Pulp Fiction
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| Pulp Fiction | |
|---|---|
| File:Pulp Fiction cover.jpg | |
| Directed by | Quentin Tarantino |
| Written by | Quentin Tarantino Roger Avary |
| Produced by | Lawrence Bender |
| Starring | John Travolta Samuel L. Jackson Uma Thurman Harvey Keitel Tim Roth Amanda Plummer Maria de Medeiros Ving Rhames Eric Stoltz Rosanna Arquette Christopher Walken and Bruce Willis |
| Cinematography | Andrzej Sekula |
| Edited by | Sally Menke |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
Release dates |  May, 1994 (première at Cannes) October 14th, 1994 October 21, 1994  November 24th, 1994 February 18th, 1995 |
Running time | 154 min. (168 min. deluxe edition) |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $8 million |
Pulp Fiction is an Oscar-winning 1994 film directed by Quentin Tarantino who co-wrote the screenplay with Roger Avary. The film's idiosyncratic characteristics include fragmented storyline, eclectic dialogue, ironic and campy influences, unorthodox camerawork, and numerous pop culture references. Tarantino and Avary won Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and the film was nominated for seven Oscars in total, including Best Picture.[1][2]
The plot, in keeping with most other Tarantino works, runs in nonlinear order. The unconventional structure of the movie is an example of a so-called postmodernist film. The film's title refers to the pulp magazines popular during the mid–20th century, known for their strongly graphic nature. The film's dialogue and the majority of its scenes were a collage of other works of "pulp" fiction, that is to say bits of other, less acclaimed, works.
The film had an impact on the careers of its cast members. It provided a breakthrough role for Samuel L. Jackson, previously a supporting actor who became an international star in a part Tarantino wrote especially for him.[citation needed] It revived the fortunes of John Travolta who was going through something of a career slump at the time, and allowed Bruce Willis to move away from the action hero reputation he had gained through films such as Die Hard. It raised the profile of Uma Thurman and led to greater recognition for character actors such as Ving Rhames and Harvey Keitel. Eric Stoltz was also acclaimed for his role as Lance, the bathrobe clad heroin dealer.
Structure
Pulp Fiction is divided into six individual and yet interrelated stories. As is common in Tarantino films, they are not arranged in chronological order.
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Cinematic order:
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Chronological order:
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Plot
Using many elements of a black comedy with many stylistic and pop culture touches, Pulp Fiction weaves through the intersecting storylines of Los Angeles gangsters, fringe characters, petty thieves and a mysterious attaché case. In keeping with Quentin Tarantino's directorial trademark of non-linear story telling, Pulp Fiction is written out of sequence, telling several stories concurrently that intersect as the film progresses. [3] Characters are introduced and killed and later returned as the film's narrative jumps back and forth.
Dialogue is typically not paramount in action films, however the film is strongly character driven, using minutes upon minutes of screen time and pages of dialogue to reveal these characters' humour, philosophy, eloquence, and poignancy. There are only a few main storylines in Pulp Fiction identifiable through introductory cut-scenes and by the characters involved and their interaction. The film starts out with a hold-up in a restaurant with armed entrepreneurs "Pumpkin" and "Honey Bunny," then picks up the stories of mob hitmen Vincent (brother of Vic Vega from Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs) and Jules, Mia and Marcellus Wallus, prizefighter Butch Coolidge, and finally returns to where it began, in the restaurant, where Vincent and Jules stop for a bite, foil the hold-up, and set the robbers on a more righteous path.
Template:Spoiler The Diner (first part)
"Pumpkin" (Tim Roth) and "Honey Bunny" (Amanda Plummer) decide to rob the diner in which they're eating after realizing they could make more money off of customers than the business as with their last liquor store heist.
Vincent & Jules
Hitmen Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) head to a Los Angeles apartment to retrieve a briefcase that was involved in a failed deal for their boss, gangster Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). Their witty and philosophical banter is a striking juxtaposition against the scene's end, in which they kill Brett (Frank Whaley) and his cohorts in a dramatic fashion, sparing only their informant, Marvin (Phil LaMarr).
Vincent Vega And Marsellus Wallace's Wife
At Marsellus Wallace's request, Vincent Vega escorts Mrs. Wallace, Mia (Uma Thurman), to Jackrabbit Slim's, a slick 1950s-themed restaurant with look-alikes of the decade's top pop culture icons as staff.
