Well its time to revisit another of my previous posts and the post in question is Quentin Tarantino's modern classic, Pulp Fiction, which now celebrates it 25th anniversary! So, here I will do the usual expanding on certain sections and tidying up a few errors here and there (if there are many to worry about, which there could be!).
So, with that all said let's take another look at Pulp Fiction...
And yep as usual...
PLOT SPOILERS WILL BE AHEAD!!!
STORY
So the plot is told in a typically non-linear fashion for wrtier/director Quentin Tarantino and is split across two main stories with some subplots and the first one features hitman Vincent Vega (Travolta) who goes on a job with his partner Jules Winfield (Jackson) to retrieve a briefcase from some young associates lead by Brett (Frank Whaley) who were stupid enough to rip off their boss Marsellus Wallace (Vingh Rhames). In the ensuing scene after they have killed the guys, Vincent accidentally kills one of their associates, Marvin (Phil LaMarr) by shooting him in the head while Jules is driving. After that Jule's calls his local friend Jimmie for help (played by Tarantino himself) and Marsellus who sends one of his business associates Mr Wolf (Harvey Keitel), who "solves problems" and aids in cleaning up their mess for them.
The other story follows Vincent, who is asked by Marsellus to take out his wife Mia (Uma Thurman) one night on the town while he is away on business. As the two of them have a good night out, and share a steak, burger, and take part in a twist contest, at a "wax museum with a pulse" 1950s style diner. But when they go back to Mia's place, Mia accidentally overdoses on Vincent's heroin baggie, thinking it to be cocaine. At this point Vincent in a panic takes Mia over to his drug dealer, Lance (Eric Stoltz) from whom he bought the heroin, which leads into the infamous "needle" scene where Vincent brings Mia round with an adrenaline shot.
The next big story is the "Golden Watch" where a boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) who is coming to the end of his career and is being forced to take a dive in his fight by Marsellus. But Butch has other ideas and ends up winning the fight, unintentionally killing his opponent in the process and plans to flee with his girlfriend and the winnings he made from the bookies who placed bets on him.
However as Butch and his girlfriend, Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros) plan their departure, Butch notices that Fabienne neglected to pick up his precious golden watch, which was given to him as a present from a soldier (Christopher Walken) who was entrusted the watch given to him by Butch's dad. Enraged by Fabienne's failure to pick up the watch, Butch decides, with little choice, to go back to get the watch. So as Butch goes back to his apartment to pick up the watch he proceeds to have the "weirdest fucking day of his life" as he rightly puts it.
And lastly the film concludes with Vincent and Jules having breakfast in a coffee house where they have a deep conversation about the freaky encounter they witnessed at Brett's apartment, when a gunman fired six bullets straight at them and they all missed. Not long after two thieves, Pumpkin (Tim Roth) and Yolanda (Amanda Plummer) hold up the coffee shop (whilst Vincent is in the bathroom) but as Pumpkin approaches Jules to get his wallet, the thief get's more than he bargained for as it leads into the film's surprising climax.
THOUGHTS
It has to be said that Pulp Fiction remains one of the most seminal and purely entertaining films of the last 25 years, which really established that Tarantino was not a one-trick pony and that he could continue to craft excellent films. Tarantino's script for the most part is wonderfully written and is filled with rich (and very profane) dialogue which is highly memorable as well as quotable. And its Tarantino's emphasis on the characters is what helps Pulp Fiction work so well as they are all very drawn out. Vincent as the main character in the film, is both dim and smart at the same time, as he holds a rather stubborn view of life, but at key moments isn't the brightest of sparks (especially leaving his machine gun outside the bathroom, in the scene where Butch faces off him with his gun).
Jules on the other hand is much brighter, cockier and smarter, and as he and Vincent face certain death at one point in the film, Jules is smart enough to realise that at this point, this probably isn't the life for him. And its most likely Jules decision after his dice with death that would go on to save him from a similar fate than Vincent's. In the final scene Jules also helps the two coffee shop robbers (from the opening scene) to escape unharmed, as prior to that he would have just killed them.
