchestra and shifting tones on a dime. Sometimes this is done with humor but he also employs food and drink for the same purpose. One minute, the characters are enjoying an indulgent meal, and the next minute they find themselves in a bloodbath. By mixing the pleasures of food with the pain of violence, Tarantino creates extreme contrast, subverts expectations, and gives the audience his one-of-a-kind cinematic experience. This is the power of Quentin Tarantino food scenes.
#FilmTheory #VideoEssay #Filmmaking
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VIDEO EDITOR: BRANDON SCULLION
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“Run Fay Run” - Isaac Hayes
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Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction to Tarantino’s Food 01:02 - Food and Cinema 01:43 - Chapter 1 - Characterization 02:58 - Chapter 2 - Character Dynamics 05:35 - Chapter 3 - Tonal Shifts 11:02 - Reviewing the Techniques 11:32 - Check out the Blog

[@thetimepasses9180]

i love studio binder

[@michelepadovano2996]

I am a very old I o

[@briancho3047]

misspelled foot

[@scottlawton1601]

😂😂😂

[@DeutscherPatrick]

🦶

[@sawsamuelsanhnit6097]

You know what I’m gonna turn this in to meme

[@jaymerete5346]

lmao

[@canaisyoung3601]

That's probably next week's discussion. I would like to hear about it, even if most of the scenes featuring feet are an excuse to assuage Tarantino's fetish.

[@BlindTakes]

The Strudel scene with Hans Landa is out of this world good. The most tense and suspenseful scene out of a simple pastry.

[@StudioBinder]

tense and hunger-inducing

[@lastminutesavior]

I love the strudel scene in _Basterds._ The way Landa puts out his cigar on it speaks volumes. My favorite scene after the opening interrogation, obviously.

[@StudioBinder]

so many subtle details

[@donnadizucchero]

I don't know a critic who wouldn't have said that The Schtroudel Scene in IB is one of the few pinnacle of modern cinema characterisation scenes,full on Scorsese & Kubrick thing going on))

[@SKYNETcz]

@@StudioBinder I read somewhere that Landa is purposefully playing with Shosanna in that scene. The cream he makes her wait for is an implication to the milk farm from the beginning, and the strudel he forces her to eat is not kosher. Because she knows she is Jewish.

[@lastminutesavior]

@@SKYNETcz Tatarantino once said Landa did NOT recognize her. It's simply intimidation. He's a sociopath. He likes to screw with people's minds. The way he puts out the cigar on the cream shows how he respects nothing.

[@farhankhurram8376]

Hand Lada and that milk scene is outright one of the finest pieces of art and motion picture in history. Just beautiful.

[@StudioBinder]

great overall opening scene

[@BadassRandomness]

I've always thought the hhhhhWhite cake in Django Unchained looked good. No idea what it tastes like, but it looks amazing

[@StudioBinder]

makes me want to buy any cake with white frosting at the grocery store haha

[@mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm3153]

And eat watching this specific scene

[@MF-dg7gp]

When Pulp Fiction was very first released, my big brother took me to see it. And we just HAD to stop for burgers on the way home. Now I'm off to go look for more of your videos.😉

[@StudioBinder]

you weren't the only ones ;)

[@MF-dg7gp]

@@StudioBinder Happy to hear it!😉I really dig your work. So good!

[@hii9918]

Quentin has mastered the art of detailing!!

[@StudioBinder]

Master of detail

[@anirbanguha8579]

The Humour put in narration.... I just love it !

[@StudioBinder]

✔

[@anirbanguha8579]

@@StudioBinder Thank you Studio Binder for all which you have taught. I am ready to make a short film of mine. So be ready to see your name on the credits ☺️. You deserve it.

[@rayancedrichaddad1197]

It's Brilliant how Quentin Tarantino defines his Characters by their Food. He builds them, Powerful and Human at the same time. Tarantino makes Food looks Cool in his Directing Style. Thank you StudioBinder.

[@StudioBinder]

Food is important in our lives, why not emphasize it in your scenes?

[@rayancedrichaddad1197]

@@StudioBinder You totally right. With understanding how Quentin Tarantino Innovates making Food A complete Character in his Storytelling, it's inspiring to make new recipes in Filmmaking.

