PULP FICTION FUNFACTS !! MUST READ!!! FOR DIE HARD FANS

The meaning of PULP FICTION!!!!In the beginning of the film you see the definition below...

PULP /'palp/ n. 1. A soft, moist, shapeless mass of matter.2. A magazine or book containing lurid subject matter, and being characteristically printed on rough, unfinished paper.American Heritage DictionaryNew College Edition

If that doesn't tell you anything then, please, let me further enlighten you. Pulp magazines and novels are stories about crime, violence, lust, and quick snappy dialog, Stories about the dirty side of society, film-noir on paper if you will. The film "Pulp Fiction" is Tarantinos homage to these kinds of stories.

PULP FICTION arranged in chronological order for those who did`nt get the movie...

OK, well there are a few people (or is that "a lot" of people..) who are still confused about the order of time in 'Pulp Fiction so here is a sequential list. Now, I didn't write this myself, I pulled it off the internet quite a while ago. Unfortunately, it didn't have an author credited, so I can't say who wrote it. If it's wrong, it's his fault. It looks good to me though, and I think that some people will find it very helpful.

Day 1Vincent and Jules are in the car discussing "carpool" talk (e.g. quarter pounder in Paris is called a Royale) They are going to an apartment to retrieve Marcellus' attache case and the property within, and to kill the occupants. It is a hit. There is a third man hiding in the bathroom. He bursts out shooting and miraculously misses hitting Jules and Vincent. Jules experiences an epiphany.

Vincent and Jules take Marvin (their man inside) into their car to go to Marcellus' bar, but Vincent accidentally blows off Marvin's head, causing a very large bloody mess in the car. Jules calls "Jimmy", and they drive there to find a way to get out of the unfortunate mess Vincent has gotten them into. Jimmy calls Marcellus (his uncle by marriage to the unseen Bonnie). Marcellus summons Wolf (the fixer), and he is dispatched to Jimmy's house. Jules and Vincent clean up the car, change into those ridiculous shorts and t-shirts provided by Jimmy after they have cleaned off the blood and brain pulp from their bodies. They follow Wolf to the auto shop and the car and the body are safely disposed of.

Day 1 (later that morning)Jules and Vincent go to a diner to eat before going to Marcellus' bar to drop off the attache case. Jules continues his discussion of the miracle he felt he witnessed, and that

he is going to be leaving "the life". Vincent interrupts to go to the bathroom. Two psychopaths decide to stage a robbery at the diner where they feel they can score big, and hold everyone at bay with guns and threats of murder. They collect wallets, and are confronted by Jules when he refuses to give up the attache case. Through intimidation, Jules gets back his wallet, but gives the robbers his money. He does not kill them, he explains, because of this recent miracle he experienced.

Day 1 (later that morning)Vincent and Jules go to Marcellus' bar (still dressed in shorts and t-shirts) to deliver their cache. They have to wait because Marcellus is talking to a washed-up palooka boxer named Butch. Butch is being paid off to throw a fight the next night. As Butch leaves, he and Vincent verbally tee off, but Butch backs down and leaves. Jules and the bartender are exchanging amusing looks with reference to Vincent's evening assignment. He is to escort Marcellus' wife, Mia, out for the evening. Vincent and Jules have talked about this before, while they were waiting to burst into the apartment on their hit.

Day 1 (early evening)Vincent is dressed for the evening with a trenchcoat over a black suit. He goes to his drug dealer's house and buys heroin. The dealer puts it in a baggie. Vincent shoots up, and then leaves for his evening with Mia. Mia awaits Vincent with surveillance cameras. While he waits for her, she snorts coke and then makes her appearance.

They go a bizarre retro 50's club. They eat, talk, and enter a dance contest, which they win. Back at Mia's house, Vincent goes to the bathroom to try and figure out how he can leave without getting into trouble. While he is in the bathroom, Mia sings and dances around the room. She finds the heroin in Vincent's pocket, and thinking it is coke, snorts. She OD's and Vincent rushes her to his dealer's house in hopes of getting help. With the help of a giant hypodermic full of adrenaline, Mia is revived. Vincent takes her home, and they both agree that Marcellus never need know of the events of the evening.

Day 2 (early evening)Flashback sequence to the story of Butch and his father's watch and its travels. Return to present, and Butch jumps up, ready for his fight.. However, instead of throwing the fight, he KO's his opponent, and kills him. He jumps into a cab and goes to the motel where his girlfriend is waiting. They make love and go to sleep. Marcellus is furious, and orders Butch found and killed.

Day 3 (early in the morning)In the morning, Butch realizes that his girlfriend forgot his watch back in his apartment. Giving it's history, Butch is furious, and decides to tempt fate and go back to his apartment for his watch.