Mia recounts her experience as an actress in a failed television pilot, "Fox Force Five." Mia's character, Raven McCoy, was a knife expert raised by circus performers who knew "a zillion old jokes." She refuses to tell the joke from the pilot out of fear of embarrassment.
After winning the twist contest, they return to the Wallace house where Mia finds Vincent's stash of heroin in the pocket of his coat. She snorts it, mistaking it for cocaine, and overdoses. When a fearful Vincent finds her, he rushes her over to his small-time drug dealer Lance (Eric Stoltz) for help. Together, they administer an adrenaline shot to Mia's heart, waking her with a howl.
Mia and Vincent agree not to tell Marsellus of the incident, both fearing what he might do to either of them. Having bonded from the ordeal, before the two part ways, Mia finally reveals her corny joke.
The Gold Watch
Aging prizefighter Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) accepts a large sum of money from Marsellus, agreeing to "take a dive" in the fifth round of his upcoming match. Butch double-crosses Marsellus, instead betting the money he received from Marsellus on himself (with favorable odds). Butch wins the bout, accidentally killing his opponent in the process, and flees.
There is a flashback in which a young Butch Coolidge (Chandler Lindauer) receives his father's watch from Vietnam veteran Captain Koons (Christopher Walken). Butch's father died in a Vietnam War POW camp and at his dying request Koons hid the watch in his rectum for two years from the Vietcong to give to Butch. The gold watch, passed down from father to son since World War I, is of great sentimental value to Butch.
When Butch discovers his girlfriend Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros) has forgotten to pack the watch, he is compelled to return to his apartment and retrieve it though Marsellus's men are most likely looking for him. Butch moves quickly to retrieve the watch, but thinking no one awaits to kill him, Butch pauses for toaster pastries. Only then does he notice a silenced MAC-10 submachine gun on the kitchen counter. Hearing the toilet flush, Butch readies the gun in time to kill a startled Vincent Vega exiting the bathroom.
While returning from the apartment, Butch encounters Marsellus by chance, and the two grapple, landing in a pawn shop. Butch is about to shoot Marsellus, when the pawnshop owner Maynard (Duane Whitaker) captures them at gunpoint. With the help of his accomplice, Zed, Maynard ties the two with red ball gags strapped in their mouths.
The Bonnie Situation
The story now flashes back to Vincent and Jules. After Vincent and Jules shot Brett, another man burst out of the bathroom and shot wildly at them, missing every time before an astonished Jules and Vincent can return fire. Jules decides to retire as a hit man, believing the event was a miracle. Vincent disagrees, and as they drive he asks their informant, Marvin, for his opinion, accidentally shooting him in the head while carelessly waving his gun.
Forced to remove their bloodied car and clothing from the road, Jules calls upon the house of his friend Jimmy (Quentin Tarantino). Jimmy objects to the situation, saying his wife, Bonnie, will be returning soon from work. At Jules's request, Marsellus arranges the help of Winston Wolfe (Harvey Keitel). Wolfe takes control of the situation, ordering Jules and Vincent to clean the car, hide the body in the trunk, dispose of their bloody clothes, and change into "dorky" T-shirts provided by Jimmy. He also pays Jimmy for his linens, used to cover the bloody seats while they drive to a junkyard run by Raquel (Julia Sweeney). When Wolfe and Raquel leave for breakfast, Jules and Vincent decide to do the same.
The Diner (second part)
While Jules and Vincent eat, the discussion returns to Jules's decision to retire. While Vincent is in the bathroom, the pair of thieves from the first scene hold up the diner. "Pumpkin" demands all of the patrons' valuables, including Jules's mysterious case. Jules surprises "Ringo," holding him at gunpoint. "Honey Bunny" becomes hysterical, and trains her gun on Jules just as Vincent emerges from the restroom with his gun trained on her in a Mexican standoff. Jules explains his ambivalence toward his life of crime and as his first act of redemption convinces the two robbers to take the cash and valuables in exchange for the case and their departure.