[@rayancedrichaddad1197]

@@StudioBinder StudioBinder. Would you make a video that Explain Quentin Tarantino's Movies Feet Scenes ? It will be Great!👍

[@mr.b6789]

In Oceans Eleven, Brad Pitt's character is snacking something. I know he does it in several movies, but the way Dusty (I believe that's his name) eats, really defines his character.

[@StudioBinder]

Brad Pitt eating is a gem in the movies

[@Thespeedrap]

That's his motif what's surprising is he eats but doesn't gain weight😄

[@MrWhitehawk67]

I just posted the same 💭… about Brad Pitt in Ocean’s 11 👊🏽😂👍🏽

[@jstock2000]

LOL. I saw this title and went "well yeah that and feet." Loved how you addressed that at the start.

[@StudioBinder]

had to cover our bases 😂

[@Iknowthelaw13]

I think it’s part of his masterful way of immersing you into the movie. He makes the unbelievable seem believable and you’re totally bought into the world and stakes. Seeing characters do things we’re all familiar with like sloppily eat food and do annoying things helps achieve that, and also adds a pinch of humor

[@bobcharlotte8724]

That Big Kahuna burger close up is the best shot of any food in cinema.

[@StudioBinder]

it's up there!

[@paulb808]

Studiobinder never lets me down. What a video, thanks for putting this together! Tarantino is one of the best. Would love to see more Kubrick videos too!

[@Spiedi2012]

thank you for making me appreciate cinema on another level. Its amazing how watching a movie has changed over the years, noticing camera movement, lighting or even motifs. Thank you for opening my horizon to these things

[@StudioBinder]

Happy to help :)

[@PradeepKumar-bh6ly]

Everytime Vicky Krieps having food and Daniel Day Lewis reaction in Phantom Thread is beautiful written and acted. Restaurant scene in Bicycle Thieves 💖

[@StudioBinder]

Those dishes were not wasted!

[@krautgazer]

That film started my love for asparagus.

[@samueltorres9417]

maybe i’m stupid, but i never actually noticed how many scenes tarantino movies featured food but it totally makes sense

[@StudioBinder]

It's how he features it ;)

[@IsaacGreyMusic]

It's the stew from The Hateful Eight for me. That was a work of art

[@StudioBinder]

so appetizing 🔥

[@isLiminal]

my favorite food scenes are the ones from Goodfellas, I feel like they make sure to keep reminding us that those characters are just humans like us despite all the violence, adding more depth to each character.

[@StudioBinder]

Those are fun scenes

[@iknowyouarh]

Yep, the garlic slicing

[@EddieLensweiger]

OMG what ending, thanks for this delicious clarity! this is one of many reasons why Tarantino's movies are so different that the others

[@mpikturesmpk]

My favorite channel for real, most helpful, teaches a lot of things and is also funny

[@StudioBinder]

That's the goal!

[@transcendingloveproduction8672]

I love everything you all do and I really appreciate the education as I am in film school and you make my every day!

[@Thundersolar]

Watching this at 10pm is a wrong move, now I am craving for some Strudel with cream on top

[@StudioBinder]

we need more 24 hr bakeries

[@Raymando]

You guys make some of the best video essays on film ngl. Keep doing it man!

[@daredevil6145]

9:56 - *Strudel and cream* 10:13 - *Stew* 10:46 - *Mother effin' Burger* 9:35 - *Beer* There's my ranking that brings the Appetite

[@StudioBinder]

🙌

[@CluelessIndianGamer]

I literally god worship this man and you guys making a video on him has made my day even better. Thankyou!

[@StudioBinder]

Enjoy!

[@peterdonnell3784]

Beautifully edited and presented video, thank you!

[@axilator]

"Thanks for pudding up with me"...Studiobinder makes my mondays I swear.

[@StudioBinder]

Getting your week off to a good start!

[@dreamweaver.productions]

Can I do a drink? Those white Russians Jeff Lebowski mixes, spills, then sips are classic. Cohens are masterful with this stuff too. Loved it!

[@saulgoodman1236]

Studiobinder, I’m only 14 but I love old movies and your channel is so good!

[@StudioBinder]

Glad you're enjoying the content!

[@DavidBeaumont]

I know it's a film specifically about food (so you expect it to play a central role), but Tampopo had some of the best "food in film" moments, especially if you like Japanese cuisine.

