"Pulp Fiction" (1994)

Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) are two hitmen who are out to retrieve a suitcase stolen from their employer, mob boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). Marcellus has also asked Vincent to take his wife Mia (Uma Thurman) out a few days later when he himself will be out of town. Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) is an aging boxer who is paid by Marcellus to lose his next fight. The lives of these seemingly unrelated people are woven together in an intricately clever script comprising of a series of funny though occasionally bizarre incidents. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.

The first time I admit I wasn’t mad about this film because I just found it so bloody confusing and so had to watch it again to try and follow what the hell was going on. The time-frame is a little muddled. It switches from one story to the other, but despite my initial disgruntlement, having watched it a few more times since then, I do see the brilliance of its structure. This film is epic.

Quentin Tarantino is known I think for the level of violence and obscene language throughout his films and there's certainly no shortage here! (Apparently the 'F word' is said 265 times). Perhaps this film is not for the faint hearted. I’m not big on the excessive language and violence generally and could argue that it’s not necessary but at the same time you can’t fault this script because in all honesty it’s genius. The dialog is very smart and realistic. The characters Tarantino has created, and the way he has created them is amazingly well done. The conversations between Jules and Vincent, while largely unrelated to the actual story, are incredibly important and insightful when it comes to getting to know their characters. I’ll always remember their “royale with cheese” conversation (mostly because for weeks we couldn’t eat a burger without Dad imitating this dialog) but also because it’s just funny and light hearted and brings you closer to the characters. You feel more empathy towards them when shit hits the fan later! It seems to be a unique style to Tarantino, who, for interest sake also makes a cameo himself in the film. Of the three stories woven in the film, the one with Jules and Vincent is my favourite. I love their friendship.

Continuing from this, Jules is probably my favourite character. He’s the only one of the characters who appears to have any form of remorse for the kind of vocation and makes the biggest transformation they have. But also he has the best dialogue in the film and Samuel L. Jackson plays him amazingly. One of the scenes which stands out for his character is when he has to shoot this guy in a chair. I love how these guys Jules and Vincent storm in on are eating burgers so the boys are able to continue their conversation from in the car. (While also wondering how one could stomach burgers for breakfast...) Jules completely owns this scene and it includes his monologue of the excerpt from the Bible Ezekial 25:17. The significance of this monologue changes as the film develops. When he repeats it in a later scene in a café (a scene that also stands out hugely for this character) it has taken on a whole new meaning to what it suggested at the beginning. He repeats it three times. (But it is worth pointing out that this passage was in fact made up by Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson because apparently only the final two lines feature in Ezekial 25:17)

What’s also interesting about the above scene is the fact that we never once throughout the film actually find out the contents of that suitcase. This film really asks more questions than it answers, it has to be said. However, there have been some theories.  The most popular theory is that it's Marcellus Wallace's soul, hence the case's glow, the plaster on the back of Wallace's head (this is where the soul is removed) and the combination - 666. I think this theory is class. I tell you the detail in this film is unreal. Anyway, in reality, the bandage on Marcellous’ head was apparently actually to cover a shaving scar suffered by the actor and though Quentin Tarantino's original script apparently had the briefcase containing diamonds, he quickly dismissed this as it was too similar to his other film Reservoir Dogs. (And not to mention really cliché...) Instead, Tarantino thought it better to never reveal (or even decide) what was in the case, in the hope people would guess, speculate and create their own theories. Well, this worked a treat! Evidently.

The cinematography is quite interesting. There is a lot of unconventional framing and composition. An example would be early in the film during the conversation between Butch and Marcellous. We’ve got an over-the-shoulder shot, but rather than focus on Butch’s face as would normally be expected, we instead concentrate on the back of Marcellous’. What’s so great about this is the fact it forces the audience to wonder about this mysterious bandage on the back of his neck (which I referred to in the previous paragraph) and trying to determine what this intriguingly mysterious person looks like. Despite having heard so much about him, we don’t see is face until quite later. But this technique is a fantastic and subtle means of further building the danger and mystery around this man. In this scene there’s also a long piece of their conversation where we only see Butch’s face, even when Marcellous is speaking. I always find this quite jarring considering I always knew films not to stay on the one thing for too long and to move around to keep the audience interested. But I guess in its own way this also amplifies the curiosity in regards to Marcellous.

