Pulp Fiction in Iambic Pentameter
Pulp Fiction, as performed by the King's Men, via boingboing. Two scenes from Pulp fiction modified into Shakespearean language, replete with iambic pentameter!
You can see the original scenes in question here, between 1:02 and 1:29 (it's a little quiet so turn up your speakers), and here, between 4:19 and 5:38 (this one is louder, so remember to turn your volume down again). Warning, if you're not fond of strong language and gunshots, don't watch these videos.
Part of me likes this more than the original. Roll on the Royal Shakespeare Company, performing Tarantino's Tales of Travail: A Tragic Comedie in Three Parts. (I wanted to call it Commoners' Tales but a little googling revealed that that was the name of a slash fanfiction series...)
Also, I realise that a) this isn't purely Early Modern English in the Shakespearean sense - as the first commenter on the boingboing post notes, the hachis parmentier is named after Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, who wasn't born until at least 100 years after Shakespeare had died; and b) it isn't 100% iambic pentameter, it breaks occasionally (but so did Shakespeare!). Does that matter? It's a fine piece of translation, with an excellent rhyme at the end to signal the end of the scene.
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