Jules and Vincent Get Meta
Vincent: I saw some crazy movies in Amsterdam. Jules: Pornos? Vincent: No, man. Indie stuff. You know, directors pushing the boundaries of cinema. Jules: Example. Vincent: Well, there was this old film, from thirty years ago, where everyone is chasing after a briefcase. Jules: Who’s ‘everyone’? Vincent: Gangsters. Punks. A couple of rustic types. And we find out heaps about them. What burgers they like. TV shows they’ve watched. Even the routines they might have before executing someone. Jules: Really? Vincent: You’d dig it the most. However one thing we don’t find out is what’s in the briefcase they’re all so desperate to get hold of. That’s something we aren’t told. Jules: But can the viewer figure it out? Vincent: It would seem not though there have been a million theories over the years. Jules: So there is no answer? Vincent: That’s where it starts getting really crazy. Over the last few years people have been saying the answer is that there is no answer – that the briefcase is just a narrative device and its contents are whatever the viewer wants them to be. And they’re calling the director a genius for taking this approach. Jules: Oh man, consider my ass retired. If you can get away with shit like that I’m going to be a movie director. Vincent: But it gets even crazier. Jules: Go on. Vincent: You see, after the movie I was sitting there while the credits rolled, thinking about the briefcase. And there is an answer. I figured it out. It’s a time machine. It has to be. Everything fits together really nicely. Jules: Check out the big brain on Vincent. Vincent: I have my moments. Jules: Tell me this though maestro, why doesn’t the director just tell people it’s a time machine? Vincent: He can’t do that, Jules. He’s the director. To tell people how clever he’s been would be most uncool. Jules: But I don’t think that applies after thirty years. Vincent: Anyway, people are calling him a genius for letting the briefcase be whatever viewers want it to be. He’s not going to ruin that. He probably wishes he’d never dreamed up the business about a time machine. Jules: It’s an interesting point. Vincent: Marvin, what do you make of all this? Marvin: Of course it’s a time machine. Some New Zealand poet has a website proving that. Jules: Vincent, I’m surprised at you, pretending another person’s ideas are your own. Vincent: Damn, I shot Marvin.
18 August, 2025