Marcellus has put out a hit, and dispatched Vincent to wait for Butch should he return to his apartment. Butch does return, but as Vincent is once again in the bathroom, and is able not only to retrieve his watch, but to kill Vincent as well. Vincent's story is done.

Butch feels lucky. He drives away with a smile, listening to "Flowers on the Wall" on the radio, and literally bangs into Marcellus on the street carrying burgers and cokes. There is a bloody confrontation, and Marcellus chases Butch into a sleazy gun shop. The owner knocks them out, calls his friend, and then brings them both down to the basement, which we quickly find out is an S/M playground. Marcellus is chosen to be the victim first, and Butch is able to untie himself and flee. On the way out, he decides to go back and save Marcellus. He chooses his weapon from a vast array. It is a Samurai sword, and his glee is apparent. Marcellus is being raped by one of the men, and Butch saves him by shooting the other guy. Marcellus is appropriately thankful and decides that whatever ill-will existed between he and Butch before, it is now a dead issue. Butch is free to go, providing he never mention this to anyone, or come back to L.A. again.

Butch rides off on "Grace", one of the soon to be dead guy's chopper, and returns to the waiting arms of his girlfriend back at the motel. They ride off into the sunset, to Knoxville, happily. He is the winner in a story of losers.

Excellent article from Roger Ebert The film tells interlocking stories, which unfold out of chronological order, so that the movie's ending hooks up with the beginning, most of its middle happens after the ending, and a major character is onscreen after he has been shot dead. Why is the movie told in this way? For three reasons, perhaps: (1) Because Q.T., as his fans call him, is tired of linear plots that slog wearily from A to Z; (2) to make the script reveal itself like "hypertext," in which "buttons" like the gold watch or "foot massage" lead to payoffs like Butch's story or Vincent's date from hell; and (3) because each of the main stories ends with some form of redemption. The key redemption -- the decision by Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) to retire from crime after his life is saved by a "miracle" -- is properly placed at the end of the film even though it doesn't happen at the end of the story.

The first time I saw the movie, in May 1994 at the Cannes Film Festival, I thought it was very violent. As I saw it a second and third time, I realized it wasn't as violent as I thought -- certainly not by the standards of modern action movies. It SEEMS more violent because it often delays a payoff with humorous dialogue, toying with us. Our body count at Virginia turned up only seven major deaths. (Read no further if you do not want to know major plot details.) The dead:

1.Three guys in the apartment -- one in the chair, one on the couch, and one in the bathroom -- are killed by Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Jackson).

2. Marvin, the fourth guy from the apartment, is accidentally killed while sitting in the backseat of Jules' and Vincent's car.

3. Vincent Vega is killed by Butch (Bruce Willis).

4. Two men are killed at the pawn shop: Maynard, the store owner, and his friend Zed.

5. In addition, there are two unseen or implied deaths, of the boxer killed in the ring by Butch, and of "the Gimp," dressed in leather in the pawn shop basement.

Against this body count, there are several people who are saved in the movie. Mia (Uma Thurman) is brought back from the dead after an overdose; Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) is saved by Butch in the basement; and many potential victims in the coffee shop are saved after Jules talks Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer) and Pumpkin (Tim Roth) into calling off their stickup. And, of course, the lives of Jules and Vincent are saved, when a volley of shots in the apartment misses them. Jules chooses to call this a miracle, a sign from God, and retires from crime. Vincent shrugs it off, and pays the price. There is also an important, hilarious, subplot about the saving of Butch's gold watch.

One thing we kept noticing during our shot-by-shot odyssey was that much of the violence is off-screen. When the guys in the apartment are shot, the camera is on Jules or Vincent, not on the victims. When the hypodermic needle goes into Mia's chest, the camera cuts away at the last instant to a reaction shot (instant comic relief from Rosanna Arquette, who is into body-piercing, and is delighted to have witnessed the ultimate piercing). The gunshot in the backseat of the car is offscreen. The violence in the pawn shop basement is graphic, but within the boundaries of standard movie fights.

The more you watch the movie, the more you're convinced that there is a hidden spiritual level in the plot. Much has to do with the famous briefcase which belongs to Marcellus Wallace, and which Jules and Vincent capture in the apartment. We never see its contents, which emit a golden glow. There have been countless theories about what's in it ("an Egg MacGuffin," said somebody at Virginia), but of course we will never know. What we can notice is that the combination to its lock is "666" -- the sign of Satan. That has led to speculation that the Band-Aid on the back of Marcellus' neck conceals the number "666." Is Marcellus the devil? That's unknowable, but reflect that Jules, who believes he has been saved by God, lives -- while Vincent, the scoffer, dies.