Mia is also a really good character as she is smart enough to know that her husband is protective of her, but she can look after herself. And Mia's close call with death also, provides a chance for Vincent to be the good guy and save her, although he wouldn't stand a chance in hell if she died on him. There's almost a fine line between Mia also flirting and going a step further with Vincent, but Quentin sensibly doesn't let it go that far, although in a later scene its implied they have been seeing each other behind Marsellus's back.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers and strong language!)
As for the performances, well the film features a star cast that are all on top form.
Starting with John Travolta who's career was totally revitalised here as he plays the part of the hitman Vincent Vega, who get's into hot water when he unwittingly blows the head off a business associate and also has to try and save his boss's wife from overdosing on his own heroin.
Travolta has numerous highlights in the film such as his opening scene where he talks with Jules about the subtle differences between the cultures of America, Paris and Amsterdam. And in the scene Jules says "Do you know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in Paris?" and Jules asks "Don't they call it a quarter pounder with cheese?" and Vincent says "No they've got the metric system they wouldn't know what the fuck a quarter pounder is. They call it the Royale with cheese". And of course when Jules asks him "What do they call a whopper?" Vincent says "I dunno. I didn't go into Burger King".
Then there is the scene where Vincent teases Jules about giving foot massages and says "Would you give a guy a foot massage? I'm little tired I could do with a foot massage myself!". And as Jules tells Vincent it wasn't right that Marcellus threw Tony "Rocky Horror" out of a window for giving Mia a foot message, Vincent responds. So, Vincent tells Jules " Now look, I've given a million ladies a million foot massages, and they all meant something. We act like they don't, but they do, and that's what's so fucking cool about them. There's a sensuous thing going on where you don't talk about it, but you know it, she knows it, fucking Marsellus knew it, and Antwon should have fucking better known better. I mean, that's his fucking wife, man. He can't be expected to have a sense of humor about that shit!".
And later as he fights the temptation to try anything on with Mia after their dinner, he talks to himself in the bathroom mirror at her place and says "You see, this is a real test to see if you can prove loyality, which is very important". And then after he says to himself "So what you're gonna do is go out there and say "I had a lovely evening" get in the car, go home, jerk off, and that's all your gonna do!".
And later the scene where Vincent desperately drives Mia over to Lance's place and drags her unconscious body out the car, despite Lance's protests "you are not to bring this fucked up bitch into my house!". And Vincent let's her drop to the ground and says "This fucked up bitch is Marsellus Wallace's wife! Do you know who Marsellus Wallace is??? Now if she croaks on me I'm a fuckin grease spot!".
And later after they shoot the gunman in Brett's apartment, Vincent kneels down and asks Marvin "Why the fuck didn't you tell us about the guy in the bathroom? Did it slip your mind? Did you forget there was someone in there with a goddamn hand cannon?!". And as Jules insists it was "divine intervention" that has kept them alive from being killed by the hail of bullets, Vincent tells him "Do you wanna continue this theological discussion in the car, or at the jailhouse with the cops?!".
And lastly one of my favourite lines from Travolta is during the robbery of the diner and as Jules is about to give his money to Pumpkin he warns him "Jules if you give that fuckin nimrod 1500 dollars I'm gonna shoot him on general principle!".
Samuel L Jackson next up, who made his breakthrough with this role, is simply terrific in his role as the philosophical hitman, Jules Winfield, who decides to turn a new leaf after his incident at Brett's apartment when retrieving Marsellus's case. Jackson himself was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance but he lost out to Martin Landau's performance in Ed Wood.
Jackson has so many highlights in the film as well as priceless dialogue its hard to name them all but I will mention a few. The first being the scene where Jules and Vincent arrive at Brett's apartment and he asks Brett if he can take a bite of his burger and he does so and says "This IS a tasty burger!" followed by "Do you know what they call a quarter pounder in France?" and he tells Brett its a Royale with cheese and why and as Brett says "Because of the metric system?" Jules says "Check out the big brain on Brett!".
