I have no idea who Sonny Chiba is. All I know was that it was a kung foo trilogy.

Kev, blasphemy! You must seek out Street Fighter immediately...it's the wildest, x-ray punching-est time you'll have all week, I guarantee it.

Again, I think what you're talking about is the start of a tragedy. Yeah, Clarence has wrapped everything up...but he can't ignore one little thing from the past, and it's his undoing. As Macbeth, for instance.

Chris, if that were the case, and that was his flaw, wouldn't that be introduced to us earlier?

QT loves Sonny Chiba and his movies. It's as simple as that.

QT wanted to "honor" Chiba and raise awareness, which he did.  Without QT, would mainstream movie goers have a clue who he is?  No, they would not.  Because of QT's adoration, Chiba is beyond cult icon status.

As for Elvis, QT is also a fan and has been an Elvis impersonator before.

As I said earlier, don't be surprised when you find out that many or even most "things" in a script that seem random are there for a reason, and it's usually not what you think when you start over thinking things.

Jeff, that's a nice footnote, but I don't see how it's anything more. And I have not suggested that anything was random in the script. If anything, I have been suggesting the opposite.

Nor do I claim to understand all of the little Easter eggs he leaves in his script, as many directors will(I don't find all those eggs...because I don't try to over think things!).

The fact that QT likes Elvis only means that's why we have Bathroom Elvis instead of Bathroom Jimmy Hendrix or Bathroom Edgar Allen Poe. That Elvis was chosen is not the point.

The issue is the fact that QT inserts an imaginary friend in the bathroom in the middle of the movie...or at least deep enough into it that it's pretty much out of the blue.

I am not over thinking anything. It was a simple observation I had while watching. The scene sticks out like a sore thumb. It's not randomly thrown in, it's there for a reason. I gave you the reason.

No offense, but your points seem rather random and unconnected today. It's as though we were talking about why the 49 ers lost the Super Bowl and you jumped in with something about how you hate the Celtics because they have leprechauns on their shorts. Ok, we get that you don't like Boston sports teams, but what would that have to do with the Super Bowl between the Ravens and the Niners?

Hey Kev,

By standard screenwriting rules, sure. I don't think True Romance exactly follows those (as a finished film).

The script was written non-chronologically, like Pulp Fiction, so I wonder, too, if that's what might make for some of the finished project's structural oddities. I think QT explains the original order of sequences in his commentary on the DVD, but I'm not sure. I imagine that information's around somewhere, though.

Kev, sorry if my thoughts seem unconnected today.  It's my B-Day, and I'm now officially old, so maybe my mental powers are dwindling.

My point about discussing Sonny Chiba and the rather long dialogue surrounding him in the movie is merely my way of "showing" an example of something that some will try and reason out as to the why's it's in there.

It's in there because QT loves Sonny Chiba and wanted to include him in his script.  Nothing more, nothing less.  You could say that it actually adds to Clarence's character, and I agree it does, because I feel that any example of something "not standard" in a character's life, shows his true character.

For me, the Elvis thing is on the same level.  It's merely Clarence being Clarence, and QT being QT behind the scenes.

I'm not knocking your feelings and thoughts, but I am throwing out alternate takes on this reality.

Loved True Romance. Don't have any insight to bring to the party. When QT directs his own stuff, as bloody as they can be, they always seem to have a light tone.

The late, great mr Scott had a nice dark tone to his films that I admire. That's why this one just felt so real to me. It blew my mind.

Bathroom Elvis was a nice look into Clarence's psyche. He was constantly worried about self image. "Do I look like a chump?"   It was a good character flaw for our hero. And Elvis was always there giving him advice.

James

I disagree with all you guys.  That whore in the beginning is not old.  I thought she was a rather handsome woman.

I'm a huge 'True Romance' fan.  I'm really in the mood to watch it now.  I wish my VCR still worked.