He's shot by Butch as he comes out of the bathroom (lots of things happen in this movie while people are in the john). A detail that escaped me the first time, however, is that Butch uses a gun belonging to Marcellus, who left it on the counter of Butch's apartment while going to get coffee and doughnuts. (Marcellus has joined Vincent in the stakeout for Butch because, of course, Jules has already resigned.) "The guys who wrote this screenplay weren't lazy," someone said at Virginia; "it's interesting how they worked all this detail in even though most people will miss it."

A theme running through the movie is that many of the weapons do not work or are not used as they are intended (the gun that misses Jules, the gun that kills Vincent, the gun that accidentally kills the guy in the backseat, the guns in the coffee shop robbery, the guns belonging to the pawn shop guys). After Jules is converted, his own gun PREVENTS violence in the coffee shop.

On the film's less significant side, there are also many secrets to discover. In Jack Rabbit Slim's, for example, the waiter playing Buddy Holly (Steve Buscemi) was Mr. Pink in QT's "Reservoir Dogs." Three other cast members from "RD" (Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel and Tarantino) are also in "PF." There is a Vic Vega in "RD," perhaps related to Vincent Vega.

As Butch sneaks up on his own apartment, the words "Jack Rabbit Slim's" emerge from an open window he walks past. One particularly neat bit of continuity happens in the pawn shop, where there is a neon sign for Killian's Red beer. Some of the letters are burnt out, so the sign says only "Kill Ed." Later, when Butch escapes on Zed's motorcycle, he looks at the key-ring, which has a big metal "Z." Add the Z to the sign and you get "Kill Zed," which is what happened. The motorcycle has the word "Grace" painted on its gas tank, and as Butch escapes -- well, there, but for the grace of God ...

There were two visual touches we discussed a lot. One is the golden glow which mysteriously suffuses the screen as Jules and Vincent open fire in the apartment; is it connected somehow with the briefcase? Does it link the devil's case with the devil's work? Another is a curious head-on shot of Bruce Willis, who looks straight at the camera while Marcellus Wallace instructs him to fix a fight. The lighting is used to shadow exactly half of Willis' face; a line runs down his forehead, nose and chin. Or ... is it lighting? The line of demarcation between light and shadow is so sharply defined that we wondered if makeup was used to augment the effect. We looked at the scene repeatedly using freeze frames, but were unable to decide.

One element I've barely touched on is the film's humor. The dialogue is very funny, and some of it echoes great literature in a modern, profane form: The opening exchange between Jules and Vincent about what the French call Quarter-Pounders, for example, is a reminder of the conversation between Jim and Huckleberry Finn about why the French don't speak English. Jules is constantly quoting what he identifies as Ezekiel 25:17 from the Bible, and although some of the words are the same, he has embroidered a lot. [See sidebar below]

A basic strategy in the film is to use humorous dialogue to delay the payoff of a moment of violence. While the Uma Thurman character is dying on the floor, for example, Travolta and Eric Stoltz have a hysterical debate over how to use the hypodermic needle.

This strategy is set up in the opening shot, where Jules and Vincent have a long, funny discussion about foot massage while walking down a long hotel corridor. The shot is done in one unbroken take. They arrive in front of the door to the fatal apartment, decide it is not yet time to enter, and walk further down the hall to continue their discussion. But now the camera no longer joins them; it stays planted in front of the door, and pans to look at them, walking away. The visual language says that the apartment is the first priority; the camera seems almost impatient as the discussion continues, and that builds tension.

"Pulp Fiction" delights some audience members and disturbs others, I think, for the same reason: because it toys with their expectations. It does not seem willing to play by the rules. It imposes its own order on the material. Just at a time when American action films have seemed bogged down in a morass of formulaic plots, here is one which throws out everything they teach in the Hollywood screenwriting workshops and reinvents a genre from scratch. "Pulp Fiction" is likely to be the most influential film of the next five years, and for that we can be thankful, because it may have freed us from uncounted predictable formula films.

Ezekiel 25:17

The hitman Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) frequently quotes "Ezekiel 25:17" in "Pulp Fiction," but in fact he has greatly altered the Bible passage. The actual passage says:

"And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them."

Here's what Jules says, adding bits from the 23rd Psalm and his own rhetoric:

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides with 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 those with great vengeance and with furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know that my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee."

ANALYSIS of the gold-watch sequence

Butch is introduced to us in a scene which chronologically precedes every other event in the film. As a child he is told by a friend of his fathers about his family history relating to war. The Gold Watch, which has been passed on for four generations, is presented as being of the utmost importance – as if losing it would be a failure to carry on the famly bloodline. The watch symbolizes whatever virtues of character Butch’s forefathers would expect him to uphold. These virtues aren’t described outright, but the family history of fighting in battlefields brings to mind the virtues of strength, courage and honour. Historically, it was unfashionable for men to wear wristwatches prior to World War One. They were specifically adopted for use by soldiers because of their practicality in the battlefield. So when Koonz refers to the gold watch as “Your grandaddy’s war watch”, he isn’t just speaking metaphorically.

