Pulp Fiction
PULP FICTION (18)
D: Quentin Tarantino
Miramax/A Band Apart/Jersey Films (Lawrence
Bender)
US 1994
153 mins
Crime/Thriller
W: Quentin Tarantino & Roger
Avary
DP: Andrzej Sekula
Ed: Sally Menke
PD: David Wasco
John Travolta (Vincent Vega), Samuel
L. Jackson (Jules Winnfield), Uma Thurman (Mia Wallace), Harvey Keitel (The Wolf), Tim Roth (Pumpkin), Amanda Plummer (Honey Bunny), Ving Rhames (Marsellus Wallace),
Bruce Willis (Butch), Maria de Medeiros (Fabienne), Eric Stoltz (Lance), Rosanna Arquette (Jody)
Quentin Tarantino's intricate compendium of crime uses a
non-linear narrative that interlinks through the theme that something bad happens whenever John Travolta uses the bathroom (seriously, this is true! Give it another watch!!)
Coincidence aside, the real theme Tarantino's film conveys
is "honour amongst thieves" and there's much symbolism and reference to the samurai code within, the Samurai movies of Akira Kurosawa providing a huge inspiration to Quentin Tarantino's
screenwriting career.
The first of the three stories sees two gangster hitmen,
John Travolta & Samuel L. Jackson, discussing cheeseburgers and Amsterdam before a visit to a seedy apartment to collect their bosses property from a group of young
hoodlums.
Following these events, John Travolta has the task of
entertaining his bosses moll for the evening, accompanying her to Jack Rabbit Slim's 1950's style diner where they participate (& subsequently win) the twist contest, the evening takes a
turn for the worst however when she OD's on heroin.
The second chapter is about a boxer who is bribed by a mob
boss to take a dive in a prizefight but when he ends up winning the bout he has to flee town before the gangsters catch up on him.
The third story brings everything full circle, following
on from a pre-credits sequence in which a heist develops in a coffee shop, which so happens to take place shortly after the apartment scene in the first story, but prior to John Travolta
& Uma Thurman's $5 milkshakes at Jack Rabbit Slims.
Though the non-linear narrative threw some viewers off,
it's easier to piece together than most which use the same structure, and it cannot be denied that almost every single character is richly developed, from John Travolta's cool as ice Vincent
Vega to Samuel L. Jackson's bible-quoting, philosophically-minded Jules Winnfield and Uma Thurman's sassy gangster's moll, Mia Wallace.
As well as the great performances, every memorable line of
dialogue has gone down in movie folklore and the film must surely be the most quotable of the 1990's.
It really is a modern masterpiece of the crime genre, as
classic as The Godfather and as cult as A Clockwork Orange. One of the best films ever made.
10/10