And later in the scene he taunts Brett just before he shoots him and asks "What does Marsellus Wallace look like?!" leaving Brett a stuttering wreck who keeps saying "What?" and Jules's short fuse is about to reach the limit and he points the gun at him saying "Say what again?! I dare you! I double dare you, motherfucker! Say what one more goddamn time!". And this is of course is followed by his famous Ezekiel 25:7 passage from the bible, which he finishes by shouting "And you will know my name is the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon thee!" before unloading into Brett.
Then there are some priceless Jackson moments in the "Bonnie Situation" story line, such as when the gunman bursts out of Brett's bathroom and opens fire on Jules and Vincent but all the bullets miss. And Jules looks down at the dead gunman, after they shoot him, and he says "Did you see the size of the gun he fired at us? It was bigger than him!". And as Jules looks at the bullet holes in the wall he says "We should be fuckin dead, man" and Vincent says "Yeah, I know, we were lucky" and Jules says "No, this shit wasn't luck, this was divine intervention. Do you know what divine intervention is?". And Vincent, humouring Jules says "I think so. It means that God came down from heaven and stopped the bullets?" and Jules says "That's exactly what it means. God came down from heaven and stopped these motherfucking bullets!".
And one of Jackson's funniest moments comes in the scene where Jules and Vincent have to clean out the blood stained car and Jules groans in dispair as he cleans out bits of skull and blood "Oh, man! I will never forgive your ass for this shit! This is some fucked up repugnant shit!". And when Vincent tries to say "when a man admits all his wrongdoings he is immediately forgiven" Jules says "Get the fuck out of my face with that shit! The motherfucker that said that shit didn't have to pick up itty bitty pieces of brain and skull on account of your dumb ass!".
And when Vincent says how is "ready to blow" this is finally followed by "Well, I'm a mushroom cloud layin' motherfucker, motherfucker! Every time my fingers touch brain I'm Superfly TNT! I'm the guns of the Navarone! In fact what the fuck am I doing in the back?! YOU'RE the motherfucker that should be on brain detail! We're fuckin switching! I'm washin windows and you're picking this nigger's skull!".
And lastly when Jules grabs Pumpkin he tries to chill out Honeybunny (or Yolanda) by saying "We're gonna be like three Fonzies! And what's Fronzie like?" and Yolanda says "cool?" and Jules says "Correctamundo!". And as Yolanda tells Jules to let Pumpkin go, Jules tells her "Yolanda, I thought you were going to be cool. Now, when you yell at me that makes me nervous and when I get nervous, I get scared. And when motherfuckers get scared that's when motherfuckers accidentally get shot!". Then Jules negotiates with Pumpkin and gives him money so he doesn't have to "kill his ass" and he quotes the Ezekiel 25-17 bible passage and explains what he thinks it means.
So, Jules says to Pumpkin "I been sayin' that shit for years, and if you heard it, that meant your ass. I never gave much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was some coldblooded shit to say to a motherfucker... before I popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some shit this morning made me think twice. See, now I'm thinkin' maybe it means...you're the evil man, and I'm the righteous man, and Mr. 9-millimeter here, he's the shepherd...protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could mean... you're the righteous man, and I'm the shepherd, and it's the world that's evil and selfish. Now, I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth. "The truth is...YOU'RE the weak and I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin, Ringo. I'm trying real hard....to be the shepherd!" and he lowers his gun and let's Pumpkin and Honeybunny go. And after they go, Vincent quietly walks up to Jules and says "I think we should be leaving now" and Jules says "Yeah, I think that's probably a good idea!" and they both leave.
Uma Thurman is also excellent in her role as Mia Wallace, Marsellus's sultry wife who has dinner with Vincent and their scenes together provide a nice chemistry between them both.
Uma's highlights include the scene where Mia wants to dance for the Jack Rabbit Slim's dancing trophy and Vincent says no and she says "No, no, no, no. I do believe Marsellus Wallace, my husband, your boss, told you to take me out and do what I wanted. Now I wanna dance, I wan't that trophy. So dance good!" and they proceed to carry out a pretty cheesy dance (which wins them the trophy nontheless!).