Captain Koons tells Butch “Hopefully, you’ll never have to experience this yourself” before going into detail about the POW camp in Nam. However, for Butch to carry on the family virtues symbolized by the watch, it’s essential that he does experience the battlefield hardships of his forefathers. And this is exactly the journey that unfolds for him in the remainder of the film. Although we don’t see him soldiering in the military

sense, Butch’s battles with Marcellus Wallace (and Wallace’s henchmen) are chok full of subliminal details relating to the wars fought by his forefathers.

When the gold watch is held out to young Butch, he swiftly grabs the family heirloom and we cut to Butch preparing for a boxing match. His choice of a boxing career is undoubtedly a continuation of the fighting spirit of his forefathers. This is emphasized by the ring of a boxing bell that punctuates young Butch grabbing the watch from Captain Koons’ hand. It’s also re-emphasized in a later scene as Butch enters his apartment to retrieve the watch. We see a variety of boxing medals on display. He’s a proud fighter.

However, chronologically the scene that follows on from Butch as a child is the bribery scene, which is prior to the boxing fight. The significance of pride as a family bloodline virtue is a key element of the bribery scene, because it’s Butch’s pride that is under direct attack from Marcellus. After telling Butch that he’s too old to make it as a boxer, Marcellus adds insult to injury, “That’s pride fucking’ wit’ you. Fuck pride! Pride only hurts. It never helps. … You my nigger?” Butch maintains a deadpan expression, but subtly insults Marcellus back by virtually announcing that he’s going to betray him, “It certainly appears so”.

Pride resurfaces as the core issue between Butch and Marcellus as they fight in the store. Butch, punching Marcellus in face, “You see that. That’s pride fuckin’ wit’ you.”

But pride isn’t the only virtue at stake for Butch. After he falsely accepts the bribery offer, Vincent Vega insults him at the bar, “You aint my friend Palooka … I think you heard me just fine punchy.” Butch looks upon Vincent and Marcellus greeting each other with hugs, as he realizes that they look upon him as a brainless punchbag. So Butch goes out of his way to prove them wrong. He not only makes himself a pile of cash by both accepting the bribe and laying bets on himself to win the fight, but he also punishes Marcellus by letting the word out about the supposed fix. As well as Marcellus losing all his bets, it would become common knowledge on the boxing circuit that Butch had utterly outsmarted him in business. Even the risk of capture, brutal punishment and certain death by Marcellus’ henchmen isn’t enough to sway Butch from defending his pride as a fighter and a strategist.

After Butch wins the fight by killing the boxer he was supposed to lose to, he has a conversation with someone called “Scotty” in a telephone booth. He tells Scotty, “It’ll take me and Fabienne a couple of days to get down to Knoxville.” This hideout destination is of paramount importance because, as Captain Koons explained to young Butch, the all-important gold watch was bought in a general store by his great grandfather in, of all places, Knoxville, Tennessee. Butch even verbally links the concept of watches to the Knoxville hideout, “Next time I see you it’ll be on Tennessee time.” Apparently Tarantino was also born in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Another subliminal connection between Butch’s battle and the battles of his forefathers can be found in the two scenes from which he awakens from nightmares. The first, as already mentioned, was a cut in straight from young Butch grabbing the gold watch from

the captain – implying that he was dreaming about his father’s ordeal as a POW. In the second instance of Butch waking from a nightmare, a noisy war film called Nam’s Angels is playing on the TV set. Again we have an aesthetic association between Butch’s nightmares and the Vietnam ordeals of his father. Butch asks what the movie is. His girlfriend, Fabienne, replies, “I’m not sure the name.” Butch asks, “Are you watching it?” She replies “In a way” as she stands reflected in the TV screen, as if she’s actually in the war film.

A few minutes later Butch discovers that the gold watch is missing from their luggage and he responds by flipping out and throwing the TV set. This could be a further symbolic connection to the war film content.

Butch then parks his car and proceeds on foot to reacquire the watch. Pay close attention to this scene. It is infused with details relating to the infiltration of a POW camp. In a long steadicam shot, we follow Butch as he sneaks through an alley … then a hole in a wire fence … and as he climbs over another fence. Listen also to some of the background noises dubbed over the scene. Faintly, we can hear a helicopter and barking dogs. In case you think these war-themed sound effects are incidental, listen to the radio that plays through a window in the alley. It’s an advert for Jack Rabbit Slims, where Vincent Vega took Mia for dinner in one of the film’s other stories. The sound effects in this scene have been specifically chosen for thematic effect.

Once in the apartment, Butch guns down Vincent with a machine gun – yet another war reference. And after leaving the premises we hear more war related sound effects - airplanes and then motorbikes as Butch gets back in the Honda. Motorbikes were very prominent in the war film that his girlfriend was watching.