[@Dayvit78]

Classic comedy there.

[@StudioBinder]

Great example

[@sollows44]

The other remarkable thing about Tampopo is that every exterior scene involves the camera "seeing" a commuter train on an overhead track.

[@sharonstratis2846]

Tampopo is one of the best films of all time.

[@toptrends88]

I always like your videos before watching them because I know they are excellent.

[@StudioBinder]

Sweet 💯

[@akarohit9290]

So detailed video on FOOD, FOOD has its storyline & character arc. It change the scene

[@cacomartin]

This analysis is absolutely brilliant. I recognize that the Tarantino's movies sometimes are a little bit hard for me (aggression as spectacle), but I agree, like many of his fans that the imaginary world and visual style are stunning! Thanks for share this. By the way, I love your voice, elegance and tone of the StudioBidner videos. 🙌 (I practice listening english with your videos! ) 🤩

[@StudioBinder]

Glad you liked the video!

[@unusualyoutuber4728]

I love you're team you took my ❤️ studiobinder 😃🙂

[@StudioBinder]

Thanks for watching!

[@vfxfan]

Twister had the best food moment for me. Those steaks looked fantastic.

[@R.S.R.S.]

Thanks for the dad jokes, that never gets old.

[@StudioBinder]

we'll never stop

[@shanitiwari]

I love your voice. My style to watch studiobinder... first hit👍 like button then Play the video.

[@StudioBinder]

That's the way

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Studiobinder is King

[@StudioBinder]

We're back!

[@GauravSharma-nr1qk]

Dinner table scene from Signs is something I call great 👍

[@hans983]

You too, have an eggxelent day Studio Binder.. 😅

[@StudioBinder]

Cheers!

[@outlawdawnllc]

You guys are pretty good at this

[@StudioBinder]

We try :)

[@JamesClark1991]

This channel is soooooo good.

[@arnie4692]

Is just me who begins salivating whenever I see Food in Tarantino film?

[@charleselmore4707]

Wow. You guys really make your case.

[@StudioBinder]

like a good video essay ;)

[@MiKEY_TARANTiNO]

Ive always wanted to have a smoke at the dinner table looks like a great vibe

[@Reykh24]

editing on point.

[@StudioBinder]

🙏💖

[@immaculateorganicsoaps3533]

I was going to eat breakfast but I am full now. An insightful look at Quentin Tarantino and food.

[@StudioBinder]

These shots will make you hungry again haha

[@Thespeedrap]

Same here.

[@KevWebsz]

This video is amazing. Man film making is cool. I wanna make a movie.

[@StudioBinder]

Good luck!

[@adityabiyani387]

wow nice one

[@kirankumareagleeye]

When tarantino shows food, it looks delicious

[@StudioBinder]

No one does it like him

[@krautgazer]

When Tarantino shows foot, it also looks delicious (as a foot fetishist myself).

[@milovarquiel]

That eehh, is golden.

[@StudioBinder]

😁

[@oobrocks]

This is like a well made short film: kudos!

[@StudioBinder]

Thanks!

[@oobrocks]

My pleasure

[@fahmidamiah]

Great video, thank you. I wonder if you might be able to consider doing an episode on 'Music' - choosing music, when to add music to enhance mood and to say something in film. I find music is a whole area in itself. Thank you again for your amazing videos!

[@StudioBinder]

We might!

[@Ms.VitaMinC]

Love the channel 🥰, would like to see the same topic on the studio ghibli films

[@StudioBinder]

They'll definitely be covered in the future

[@filmdogdrums]

I like the pie contest in Stand By Me. It was just memorable to me. However I have quoted Jules so many times I think my friends get really annoyed with me when we go out for burgers.😂

[@StudioBinder]

haha you're that guy

[@dakudos]

Didn’t know I’d enjoy a video about a directors food in movies

[@willwell4450]

To me, when it comes to food I always think of Martin Scorsese's Age of Innocence and the dinner or lunch don't remember but the serving of each course was so crazy, had me drooling. Also the scene from Aviator where Leonardo stares at the fish and the scene from the first matrix when Cypher eats chicken and starts describing it.

[@StudioBinder]

I think it was steak Cypher was eating

[@barefootuptomysoul]

@@StudioBinder It is steak but it tastes just like chicken in the Matrix.