Then there is the scene where Vincent at the diner with Mia, asks her about the incident with Tony and Marsellus. And Mia asks him "So, did you think of something to say?" and Vincent says "Actually, I did. However you seem like a nice person and I don't want to offend you" and Mia, surprised says "Ooohh! This doesn't sound like the usual, mindless, boring, gettin'-to-know-you chitchat. This sounds like you actually have somethin' to say". And when Vincent asks her if Tony ever gave Mia a foot massage, she replies "Only thing Antwan ever touched of mine was my hand when he shook it... at my wedding. Truth is, nobody knows why Marsellus threw Tony out that window... except Marsellus and Tony. When you little scamps get together, you're worse than a sewing circle!".
And after Mia has her harrowing near death experience and is saved bt Vincent she wearily asks him if he wants to hear a joke she told on the TV pilot she did. And Mia tells the joke "A daddy tomato, a mommy tomato and a baby tomato cross the street. The baby tomato starts lagging behind, the daddy tomato gets angry goes back and squishes him and says "Ketchup!".
Bruce Willis also puts in a good performance as the troubled boxer, Butch Coolidge, who is haunted by nightmares involving a soldier who hands Butch his late father's watch, who died in Vietnam and later on goes on the run from Marcellus Wallace as he ends up killing the boxer in his fight.
Willis play the part with his usual type of coolness combined with some hot tempered moments, which we see in the scene where he frantically looks through his suitcase for his father's watch, which his girlfriend Fabienne has forgotten. And he says to Fabienne "That was my father's fucking watch. Do you have any idea what he went through to get that watch?? I don't have time to go into it but it was alot!". And Butch continues "All this other shit you could've set on fire, but I specifically reminded you not to forget the fucking watch! Now think! Did you get it?" and Fabienne nervously says "I think so". However, Butch now angry says "You believe so???!" What the fuck does that mean??! You either did or didn't get it!!" and Fabienne says "Then I did" and Butch asks again "You sure?" and Fabienne, frightened says "No".
So, then Butch explodes in a rage, yelling "FUCK! FUCK!!! FUCK!!! MOTHERFUCKER!!!" and he starts leaping up and down and he grabs the motel room TV and smashes it and yells "DO YOU KNOW HOW FUCKING STUPID YOU ARE???!!". However Butch then regains his composure and shouts "NO! It's not your fault. You left it at the apartment. If you left it at the apartment, it's not your fault. I had you bring a bunch of stuff. I reminded you about it, but I didn't illustrate how personal the watch was to me". And after he leaves and reassures Fabienne, we cut to him in his car and he pounds the steering wheel angrily, shouting "SHIT!! OF ALL THE FUCKING THINGS SHE COULD FUCKING FORGET, SHE FORGETS MY FATHER'S WATCH!! I specifically reminded her! Bedside table! On the kangaroo! I said the words "don't forget my father's watch!".
And one of Willis's best moments is where after he and Marsellus have been captured by the rednecks in the pawnshop and he breaks free of his bonds and he decides to save Marsellus. So, Butch rummages through the pawnshop for a weapon to rescue Marcellus with and he picks up a samurai sword (a katana) and goes downstairs and exacts some revenge on the rednecks. And in the scene, Butch skewers one of the rednecks and then points the katana at the other, Z, and he notices a gun on a table near him and he says to Z "You want that gun, don't you, Zed? Go ahead and pick it up!". And as Z is tempted to pick it up, Butch says "Atta boy! I want you to pick it up...Z!" but then Marsellus stands up behind Butch armed with a shotgun.....
And later when Marsellus let's Butch go he takes Z's chopper (Z is played by Peter Greene) and picks up Fabienne and he tells her "Honey, since I left you, this has been, without a doubt, the single weirdest fuckin' day of my life!". And as Fabienne get's on the bike, she asks him "Who's motorcycle is this?" and Butch says "Its a chopper baby" and she says "Who's chopper is this?" and Butch says "Zed's?" Fabienne "Who's Zed?" and Butch says "Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead!" and they drive off.
Vingh Rhames is great as the crime boss, Marsellus Wallace who sends Vincent and Jules to retrieve a case containing something of great value (and has a golden glow) which we never see what it is and later on has a confrontation with Butch.