By taking such a great risk to retrieve the watch, Butch is displaying the same courage as his forefathers. He had an incredible stroke of luck by finding the machine gun while Vincent was in the lavatory, but this is paralleled by two pieces of unbelievable bad luck.

The first is his accidental encounter with Marcellus. After running him over, war in the streets commences as Butch is chased on foot. This reaches it’s zenith in the general store, where Butch’s second stroke of bad luck occurs. He and Marcellus are captured by a couple of psychotic rapists. The general store is another link to Butch’s family history and the gold watch. Remember that the gold watch was purchased in a general store by Butch’s great grandfather. The symbolic connection is confirmed in several set details, which are most prominent after Butch knocks out the gimp. As he stands near the shop entrance, debating with himself whether to go back and save Marcellus, a couple of license plates are displayed on the wall behind him. The one nearest to Butch is a Tennessee license plate. Then as Butch begins searching for a weapon look at the wall farthest from the camera. On it is a big yellow clock with the word “DAD” written in the centre - a direct reference to his father's gold watch. In fact there are at least six clocks on display in the store.

The importance of time was also subtly established as Captain Koonz explained the watch. At different points he either holds the watch up for us to see, or we are shown close ups of the watch in his fingers. Look at the times displayed on the watch in these shots. The whole scene, from our perspective, only lasts for a few minutes, but the changing times on the watch suggest that the Captain’s speech went on for a much longer period of time. The passing of time is also hinted at by the Captain going into a brief trance during his speech.

Returning to the encounter with the hillbillies in the general store, yet another parallel can be found with Butch’s family history of war atrocities. Captain Koonz described the POW camp, where Butch’s father died, as a “Hanoi pit of hell.” The hillbilly dungeon of rape and murder is Butch’s “pit of hell”, and he must overcome its hardship so that he can pass on the gold watch to the next generation.

The anal rape scene could even be a parallel of Butch’s father having to hide the gold watch “up his ass” for five long years, and it’s also very relevant to Marcellus Wallace. After all it’s he who gets raped. In an earlier scene Marcellus is seen interrogating a man as to his possible involvement in Butch reversing the fight result. He’s asked about what to do with Butch’s trainer. His reply, “Take him to the kennels. Set the dogs on his ass. We’ll find out for damn sure what he knows.” Then when asked about Butch, “If he goes to Indochina I want a nigger in a bowl of rice ready to pop a cap in his ass.” And while attempting to bribe Butch he says “In the fifth your ass goes down.” It seems that Marcellus’ preoccupation with punishing his enemies “in the ass” comes back to haunt him. These could be incidental pieces of dialogue, but the reference to Indochina is no doubt another aesthetic link to Vietnam.

Butch’s choice of a samurai sword to slay the first hillbilly is also fitting in that it suggests another of his family virtues – honour, a trait strongly associated with samurai. But more prominent as a symbol of honour is the fact that Butch went back in to save Marcellus. This is important because it relates to Captain Koonz’ description of friendship in the POW camp, “When two men are in a situation like me and your Dad were, you take on certain responsibilities of the other.” Butch and Marcellus are symbolic POWs. The friendship of Captain Koonz and Butch’s father is paralleled by the dispute resolution between Butch and Marcellus. Their relationship is amusingly commented upon by specific song lyrics. In the bribery scene, the Al Green song “Let’s Stay Together” pretty much sums up what I’ll loosely call Butch and Marcellus’ friendship, “Why do people break up … then turn around and make up.” The lyric parallel gets even more specific when Marcellus walks across a street, only to turn and see Butch sat in a car. The radio happily spouts “It’s good to see you. I must go. I know I look a fright.”

Possibly the most important factor in Butch's decision to save Marcellus is his ongoing nightmares about his father's captivity in a POW camp. Perhaps as a child Butch had fantasized regularly about wanting to rescue his father from his hell hole in Vietnam. After all the pain he'd felt about what his own father's abuse, how could Butch possibly leave Marcellus to suffer years of torment as the next gimp. So by rescuing Marcellus, he's subjectively rescuing his own father. Again the samurai sword comes into play as a

symbolic connection to Eastern culture. It's the type of weapon a prisoner might find while escaping a POW camp in Vietnam.

After the hillbilly dungeon horror is over, Butch makes his escape in yet another parallel with the war film that Fabienne was watching. He escapes on a motorbike, which he twice tells Fabienne is called “a chopper”. This motorbike is more than likely a reference to the motorbikes seen in the Nam's Angels war movie. And so Butch's story ends with he and Fabienne escaping from their LA warzone on "a chopper".

Additonal points of interest.

Butch is referred to twice by Captain Koonz as “little man” and Marcellus is referred to as “the big man”.

