Tarantino: pomo in films

The elements of postmodernism that are relevant to Tarantino's work are as follows: 

•  An emphasis on subjectivity, which concerns the act of seeing itself rather than what is seen, for example the scene in Pulp Fiction when Mia Wallace watches Vince via surveillance camera. A blurring of morality e.g. in Reservoir Dogs, cop (Me Orange) shooting civilian.
•  Self-reflexivity which basically means the film us drawing attention to itself reminding the audience that it is only a construct. Such as when television programs are discussed in a conversation, the character talks directly to the audience (see Kill Bill Vol II) or other homages and references drawing attention to the filmic heritage.
  
  Another reference point can be the music which could be simple entertainment (see dance competition scene in Pulp Fiction), mood or emotional enhancement (e.g.: Max Cherry first sets eyes on Jackie Brown), reference to other movies (e.g.: in Inglourious Basterds we hear David Bowie's Putting Out Fire in Shoshanna's make-up scene, which was the soundtrack of the 1984 movie Cat People) or it is also used to heighten tension, building to a crescendo during particular scenes in order to add to visual elements.
•  Leaning towards fragmented narratives, which can be seen in time-line jumping in Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill films. Lack of distinction between high at and low art. This evident is underpinned by his use of literary (high art) techniques such as chapter format with pop culture references and references to other films (low art).
• Postmodernists don't believe in underlying reality. They say that everything is merely constructed of signifiers with nothing real actually being signified. If you view this in relation to Tarantino's work you can see that the Kill Bill saga, rife with references to other films both on visual and aural level, don't reference any recognisable reality, only other signifiers, in this case other films.
•  The rejection of 'grand narratives' which are built on the idea that there are truths that unify the whole of humanity. Instead, postmodernists use 'mini-narratives', which are concerned with localised events and individual perspectives, and are often open-ended. This can be seen in Pulp Fiction, where the stories are all about individuals and localised events, and they are all left open-ended to degree. For example, what happens to Butch and Fabienne in their life together?

 *These notes were made based on the book Quintessential Tarantino by Edwin Page, Chapter one, adding some of my own research and experiences.