[@claudedavis201]

Honestly, although Tarantino is my favorite film maker, my favorite food scene is from the film Paid in Full. The opening scene when the main characters are all eating Chinese food. I’ve seen the movie so many times and it never fails. I always want Chinese food. But what I really love is how not only are they eating Chinese food, but they’re drinking expensive champagne with it while also betting thousands of dollars on them throwing away the paper bags that the food came in like a basketball. Truly one of the best opening scenes to a movie I’ve ever seen.

[@StudioBinder]

Love it!

[@fujoshirants9609]

There is no love more sincere than the love for food - George Bernard Shaw. That is why putting food on the screen is a safe bet.

[@ares_the_god10]

my mount watered while watching this!🙂

[@StudioBinder]

ours too

[@christophercastanon2277]

This all reminds me of the scene in GoodFellas when Henry, Jimmy, Tommy and Tommy's mom are all at the dinner table late at night eating, while in the trunk of the car, Billy Batts is bleeding to death and trying to get out.

[@adelecheraghi583]

‘The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover’ a masterpiece by Peter Greenaway

[@AL-ey9fx]

Yep, seeing this made me hungry.

[@StudioBinder]

Us too

[@monkey_eyes3334]

For me it would ether be the entirety of “My dinner with Andre” even though the food isn’t that important but I still like it and “The Outsiders” when they get some Dairy Queen or get a coke. I love it :)

[@theblackdoriangray4453]

My favourite food moment in a movie; underworld part 2, with Kate Beckinsale. When the hybrid was eating cooked chicken, just before he started throwing up.

[@StudioBinder]

😮

[@stephenwilliams3807]

When Harry Met Sally uses food (and eating) very effectively and in so many different ways. I'm not just talking about the diner scene, but what Sally orders when she orders food and how she orders it. Harry eating grapes and spitting the seeds out of the window when they're driving at the start, the double blind date scene. The Godfather uses the eating process, more so than the food being eaten, so effectively. Most mafia films use food very well. Scorcese in Goodfellas, for instance. What they are eating in the prison scene and how it is being prepared tells you so much about their status and their power.

[@StudioBinder]

Scorsese is a master at shooting meals

[@bollywoodfightactionreacti9189]

Nice 👍 🙂

[@StudioBinder]

Thanks for watching!

[@brandthenderson9787]

Roman Polanski always has very delicious and well earned meals in his movies. The 9th gate and the pianist.....chef's 💋

[@StudioBinder]

💯👍

[@The-L-Factor]

Drexel eating chinese food in True Romance is what made that scene a classic.

[@AbdallahBotan]

Thank you StudioBinder. I wish I get a good junk food now. Lol

[@StudioBinder]

well there's plenty out there haha

[@mugicha39s]

Tarantino's film food always looks Yummy!

[@StudioBinder]

He should make a food commercial

[@Thespeedrap]

That's the only thing I like about Tarantino is food and Samuel l Jackson.

[@zombeast23]

Thumbs Up A +

[@barrycook6603]

The cigarette butt into the strudel was one of the most devastating images I’ve ever seen in film.

[@XDWASDX]

The “Blocking: Inglorious Basterds” video is a masterpiece in case anyone is questioning the suggestion.

[@StudioBinder]

Here for everyone! kzbin.info/www/bejne/enOYdYFjo7tkhq8

[@IvanTeubl]

Not to mention the food brings a certain tone of reality to the characters. They have to feed so they won't die. Or in other words, the food are a symbol of life itself.

[@AbboyTopan]

my fav got the be the dinner scene alien bursting from chest... from Ridley Scott's Alien!

[@StudioBinder]

😮 wild pick haha

[@cranberrystain]

nah this is crazy because just last week i was hungry and randomly taught of Minnie's stew from The Hateful Eight

[@StudioBinder]

now we know what's for dinner 🍲

[@gustdhossche1739]

It will always be the strudl for me. I tried to recreate it at home lol

[@Victrola66]

It is so true, seeing Jules eating a burger, Shoshana the strudel, I wanted too)

[@EPICSOUNDTRAX]

Nobody can beat the food scene from "Woman in the Dunes" or "Woman of the Dunes " a Japanese masterpiece.

[@StudioBinder]

Great call!