The film’s use of racial inferences is itself a complex subject. Relating to Butch’s story Marcellus asked him when offering the bribe “You my nigger?” but a minute later Vincent and Jules are waiting to see Marcellus and the barman says, “You see white boy leave, go on over.”

In the long shot, from the bar, we see that Butch is sat facing Marcellus and directly behind Marcellus is a huge mirror. Whether this bares any thematic relevance I’m unsure.

Vincent called Butch “Palooka” in the bar scene. Palooka was an old cartoon strip about a boxer. Wikipedia’s page on Palooka shows an issue of the strip, which shows the character punching Nazis out of a submarine. Perhaps by pure coincidence, Palooka was adapted into a one-act play by Tennessee Williams.

A very odd visual touch is that a black and white background is shown behind Butch as he rides in a cab after the fight, even though we’re watching a colour film.

The cartoon that young Butch watches is called Clutch Cargo. The specific episode shown features dialogue about Totem poles. The shot of Butch driving away from the general store on Zed’s chopper reveals a large carving of a Native American stood near the window.

Butch wipes his finger prints from the machine gun after killing Vincent, even though it’s his own apartment where the murder took place.

PF FAQ from IMDb

What is contained in the briefcase?There is no real answer to this and Tarantino has actually said that he didn't know what to put in the case so he decided to leave it to the viewers to decide.Another very plausible suggestion is that it contains the diamonds from 'Reservoir Dogs'.

What films have influenced Tarantino in the making of 'Pulp Fiction'?

The dance competition is clearly influenced by Jean Luc Godard's 1964 film 'Bande A Parte' which Tarantino has named his production company after.The unknown contents of the briefcase are homage to Robert Aldrich's film 'Kiss Me Deadly', made in 1955.When Butch stops at the lights and sees Marsellus crossing the road, we are reminded of Alfred Hitchcock's film 'Psycho' when Janet Leigh stops at a set of lights to see her boss crossing the road.The pawn shop rape is clearly reminiscent of 'Deliverance', made in 1972 by John Boorman.'The Bonnie Situation' contains Jules and his friend Jimmy, clearly a reference to Francois Truffaut's film, 'Jules et Jim'.The character of Wolf in this story is taken from Jean Reno's portrayal of a 'cleaner' in Luc Besson's 'La Femme Nikita', a role reprised by Keitel himself in the American remake 'Point of No Return'.In addition, the films of John Woo, Sam Peckinpah, Brian De Palma and Don Siegel are all important.

Why did Mia overdose at her house?She thought that she was snorting cocaine whereas she was taking Vince's extremely pure heroin. His heroin had been packaged as cocaine would normally be because his dealer had run out of the standard heroin packaging.

Why did Butch return to the pawn shop to save Marsellus?Redemption is one of the central themes of this film and this scene along with Jules' saving of Honey Bunny and Pumpkin in the diner are the best examples of this. Butch's conscience made him go back to save Marsellus and this acted as his redemption for killing Wilson in the previous night's boxing match.

Why did Vince leave his gun on the counter at Butch's apartment when he went to the bathroom?Quite simply, he didn't, the gun belonged to Marsellus. Vince was clearly with somebody else at the apartment as he didn't react when Butch came in, thinking it was his partner. Jules had given up 'the life' by this point and Marsellus was probably filling in on this job. For further evidence look at the scene where Butch runs Marsellus over; the 'big man' is carrying two cups and as he is near to Butch's apartment, we can assume that he is Vince's partner.

Why are Honey Bunny's lines different from the beginning of the film and at the end?A lot of people seem to think this is a mistake. My opinion is that Tarantino was showing us the difference between perceptions of different people in the diner, the second time being Jules' perception. It makes little sense for Tarantino to shoot the scene twice, unless there was a reason.What was Winston Wolf doing in a tuxedo at 8:30 in the morning? Where was he?The script explains that Winston was in a hotel suite where people were gambling. If you listen closely, you can hear someone in the room telling the gamblers to 'place their bets'.

What was the book that Vince was reading on the toilet? "Modesty Blaise", a pulpy novel written by Peter O'Donnell in 1965 which is very much in keeping with the film's title.

How does a guy like Jimmy know a gangster like Jules? Why does Jules refer to him as 'his partner'?Quentin has said in an interview (Denver Post) that Jimmy used to work for Marsellus, but when he married Bonnie she made him quit, and Jules respects that.

Who was Marvin and why did Jules and Vince take him with them?I think we can assume that Marvin also works for Marsellus as Vince refers to 'our guy' before they go up to the apartment.

Why is there a band-aid on Marsellus' neck?Rumour says that the actor Ving Rhames simply had a rather ugly looking scar on the back of his neck and so the make-up artist covered this up with a band-aid so that the scar didn't distract the audience too much.