Production
Origins
Homage as style
Like Tarantino's other works, Pulp Fiction makes extenstive use of the homage to other past films, film genres, television with specific attention to the gangster film genre and to "popular culture since 1950."[4]
The film has a feeling of a naturalistic universe common to classic Hollywood gangster films. This feeling is heightened by the circular, nonlinear plot construction which at once confuses and underlines the relationship between cause and effect. Because Jules believes his life was spared miraculously, in a way that does not conform with a naturalistic universe, he feels compelled to break out of the gangster lifestyle, thus making a conscious decision not to resign himself to fate. Another major theme is that of self preservation within a naturalistic universe "where the long view is the short run."[4] This seems to be the driving force for Vincent. There is also a nod toward the importance of one's own family history in defining who a person is in the story of Butch and the gold watch. New York University film and television professor Ken Dancyger argues that "identity crises are the shaping device in Pulp Fiction."[4]
The mysterious briefcase
The only indisputable observations about the stolen attaché case recovered by Jules and Vincent are that its latch lock combination is "666", the "Number of the Beast", and that the contents of the case either glow orange or are highly reflective. ("Fox Force Five" may also be a play on the 666 phenomenon as "F" is the 6th letter of the English alphabet.) The only acknowledgments of its contents are the captivated stare of Vincent and Pumpkin saying, "Is that what I think it is?" and "It's beautiful."
Whenever asked, director Tarantino has replied that there is no explanation for the case's contents: it is simply a MacGuffin. Originally, the case was to contain the diamonds stolen in Reservoir Dogs, but this was seen as too mundane. For filming purposes, the briefcase contained an orange light bulb, silver foil, and a battery. Despite Tarantino's explanation, many theories have been proposed for the contents of the briefcase, such as it containing Marsellus's soul.[5]
The glowing briefcase is an accidental reference to the film Kiss Me Deadly, where a briefcase glowed from its nuclear contents. When Tarantino learned of the similarity, he said it was purely accidental but that he liked the idea.[5]
Jules' Bible passage
As explained by Jules in the final diner scene, he recites a passage from Ezekiel 25:17 each time he kills someone. The passage reads as follows:
- The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.
In the last scene of the movie, Jules repeats the passage to Pumpkin, but phrases the last sentence differently, saying "And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you."
This is, in fact, not an actual passage from the Bible, but a collage of several passages. Ezekiel 25:17 in the King James Version reads:
- And I will execute great vengeance upon thee with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.
This is actually a typically obscure reference to Karate Kiba / Chiba the Bodyguard, a 1976 film starring Sonny Chiba (whom Tarantino has hailed as "the greatest actor to ever work in martial arts films" and has worked with in the making of Kill Bill), which opens with a nearly identical misquote, likewise attributed to Ezekiel 25:17:
- The path of the righteous man and defender is beset on all sides by the iniquity of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper, and the finder of lost children. And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious anger, who poison and destroy my brothers; and they shall know that I am Chiba the Bodyguard when I lay my love upon them! (Ezekiel 25:17)
Other production details
- The shot where Vincent injects the adrenaline into Mia was filmed backwards.
- Pulp Fiction was originally titled Black Mask.
- Mia Wallace's house is located at 1541 Summitridge Drive in Beverly Hills; most of the art shown in the film is the homeowner's. Most of the house where the scenes were shot can be seen from the road.
- Jules uses a STAR model B pistol, and Vincent uses an Auto-Ordnance Colt 1911A1 model pistol. Both are 9mm caliber, chrome plated, and have custom "mother of pearl" grips, and are actually owned by Tarantino.
- Jules was originally scripted with an Afro, but due to a mix-up in wardrobe, had Jheri Curls.
- The name "Winston Wolf" was borrowed from a regular customer named "Winston Wolff" who frequented the video store where Quentin Tarantino worked. Later on, Wolff gained real world notice as a video game programmer at LucasArts, working on Dark Forces and Jedi Knight.
- John Travolta is not a real-life smoker, but learned how to expertly roll Drum-brand tobacco into cigarettes for his part. Uma's character rolls her own before she overdoses in her home, and it is significantly "fatter" and less-expertly rolled than a seasoned pro would accomplish, because she usually smokes store-bought "Red Apples".
- Big Kahuna Burgers and Red Apple Cigarettes are trademarks of Quentin Tarantino films which he invented to avoid product placement. Big Kahuna Burger is featured in the Pulp Fiction apartment scene, From Dusk Till Dawn, and in Reservoir Dogs, when Michael Madsen walks in drinking a soda, and Red Apple, as well as being the cigarettes Butch buys inside Marsellus's bar, are advertised in the Tokyo airport in Kill Bill, Volume 1, in the LA airport in the beginning sequence of "Jackie Brown", and also appear in Four Rooms. However, in Pulp Fiction Vincent Vega rolls his own cigarettes using Drum, a real brand of tobacco. There is also a billboard ad for Red Apple Cigarettes in the background of a scene in Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion . Tarantino was dating the star of the film Mira Sorvino at the time.
- "The Gold Watch" sequence was heavily based on a script entitled Pandemonium Reigns, which Tarantino purchased from his friend Roger Avary.
Cast
Out of the $8 million it cost to make the movie, $5 million went to the star-studded cast. The film is known for revitalizing the career of John Travolta and launching Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman into stardom, however Thurman's came more with Kill Bill. The characters of Pumpkin, Honey Bunny, and Winston Wolfe were written specifically for Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, and Harvey Keitel, respectively.
Other actors considered for the film included Daniel Day-Lewis as Vincent; Paul Calderon as Jules; Mickey Rourke, Matt Dillon and Sylvester Stallone as Butch; Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Ryan, Joan Cusack, Isabella Rossellini and Daryl Hannah (later cast in Kill Bill) as Mia; Johnny Depp and Christian Slater (previously cast in True Romance) as Pumpkin; and Pam Grier as Lance's wife Jody, who was later cast in the lead of Tarantino's Jackie Brown. Tarantino has also said that he originally wanted to cast Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love as Lance and Jody, respectively.[6]
- John Travolta as Vincent Vega. Tarantino only cast Travolta in Pulp Fiction because Michael Madsen chose to appear in Kevin Costner's Wyatt Earp instead. He was paid only $140,000 USD for his services but because of the success of Pulp Fiction Travolta's career was revitalized. After the film Travolta was cast in several hits including Get Shorty, which cast him as a similar character, and the John Woo blockbuster Face/Off. [7]
- Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield. The role of Jules was written with Jackson in mind by Tarantino as a payback for casting others in place of Jackson in previous films. However Jackson nearly lost the part after the initial audition. Paul Calderon, Jackson's friend, managed to argue for a second chance. Jackson flew to Los Angeles and re-auditioned, making the part his own, and won over Tarantino. For his efforts he was given an oscar nod along with co-star John Travolta. [8]
- Bruce Willis as Butch Coolidge. In Tarantino's original script the character of Butch is a fighter in his twenties. The character was aged to a washed up boxer to accommodate Bruce Willis in the role.
- Ving Rhames as Marsellus Wallace
- Uma Thurman as Mia Wallace
- Harvey Keitel as Winston Wolfe, or simply "The Wolf"
- Tim Roth as "Pumpkin" or "Ringo."
- Amanda Plummer as "Honey Bunny" or "Yolanda."
- Maria de Medeiros as Fabienne, the naïve girlfriend of Butch.
- Eric Stoltz as Lance.
- Rosanna Arquette as Jody, Lance's wife, who's into body piercing.
- Christopher Walken as Captain Koons, the Vietnam War veteran.
- Quentin Tarantino as Jimmie Dimmick.
- Phil LaMarr as Marvin.
- Duane Whitaker as Maynard.
- Peter Greene as Zed.
- Stephen Hibbert as The Gimp.
Reception
Made on a budget of $8 million, the film made $107,928,762 domestically and $213,928,762, making the film a box office success.[9]
The film was a hit with the critics as seen in the many awards it has garnered. It boasts a 95% certified fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[10] Film critic Roger Ebert has Pulp Fiction on his Great Movies list.[11]
Awards
Pulp Fiction has both won, and been nominated for, many awards.
It has won the following accolades:[12]
| Year | Award | Category — Recipient(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Academy Award | Best Original Screenplay — Quentin Tarantino |
| 1994 | BAFTA | Best Supporting Actor — Samuel L. Jackson |
| 1994 | Palme d'Or | Quentin Tarantino |
| 1994 | Edgar Award | Best Motion Picture Screenplay — Quentin Tarantino |
It was nominated for the following Academy Awards:[12]
- Best Actor (John Travolta)
- Best Supporting Actor (Samuel L. Jackson)
- Best Supporting Actress (Uma Thurman)
- Best Director (Quentin Tarantino)
- Best Film Editing (Sally Menke)
- Best Picture (Lawrence Bender, producer)
Soundtrack
No film score was composed for Pulp Fiction, with Quentin Tarantino instead using an eclectic assortment of surf music, rock and roll, soul and pop songs. Notable songs include Dick Dale's rendition of "Misirlou", which is played during the opening credits.
The soundtrack album, Music from the Motion Picture Pulp Fiction, was released along with the film in 1994. In addition to songs from the film, it contains excerpts of dialogue, such as Jules' "Ezekiel 25:17" and "Royale with Cheese". The album peaked on the Billboard 200 at No. 21. The single, Urge Overkill's cover of the Neil Diamond song, "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon", peaked at No. 59.[13]
A two-disc collector's edition of the album was issued in 2002, which had five additional music tracks, including Link Wray's "Rumble" and a spoken-word interview with Tarantino.
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. |
- Harvey Keitel plays Larry Dimmick in Reservoir Dogs, the cousin of Jimmy Dimmick in this film.
- Mia Wallace's suit reappears in two of Tarantino's later films, Jackie Brown and Kill Bill, Volume 2.
- The majority of clocks in the movie are set to 4:20, specifically in the pawnshop. It is a widely asserted misconception that all of the clocks are set to this time.
- When Vincent enters Lance's house with the overdosed Mia, the games Life and Operation can be seen amongst the books and clutter.
- Despite Steve Prince's claims, injecting adrenaline into someone's heart will not save them from a heroin overdose. The proper antidote is Narcan, an opioid antagonist, injected intravenously, intramuscularly, or sprayed intranasally.
- As the sole example of "real" pulp fiction in Quentin Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction, the character of Vincent Vega (John Travolta) is seen in several scenes reading the first Modesty Blaise novel while sitting on the toilet. The edition Vincent reads has a mock-up cover that Tarantino had his prop department make, based upon the cover of an early edition of the novel.
- Samuel L. Jackson has a cameo role in Kill Bill as Rufus, an organist in the El Paso Chapel. Jackson's character was also rumored to be Jules[citation needed], because of that character's desire to "walk the earth like Caine in Kung Fu". The fact that he works at a church and is very well traveled supports this theory, and Rufus is killed (along with the rest of the people in the chapel) on the orders of Bill (David Carradine). Carradine portrayed Caine in the Kung Fu television series.
- The cereal that Lance is eating when Vincent comes to his house with Mia is called Fruit Brute and it was discontinued in 1983. Quentin Tarantino tries to get the same cereal box in each of his movies, which has shown up in Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, although the cereal through which Vernita fires a gun is called "Kaboom!".
- In the flashback to Butch's childhood, young Butch watches a TV show featuring static cartoon images with superimposed moving human lips. The show is Clutch Cargo, perhaps the best-known of the programs and commercials that used this "Syncro-Vox" technique.
- When Mia Wallace first meets Vincent Vega and is interviewing him with her camcorder, she asks him, "Can you dig it?" to which Vincent responds, "I can dig it." Mia responds, "I knew that you could!" in a nod to John Travolta's repeated phrase in Saturday Night Fever as Tony Manero.
See also
References and footnotes
- ^ "Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences". Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. December 26, 2006.
- ^ "Cannes Film Festival 1994". Internet Movie Database. December 26, 2006.
- ^ Pulp Fiction DVD trivia subtitles.
- ^ a b c Dancyer, Ken (2002). The Technique of Film and Video Editing: History, Theory, and Practice. New York: Focal Press. ISBN 9780240804200.
- ^ a b "What's in the Briefcase?". Snopes.com. December 26, 2006.
- ^ "List Actors considered for Pulp Fiction". Not Starring. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
- ^ Dominic Wills. "John Travolta Biography". Tiscali. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
- ^ Dominic Wills. "Samuel L. Jackson Biography". Tiscali. Retrieved 2006-12-27.
- ^ "Pulp Fiction (1994)" Box Office Mojo. 24 December 2006
- ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pulp_fiction/
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b "Awards for Pulp Fiction". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-12-23.
- ^ Charts & Awards, All Music Guide (December 26, 2006).
External links
- Pulp Fiction at IMDb
- Pulp Fiction at Rotten Tomatoes
- Roger Ebert's review of Pulp Fiction
- Timeline of the movie
- Full script
- Crime films
- Drug-related films
- Cult films
- American films
- Anthology films
- Films directed by Quentin Tarantino
- 1994 films
- Palme d'Or winners
- Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award nominated performance
- Best Picture Academy Award nominees
- Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nominated performance
- Miramax films
- 1970s retro movement
- Edgar Award winning works