Rhames also has some good moments such as in his first scene where Marsellus talks to Butch and tells him "I think when this shit is all done and over, you're gonna find yourself one smilin motherfucker" as he tells Butch to take a dive in his fight. And in ths scene, Marsellus holds out an envelope of money to Butch and he says to him "Are you my nigga?" and Butch takes the envelope and says "It would certainly appear so". And Marsellus says to him "The night of the fight you might feel a slight sting. That's pride fucking with you. Fuck pride! Pride only hurts, it never helps. You fight through that shit. Cause a year from now when you are kickin it on the Caribbean you're gonna say to yourself "Marsellus Wallace was right!".
And later in the scene where Butch, driving his car, spots Marsellus cross the street, carrying a box of doughnuts and they look at each other and Marsellus shouts "Motherfucker!" and Butch puts the car into gear and runs him over only to crash into another car in the process.
But later on Butch decides to save Marsellus during being raped by the rednecks, and Marcellus then takes the shotgun and blasts Zed's private parts to bits. And as Butch asks him if he is OK, Butch says "Naw, man. I'm pretty far from OK!". And Butch asks Marsellus "What now?" and Marsellus says "Let me tell you what now. I'm gonna call a couple of hard, pipe-hittin' niggers...to go to work on the homes here...with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch" And Marsellus shouts at Z, who writhes on the floor in agony, nursing what is left of his gentialia "You hear me talkin', hillbilly boy? I ain't through with you by a damn sight! I'm gonna get medieval on your ass!".
So, Butch asks "I mean what now between me and you?" and Butch says "Oh, THAT what now. I tell you now what between me and you. There IS no me and you. Not no more". And Butch asks "So, we cool?" and Marsellus says "Yeah, we cool. Two things: Don't tell nobody about this. This shit is between me, you and soon to be living the rest of his short ass life in agonising pain, rapist here, it nobody else's business".
And lastly there is the scene where Jules make a call to Marsellus about the "Bonnie" situation and what can the do to resolve it. So, in the scene Marsellus on the phone to Jules says re: Bonnie "If she comes what do you think she'll do?" and there is a beat as Jules replies and Marsellus "Yeah no fucking shit she'll freak. I mean how much? A lot or a little?". And as Jules anxiously explains that if Bonnie catches them trying to shift Marvin's body when she comes home "there aren't no telling what she is a liable to do!".
So, Marsellus says "I know that, Jules. All I'm doing is contemplating the ifs" which prompts Jules to snap back "I don't wanna hear about no motherfuckin ifs! All I wanna hear from your ass is "You aint got not problem, Jules! I'm on the motherfucker! Go back in there and chill those niggers out and wait for the cavalry, which should be coming directly!". So, Marsellus calmly replies "You aint got not problem, Jules. I'm on the motherfucker. Go back in there and chill those niggers out and wait for the Wolf, who should be coming directly". Jules, surprised then asks "You sending the Wolf?" and Marsellus says "You feel better, motherfucker?" and Jule smiles and says "Shit, negro! That's all you had to say!".
Eric Stoltz is also good in his role as Lance, the drug dealer who sells Vincent the heroin, which Mia later overdoses on and he takes the call from Vincent when Mia has OD'd he says to him on the phone "This is not my fuckin problem! You fucked her up, you fuckin deal with this! Are you talking to me on a cellular phone?! I don't know you! Prank caller, prank caller!" and hangs up.
And later when Vincent brings the OD'd Mia to Lance's place, the two of them squabble as Lance prepares the needle with adrenaline to resuscitate Mia. And Lance says "Here, I'll you what to do" but Vincent refuses, saying "You're gonna give her the shot" and Lance insists "No, you're gonna give her the shot!" and they continue to argue. So, Lance finally says "I never done this either! I ain't starting now! You brought her here. You give her the shot. The day I bring an O.D.ing bitch to your house, then I give her the shot! Give her the shot!".