There's bullet holes in the wall behind Jules and Vince before 'The Fourth Man' empties his gun. Was this an editing error?It seems to be possible that the holes might have been there for other reasons, it's not a great apartment, but it could be a mistake in editing.

Red Apple cigarettes appear throughout the film, what are they?Tarantino seems to have invented this brand presumably to minimise the amount of product placement in the film. This is also done by using other brands which were around in the 1970's but are no longer available (ie Fruite Brute cereal).

What happened to the Gimp? Did Butch kill him, or was he just knocked out?The script explains that Butch hitting the Gimp caused him to hang himself to death on his leash

hopefully this will satisfy those who did`nt get the film...but if u still have q`s feel free to ask `em here

What's In The Briefcase? Okay seriously, what the hell is in the glowing briefcase?!?!

POPULAR THEORIES:

This is probably the most asked, re asked, and asked again question about "Pulp Fiction" there is. And there are endless amounts of theories out there on it. Now I'm not going to go through and list every single last one of these theories, but below I have listed the ideas (and the reasonings behind them) that I've found to be the best explanations... you know, other than the true explanation. They are as follows...

A.) The case contains gold.

What backs this up?1.) The golden glow that shines from the case.2.) Everyones instant recognitions to what's inside of the case. When you see gold, you know it.

B.) The case contains the diamonds stolen from Tarantinos previous cult favorite, "Reservoir Dogs".

What backs this up?1.) It's not unusual for Tarantino to connect his films through characters, events, and other various references.2.) This would also explain why everyone knows what's in the briefcase as soon as they lay eyes on it.3.) It would explain how light the case is to carry around, as oppose to gold which would be a heavier strain for the characters to carry around.

C.) The case contains the evil "soul" of Marsellus Wallace.

What backs this up?1.) The band-aid on the back of Marsellus' neck. Some believe that this could be the way in which his soul escaped.2.) The combination to the lock of the briefcase that holds his soul is "666", the mark of the devil.

THE ANSWER (TRUTH):

The truth to the briefcase is that (and Quentin Tarantino has admitted this publicly) there is nothing inside of the briefcase at all, only a golden light bulb. This was done because there was a need to have something of high importance inside of the case but it seemed nearly impossible to think of just the right thing for the job. So it was left ambiguous. Left up to the viewer. There literally is no right or wrong to this question because what's in the case is irrelevant, it's only a device used to further along the story (or as Hitchcok calls it, a "Mcguffin"... pretty dull huh? Let's pretend he went with the soul thing instead.

…………………………………

As you can see in the bar scene, after Marsellus pays off Butch to throw the fight, Butch runs into Vincent Vega (John Travolta), and we see that Vincent doesn't really seem to have too high of an oppinion of Butch... But why?

(an excerpt from the scene in question)

Butch- You lookin' at somethin', friend?Vince- You ain't my friend, Palooka.Butch- What was that?Vince- I think you heard me just fine, punchy.Marsellus- Vincent Vega's in the house? My nigga, getcha ass over here.

The reason that Vincent refers to Butch as "Palooka" and "Punchy" is because he doesn't like the fact that Butch is throwing a fight for money. Whether this is because he's a fan of Butches or just has morals to such things is unknown. Either way, he just doesn't like the fact that Butch is agreeing to throw the fight.

Also, later on in the film when Vincent tells Lance that someone "Key'd" his car. This is referring to Butch. After their meeting at the bar, Butch couldn't lay a finger on Vincent after their confrontation because he saw the friendship between Vince and Marsellus. So his only way of getting revenge on Vince was to scratch up his car.... which is a damn shame.

A few facts regarding QT`s inter related relationship between his movies:

-At the end of Pulp Fiction , Samuel L. Jackson's character (Jules) explains that he wants to be a sort of bum or "drifter." In Kill Bill Vol. 2, Jackson's character (Rufus) claims to have been a drifter.

-Vincent Vega and Vic Vega(of reservoir dogs) r real brothers....hence the similarity in attitude/mannerism etc

- In the flashback scene in KILL BILL when the Bride finds out she's pregnant, and the assassin and her are at a stand off, The Bride says that she is the "deadliest women in the world". In the "Fox Force 5" pilot from pulp fiction, Uma Thurman's character is said to be the "deadliest women in the world with a knife".

-Remember at the end of the movie Samuel says to Tim Roth "when a gun is pointing at me i get nervous...and when mother fuckers get scared that’s when mother fuckers accidentally get shot"

now cut to a scene chronologically later in the film...Bruce Willis is aiming a gun at john Travolta who just stepped out of his bathroom....therz a few seconds of pause...suddenly a toaster pops up and bang Bruce willis kills john

See the connection

When Vince and Mia are going into Jackrabbit Slims, Vince has a good look around. He notices a toy car race going on (the sort where the cars are on a track). The colours of the tracks are blue, pink, white, orange, yellow and brown - the colour-coded aliases the thieves in Reservoir Dogs (Tarantino's debut hit) were assigned (with yellow being Mr. Blonde, obviously).

When Vincent and Jules go and "make some time" before they kill the other dudes in the apartment, listen closely when they walk trough the corridor, you can hear a radio announcing Butch's fight.

Vincent Vega doesn't have much luck with bathrooms: He emerges from the bathroom at Mia Wallace's place to find her overdosing. He is heavily criticised by Jules in Jimmy's bathroom for soiling the towel. He emerges from the bathroom at the coffee shop to find a robbery is occurring. After he shoots Brett, a guy comes out of the bathroom with a "hand cannon" and tries to shoot him. Finally, he emerges from the bathroom at Butch Coolidge's flat and is shot dead by Butch.

Ideologies concerning pulp fiction

The basic meaning behind Pulp Fiction is that there are a plethora of different ways of viewing the world, each one with some significance. While this may seem like an idea that is far away from a plot filled with gangsters, each of the characters represents a method of viewing the world and Pulp Fiction just shows these methods interacting with each other. Due to this, to understand Pulp Fiction one must understand the characters and what they represent.

Pulp Fiction Characters and Representations:-Butch Coolidge---HonorMarsellus Wallace ---AuthorityMia Wallace---Mystery and the UnknownJules Winnfield --Religion and SpiritualityVincent Vega --Logic and Reason)

VINCENT VEGA- logic/reasoningVincent uses logic as his primary tool for comprehending the world. Herein, the manner in which he represents reason will be revealed.

1. In the beginning just before they enter the apartment, Jules and Vincent discuss how they are underarmed for their mission. Jules uses his intuition to decide that they are underarmed, whereas Vincent analyses the amount of people involved and then decides that they are underarmed. In other words, Vincent needs the information in order to make a decision via logic and reason

2.On the way to Brett`s home in which their potential enemies are, Vincent and Jules discuss Mia Wallace as well as her husbands supposed extreme overreaction to someone having massaged her feet. Vincent attempts to reason through the situation by getting the details, whereas Jules just goes with his innate view that giving someone a foot massage is harmless and has no romantic overtures.

3. The last argument that Jules and Vincent have is in concern to a gunman firing at the two of them and missing with every bullet. Jules runs a spiritual argument, he feels it was a miracle and thus to him it is. Vincent argues that it was just a freak occurrence and cites a documentary that he saw in which a police officer used all his ammo but missed, in other words Vincent has a logical argument and Jules an intuitive one.

4. At the very start of the date they are discussing the price of a drink in comparison to its value, with Vincent trying to analyze the ingredients to figure out if it should cost what it does. When the drink arrives, Vincent’s logical curiosity causes him to desire a taste in order to figure out why it costs so much.

5. Following this, Vincent attempts to get to the bottom of the foot massage issue by essentially interviewing Mia, in other words he seeks information concerning an event in a logical way.

6. When the date ends and he takes Mia back to her house, Vincent goes to the bathroom to logically analyze the situation rather than being caught up in his emotions.

7. One of the themes relating to Vincent Vega’s use of logic and reason is that whenever he does not have information concerning a situation, the situation then becomes bad for him. This theme is employed via Vincent’s use of the bathroom, at which times he does not have access to information concerning the situation outside and thus it turns bad. The first example of this is when, on his date with Mia, he goes to the bathroom only to return and find her in a rather poor state. The second example is in the diner, in which he goes to the bathroom and returns to find Jules in a situation with two thieves. The last example is where he returns from the bathroom to be gunned down by Butch

JULES WINNFIELD -spirituality/intuitionWhenever Jules is in a seen he argues for an intuitive perspective on situations, a perspective based on an innate feeling towards a matter rather than a logical analysis. This leads him to often argue heavily with Vincent Vega, who takes a more logical approach. Jules’ intuitive perspective is actually a religious perspective, as he ‘feels’ god in situations.

[some points are already discussed above...here r some extra points regarding Jules]

1.The first debate they have with each other is in regards to whether or not giving a foot massage to another man’s wife is an erotic action, to which Jules disagrees. The reason Jules disagrees is because he uses his moral intuition rather than logic, which leads him to the conclusion that the foot is not an erotic area and as such someone touching it is not an

erotic action.

2. The second debate Jules and Vincent have with each other in Pulp Fiction is in regards to whether the gunman missed them as a result of divine intervention or freak occurrence. Jules argues that it was divine intervention because he felt god’s presence. He thus argues that because he intuitively knows god was involved, he does not need a ration explanation to which Vincent disagrees. This spiritual revelation causes him to leave the crime lifestyle.

Butch - honorThe ideology to which Butch most strongly adheres is honor, or a sense of honor. