Pulp Fiction (1994)

A Film Review

By: Malin Wijenayake

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Mar 29/17

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Twenty-three years later, Pulp Fiction (1994) is still a classic. Directed by Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction features a slew of simple and nonlinear crime stories orchestrated by a star studded cast; earning a Best Picture nomination, although it fell short to Forrest Gump.

The movie is well written––backtracking on itself telling several interlocking stories about characters who inhabit a world of crime, involving its characters in sticky situations, and then letting them escape into stickier ones. The imaginative scenarios that Tarantino whips up produce a rich dialogue that is both original and memorable to this day.

“English mother-fucker! Do you speak it?”
                        –– Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield

John Travolta stars as Vincent Vega, a hit man who carries out assignments for a mob boss, Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). We see him first with his partner Jules (Samuel L. Jackson); they're on their way to confront some drug dealers, and are discussing why in Paris they have a French word for Quarter Pounders (the Royale with cheese).

Travolta's character is sloppy––not only does he kill people inadvertently ("The car hit a bump!") but he doesn't know how to clean up after himself. Thanks to Mr. Wolf (Harvey Keitel), who specializes in messes, and his friend Lance (Eric Stoltz), who owns a big medical encyclopedia, and can look up emergency situations; Travolta is able to escape the very sticky situations he gets himself into.

Travolta meets Uma Thurman––the wife of the mob boss, who orders Travolta to take her out for the night. They go to Jack Rabbit Slim's, a 1950s themed restaurant where they have the best milkshake of their lives and end up in a twist contest...and yes, we get to see Travolta dance!

Thurman's character ends up overdosing on heroin and cocaine on their night out and Travolta is forced to resurrect her by stabbing her in the heart with Naloxone. Bruce Willis and Maria de Medeiros play another couple: He's a boxer named Butch Coolidge who is supposed to throw a fight, but doesn't. She's his sweet, naive girlfriend.

To me the ideas of choice and making changes for the well being of everyone's life was a central theme in this movie. I believe that Tarantino is trying to show us that changing yourself to become a better human being and doing the right thing will always have good consequences. The scene where the kid jumps out of the bathroom, shooting at Jules (Jackson) and Vincent (Travolta) 6 times, and missing all shots, causes Jules and Vincent to reflect on the meaning of all this. Jules concludes that the fact they’re still alive is an act of god and vows to better himself, while Vincent doesn’t understand and calls it luck. The two characters take very different routes in the film after this incident: Jules goes on to retire from being a hitman and lives while Vincent makes no changes, leading to his demise. Loyalty is another common theme in this film. The one’s lacking loyalty seemed to suffer the most consequences, most often death. Loyalty can be regained however, as Butch (Willis) makes the right choice to free Marsellus (Rhames) from his capture after initially betraying him. Marsellus, who was initially trying to kill Butch for his disloyalty, decides to forgive him (changing him to a better man as well).

While the screenplay and acting is deserving of tremendous recognition, the cinematography used in Pulp Fiction is very unconventional, yet extremely cool. Cinematographer Andrzej Sekula, who previously worked with Tarantino on Reservoir Dogs (1992), utilized unconventional framing methods during dialogue, in which he would use intense close ups of characters, cutting foreheads and chins off screen. This was very unique as I noticed immediately how different the close ups were in comparison to other close up shots in similar films. Another example is the dialogue between Marsellus Wallace and Butch Coolidge: Sekula chooses to frame a conventional over-the-shoulder shot by focusing on the backside of Wallace’s head instead of the face of Butch as we’re used to seeing in other films. By doing that he is forcing us to focus on the bald head with the mysterious bandage, creating suspense for what the guy looks like and suggesting mystery or menace behind his character.

The focus is clearly on the back of Wallace’s neck, not on Butch (Bruce Willis)

The rule of thirds is applied rigorously throughout the movie. When it seemed impossible to do so, Sekula would utilize mirrors to keep characters within frame regardless of their positioning in the shot. An example of this is the dialogue between Vincent and Lance, shot from the perspective of the bed, where Sekula uses a mirror to allow viewers to see both Lance and Vincent in the frame.

Lance (Stoltz) is on the far right corner of the frame while Vincent (Travolta) is on the left

Lighting plays a significant role in the film. Low lighting is used in scenes like Marsellus’ club and the taxi cab to set the tone. The red filter in the club scene creates a mysterious atmosphere and illustrates a sense of danger. It could be argued that the low lighting symbolizes the shadiness of certain characters, whereas good lighting is used to symbolize the innocence of certain other characters. The overall impact of lighting is quite significant to the film.

What amazed me the most about the cinematography is Tarantino's use of continuous shots. A continuous shot is typically one long take by a single camera. Tarantino uses several continuous shots in the film to immerse viewers in the set and bring life to the visual by walking us through it. My favorite shot was of Travolta and Jackson walking through several hallways and doors in a building with the single camera moving around them in 360 degrees to capture the continuous shot. It created a sense of spacing in my mind and I felt like I was on the set, seeing everything as Travolta or Jackson would see it.

What’s my final take on Pulp Fiction?

Pulp Fiction is a great watch. As Uma Thurman says in the restaurant scene,

“Don’t you hate that? Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it’s necessary to yak about bullshit in order to be comfortable? That’s when you know you’ve found somebody special. When you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence.”

The film is certainly something special. Pulp Fiction’s minimal use of a soundtrack and the subtle moments of silence can be uncomfortable and/or confusing for some viewers. In that sense, it could be one of the worst movies they experience. For others who want to shut up and comfortably enjoy the silence, the film is a classic. From great screenplay and acting to heightened cinematic effects, I give Pulp Fiction 5 stars out 5 and recommend anyone who hasn’t seen the film to put on Netflix ASAP.