So, Vincent relents and takes the needle and uses a black marker to mark the point on Mia's chest where he is to inject the needle. And Vincent says "All right, tell me what to do" and Lance says "Okay, you're giving her an injection of adrenalin straight to her heart. But she's got a breastplate... You gotta pierce through that. You gotta bring the needle down in a stabbing motion!" and Lance indicates a stabbing motion three times. So, Vincent asks "So, I've got to stab her three times?" and Lance shouts "No, just stab her once! But it's gotta be hard enough to get through her breastplate into her heart. Once you do that, you p-press down on the p-plunger". And Vincent asks "OK, then what happens?" and Lance shrugs and says "I'm kinda curious about that myself" and Vincent angrily says "This is ain't no fuckin joke! Am I gonna kill her?!" and Lance says "She's supposed to come out, just like that!".
And after Vincent injects the needle in Mia, she suddenly is brought to life and screams out loud and Lance nervously asks her "If you're alright, then say something" and Mia looks a bit needle embedded in her chest and says "Something...." and Vincent and Lance sigh in relief.
Harvey Keitel also provides an amusing performance as Winston Wolf, the problem solver who turns and sorts out the "Bonnie Situation" which refers to Jule's friend, Jimmy's wife, Bonnie who will come home from work any time. The character of Winston would of course later appear in a series of parody television adverts for Directline.com
And Harvey's best scene comes when Vincent disputes Winston's straight talking no-nonsense manner and says to him "A please would be nice" and Winston, taken aback asks "Come again?" and Vincent says "A please would be nice". So, Winston tells Vincent "Get it straight, buster. I'm not here to say please. I'm here to tell you what to do. And if self-preservation is an instinct you possess, you'd better fuckin' do it and do it quick. I'm here to help. If my help's not appreciated, lotsa luck, gentlemen!".
So, Jules tries to step in to diffuse the tension and says "No, it ain't like that, Mr Wolf, you're help is definitely appreciated!" and Vincent says to Winston "Mr. Wolf, listen. I don't mean disrespect, okay? I respect you. I just don't like people barkin' orders at me that's all". So, Winston says "If I'm curt with you, its because time is a factor. I think fast, I talk fast and I need you guys to act fast if you want to get out of this. So pretty please, with sugar on top, clean the fuckin car!".
Another good scene is when Winston gets Jimmie to get a bunch of blankets together to cover over the bloodied seats of Jules's car and Jimmie explains his concerns about his bedset being used as it belong to his Aunt Jenny. So, Winston in the scene asks "Let me ask you a question, Jimmie. Was your Aunt Jenny a millionaire?" and Jimmie says "No" and Winston tells him "Well, your Uncle Marsellus is and I'm positive he will furnish you with a whole new set". So, Winston takes out a wad of dollar bills and says to Jimmie "I like oak myself. How about you, Jimmie? Are you an oak man?" and Jimmie with little choice says "Oak's nice" and Winston starts counting out the money.
And last of all is the scene where Winston, Jules and Vincent successfully dispose of Marvin and the tainted car and they meet his girlfriend, Raquel. So, in the scene Winston offers them a ride but when they tell them where the live, Winston looks to the skies and says "Its your future...I see...a cab ride! Way out of the sticks, fellas!" and he says to Raquel "Say good night, Raquel" and she sarcastically repeats "Goodnight, Raquel!". Jules and Vincent then both thank Winston saying it was a pleasure to watch him work and Winston smiles and says "Call me Winston" and then he heads to his car with Raquel and says to her "You see young lady! That's respect! Respect shows character" and Raquel protests "I HAVE character!" and he tells her "Just because you ARE a character doesn't mean you HAVE character!".
Christopher Walken who makes a cameo appearance in the film as the solider who gives Butch as a child, his father's watch, is also great and his long speech is nicely written and also pretty funny.
And of course there is funny moment where he tells the young Butch "The way your dad looked at it, this watch was your birthright. He'd be damned if any slope's gonna put their greasy, yellow hands on his boy's birthright, so he hid it in one place he knew he could hide something... his ass! Five long years he wore this watch up his ass. Then he died of dysentery...He give me the watch. I hid this uncomfortable hunk of metal up my ass two years. Then...after seven years, I was sent home to my family and...now...little man, I give the watch to you!".
Maria de Medeiros is also good in the film as Butch's girlfriend, Fabienne although it has to be said that she get's the worst of Tarantino's dialogue given that she has to say lines such as "pot bellies are sexy!" and "I'm gonna order a big plate of blueberry pancakes... with maple syrup, eggs over easy and five sausages!". So in all honesty I'm not going to bother quoting any of her scenes here just for the sake of time (sorry!).
And lastly Quentin Tarantino also can't resist putting himself in the film in his small role as Jimmy who through little choice has to help out Jules and Vincent with their problem.
And Tarantino's most noteworthy scene comes when Jules compliments Jimmy on how good his coffee is and asks what flavour it is and Jimmy says "Knock it off, Julie!". And Jules asks "What?" and Jimmy angrily tells him "I don't need you to tell me how fuckin' good my coffee is. I'm the one who buys it. I know how good it is. When Bonnie goes shopping, she buys shit. I buy the gourmet expensive stuff 'cause when I drink it, I wanna taste it. But you know what's on my mind right now? It ain't the coffee in my kitchen. It's the dead nigger in my garage!".
So, as Jules tries to calm Jimmy, Jimmy interrupts him and asks "When you came pulling in here, did you notice the sign on the front of my house that said, "Dead Nigger Storage"?". And as Jules is about to reply, Jimmy asks louder "Did you notice the sign on the front of my house that said, "Dead Nigger Storage"?!!". And Jules says No, I didn't" and Jimmy asks him "You know why you didn't see that sign?" and Jules asks "Why?" and Jimmy yells "Cause it ain't there, 'cause storing dead niggers ain't my fuckin' business, that's why!".
And Jimmy then tells Jules "Now, look, you know, she comes home from work in about an hour and a half. The graveyard shift at the hospital. You gotta make some phone calls? You gotta call some people? Well, then, do it, and then get the fuck out of my house before she gets here!". And as Jules tries to reassure Jimmy that "We don't wanna fuck your shit up" Jimmy angrily yells "You're fucking my shit up right now! You're gonna fuck my shit up BIG TIME if Bonnie comes home! Do me that favor, all right? The phone is in my bedroom. I suggest you get going!".
DIRECTION AND MUSIC
As for the director himself, Quentin Tarantino does a great job here of course and technically it is also pretty good film and as he did with Reservoir Dogs he employs the use of long takes in certain scenes and even has a little nod to Brian De Palma with the scene where we see Butch on the right edge of the frame, exhausted on the run from a groggy Marcellus who went see in the distance on the left of the shot. He also makes good use of visual creativity, such as in the scene with Fabienne's reflection standing inside the motel room TV while an action film is playing. Perhaps time wise the film does feel a bit flabby in places with certain scenes overrunning but for the most part this is certainly one of Tarantino's very best efforts.
As for the music in the film it features a memorable soundtrack made up of tracks such as Dick Dale's "Miserlou", and Kool n the Gang's "Jungle Boogie", Aretha Franklin's "Son of a preacher man" as well as other songs like "Countin flowers on the wall" by the Statler Brothers, "Comache" by The Revels, used during the hillbilly rape scene and Chuck Berry's "You never can tell" used during Vincent and Mia's dance.
FLAWS (Warning: this section may also contain spoilers!)
As for flaws....yeah well as good as Pulp Fiction is, it still has some worth mentioning.
And for starters, I do think that the film could be a little shorter as certain scenes do feel a bit panned out. And for examples sake the scenes between Butch and Fabienne do drag on a bit, and are the only fairly tedious scenes in the film, especially with Fabienne wittering on, about wishing she had a pot belly like "Madonna did when she did Lucky Star!". At this point you want to just hit the fast forward button as the dialogue starts to get a bit cringeworthy! Further to this, I think its also a bit fair to say that Fabienne is a bit too cutesy a character for the film itself as she is quite a contrast to the rest of the hard boiled gangsters and molls we get but maybe that's the point I guess.
And one of the few things that does leave me slightly uncomfortable about Pulp Fiction is the somewhat racist element on the dialogue, especially in the scenes such as Lance the drug dealer saying to Vincent about his deals "Am I a nigger? Are we in Inglewood??" as well as Jimmie saying to Jules "when you pulled in here, did you see a sign on the front of my house saying dead nigger storage??". It does show the film has an uncomfortable mix of humour blended in with racism, and it was the same in Reservoir Dogs where e.g. Harvey Keitel's character, Mr White, talks about "How every nigger I know treats their women like a piece of shit?".
I also though that in the redneck scene where Marsellus is raped by one of the good ol boys, it does appear very stereotypical in its depiction of these characters and it almost like Quentin threw in the sodomy scene for shock effect more than anything else. Its almost like Tarantino is doing a nod to the classic 1970's thriller "Deliverance" where Ned Beatty's character is also sexually assaulted by hillbillies.
Another issue is to do with the idea of Winston driving the tainted car with Marvin's dead body in it as he tells Jules and Vincent that he will drive that car and he gives Vincent the keys to his own Acura sports car. So in the scene Winston tells Vincent "I drive real fuckin fast, so keep up" but if he does that then surely they will get pulled over by the police! So, in this instance wouldn't it be better for Winston to exercise a little care when he is driving a car containing a dead body rather than belt it out at 90 miles an hour and risk being pulled over and arrested! Its certainly one of the plot holes in the film that I hadn't picked up on before now but it remains a big one.
Then of course there is the continuity flaw in the scene where the guy in the bathroom bursts out and unloads his magnum at Jules and Vincent only to miss them both and the bullets go into the wall instead. However if you look carefully before this scene, the bullet holes are already in the wall! This however is already a well noted continuity flaw in the film itself, so I guess its nothing new but still worth pointing out all the same.
And further to this point, its surprising that the cops aren't alerted at all in any of the scenes involving gunfire in this film, not even where Marsellus shoots at Butch on the streets in broad daylight! I mean Jules and Vincent unload on Brett and his associates in an apartment with loud 9mm guns but NOTHING is heard or done about it, so no one calls the cops! I guess it was just a very apathetic neighborhood I guess where gun crime is so rife no one can be bothered to call the police! And even further to this, why DIDN'T Jules and Vincent use guns with silencers instead to keep things quiet?! Ah well, we're not talking about real life here as it is a Tarantino film after all.
Another problem I had with the film was to do with Butch's choice when he went back to his apartment to get his watch and THEN go in and make himself some pop tarts in the kitchen! I mean what hell???! Surely to God he should have just got his watch and left the apartment straight away! However I guess the flipside is that by killing Vincent that's one other problem dealt with but on the other hand even though Butch saves Marsellus's life, he does also kill one of his main henchmen, so wouldn't that also cancel out Marsellus's new found faith in Butch??! Just maybe In short, Butch really should have just left the apartment straight away than hang about to make breakfast for himself.
There are also another couple of oddities in the story such as the scene where Vincent tells Jules that he doesn't watch TV and he later on asks Jules if he watched a show called "cops" which totally negates what he said to Jules earlier! Now, you could argue that Vincent was being sarcastic in his response that he doesn't watch TV earlier in the film but it is still a bit bizarre how Tarantino doesn't refer back to it in the script at that point although clearly Jules's mind is elsewhere after their near death experience.
And last of all was it really a good idea for Vincent to shoot up heroin just BEFORE he is due to go off and pick up his boss's wife for a dinner date?! I mean what if he crashed the car enroute or worse crashed it while he was driving her to dinner?! I guess its OK for Mia to get all coked up since she won't be driving but not so much for Vincent surely! But again it is a Quentin Tarantino film where gangsters can shoot up people in neighbourhoods, scream and shouts as they do it as well as get pissed up on drugs and booze and drive cars at the same time!
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So to sum up, Pulp Fiction remains one of the best crime/comedy films of its era and even though it does have some rather overly talky, long drawn out scenes at times with the occasional moments of cringeworthy dialogue. However any of its bad points are far outweighed by its good ones and the film is helped along by its great cast, soundtrack and of course solid direction from its director and writer, Quentin Tarantino, who provides plenty of funny moments and memorable scenes and dialogue.
Right, so that's it for now and I will be back again soon hopefully before the end of the month with a post of sorts.
Till then its ciao for now!
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