[@LightMovies]

Because production says: "food" and he understands:"foot"

[@StudioBinder]

😂😅

[@Thespeedrap]

I loved the Nachos in Death Proof those looked good.

[@StudioBinder]

Definitely made me want one

[@Thespeedrap]

@@StudioBinder 😄😄😄Like the Beavis and Butt-Head joke Nachos rule 👍

[@abhiteshraj7219]

In hateful eight....when John Ruth found the secret of secret letter of major marquis....at dining table.... That's f*** hilarious man😂😂

[@StudioBinder]

😂

[@TheHitmar99]

studio bender uploads = like

[@StudioBinder]

Good call :)

[@newwaves3078]

Wonderful man, but I'm curious about your thumbnail, Where did you get that Idea?

[@lilmilontiktok]

I’m obsessed with food too I don’t blame him

[@StudioBinder]

It's relatable 🌮

[@lianelysalvarez6429]

lmao, that ending; "have an eggcellent day, thanks for pudding up with me," I DIED!

[@lindsaykent1053]

A bit off topic to this video but I would love to see a "How they shot it" video of the church scene in The Kingsman.

[@pfussel2339]

I heard the sea urchin ceviche at Dorsia is pretty good.

[@StudioBinder]

I heard the same

[@alejandrovargasaguilar6180]

All i got from of this is that i need a really good cheeseburger with fries and milkshake...also i need foot. Hahahah i had to write it. My fav food tarantino is on true romance. They way alabama brings it is pretty wholesome to me. That movie brings so much senses to me

[@StudioBinder]

burgers are a safer bet than foot

[@krautgazer]

My man! Food and foot - best combination.

[@TSGEnt]

"The Table" as it were, is the place where everyone can come to listen and be heard. It's a very powerful place. It's brilliant of QT to use it it, No?

[@StudioBinder]

it is!

[@OlgaKuznetsova]

When Denethor was eating while Pippin sang and Faramir was in battle in LOTR-ROTK...ooof

[@StudioBinder]

Great scene!

[@sollows44]

In Charlie Bubbles, Albert Finney plays a very successful writer for film and TV who's become bored with his success. In the first scene he's lunching in a posh London restaurant with his financial advisors who drone on enthusiastically about Charlie's investments and general finances. The conversation is intercut with shots of the lavish meals being served a la carte to demonstrate Charlie's disinterest. Then, he notices and old friend (Colin Blakely), a poet who is being treated to a meal by his editor. Charlie leaves his table, approaches his friend where he tosses an insult at him. What follows is a food fight which unfolds in complete silence except for the hushed sounds of the other diners who carry on trying not to notice as Finney and Blakely pick up every thing they can find on the buffet and a la cart trolleys, dousing each other in gravy and cream sauces, pouring them into suit pockets and dumping turns onto their heads with silent glee and politeness . . . and yes, pies with whipped cream is involved too. The scene ends with Finney paying off the head waiter with a wad of cash, and the two of them exiting the restaurant covered food, walking down the street to a fancy department store where Finney hands over another wad of cash to a clerk demanding a complete change of clothes for both. They exit the store, descending the escalator posing like mannequins in their crisp new duds.

[@StudioBinder]

Nice example!

[@sebbvell3426]

My favorite food scene of All time is in big rabbit sling restaurant with Vincent and Mia

[@jonathangriffin8060]

I wonder if anyone has felt the same about ordering liver, fava beans and a nice chianti at their favorite restaurant after listening to Hannibal Lecter's speech about what he did after a census taker tried to (and failed) to test him in "Silence of the Lambs", another movie that somewhat deals with food...at least a food reference and the violence (although it was not seen, it was told to Clarice Starling in graphic detail) was spoken by Hannibal Lecter.

[@StudioBinder]

I never did...

[@MrWhitehawk67]

Ocean’s 11 I enjoy that Brad Pit is eating something every time he’s introduced in a scene… 👊🏽🤠👍🏽

[@StudioBinder]

Brad Pitt snacking is one of the gems of cinema

[@athulsabarish828]

mann,,,, that strudel

[@StudioBinder]

got to get one again haha

[@MWB_FoolsParadisePictures]

Honestly, I craved loaded nachos at every dive bar I went to for like 10 years following my viewing of Death Proof lol