The editing is extremely well crafted. The film was nominated for its editing at the Oscars but just missed out to Forrest Gump. But if you think about it, it was bloody confusing enough to just watch, can you imagine the process of trying to fit these different stories together in a seamless manner? I don’t know how they did it, really. One nugget of information I found interesting to learn was in the scene when Vincent had to plunge the syringe of adrenaline into Mia’s chest following her mistaking a bag of heroin for cocaine, was filmed by having John Travolta pull the needle out, then reversing the footage. Chronologically speaking, the last scene in the movie sees Butch and Fabienne drive away on a motorcycle. The very first sound heard at the start of the movie is the same motorcycle's engine.

  

I did not care for the torture scene in this film. (But if you've read any of my other reviews you'll be well acquainted with my aversion to this kind of thing) I don't believe I've actually watched it in all the times I've seen this film. But I have to admit it's a pretty ironic scene considering Marcellous' preoccupation throughout the film with punishing his enemies "in the ass"; his frequent threats it would seem...well uh...come back to bite him in his own...

As we’re on the subject of Marcellous, I also found it interesting to realise that despite being husband and wife, Marcellous and Mia Wallace never actually speak to each other on screen throughout the whole film. I kind of wonder if that actually says a lot about their characters without actually saying anything?!

And finally one more note regarding Marcellous: The shot of him stopping and seeing Butch in the middle of the road is copied directly from Psycho. And I would like to proudly interject that this was one of the notable facts that I clocked myself before researching about this film before doing this review! I feel very proud of myself for noting it.

I think my favourite moment in the film is probably when Vincent accidentally shoots Marvin in the face. I laughed so much. Ok, that sounds really bad when you say it like that, but if you watch it, it’s pretty funny. I think this would be one of the more classic scenes out of the film. Another classic scene is the dance sequence between Mia and Vincent during the Jack Rabbit Slim's Twist Contest…though personally I’ve never really got the hype over it…I kind of like the song used though!

 

The soundtrack to this film is class. It’s got some great songs. “Son of a Preacher Man”, “Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon” (though not Neil Diamond’s version which I would have preferred, but this is just me), “You Never Can Tell”, "Jungle Boogie"….It’s got one of those soundtracks that when you hear any of the songs from it, it makes you want to go and watch this film. I always find that with The Full Monty’s soundtrack too, haha.

There are so many big names in this film. Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Christopher Walken. The part of Jules was actually written for Samuel L. Jackson and as I said above he is unreal. He received a nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Uma Thurman also received a nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and John Travolta received a nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role. While I agree completely that he deserved his nomination, I always find it so strange watching John Travolta in a film like this because I grew up watching him in “Look Who’s Talking” and he, for me, will just forever be James Ubriacco. (I never liked “Grease” much) Quentin Tarantino himself received a nomination for Best Director but went on to win (with Roger Avary) Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. The film as a whole was also nominated for Best Picture. The film cost around $8m to make, but went on to make over $210m.

I never got the significance of the title “Pulp Fiction”; never understood what it had to do with any of the film, but apparently it is supposed to be self-referential. These ‘Pulp’ magazines were popular during the mid-20^th century and were supposed to be famed for their graphic violence and punchy dialogue, exploited to attract readership. This film’s content mirrors these stylings. The novel Vincent reads on the toilet, “Modesty Blaise”, is a 1965 'pulp' novel, in keeping with the movie's title. As we’re on the subject, interestingly, whenever Vincent goes to the toilet (which is a lot more than you think - constipation is a side effect of heroin apparently), something bad happens. He emerges at Mia house to find her overdosing, he later comes out at the restaurant to find a robbery unfolding and (SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE FILM) somewhere in the film is shot dead by Butch after using his bathroom.

So yeah...To conclude this review, as you’ve probably guessed while reading: if you haven't already, this is definitely one to watch!

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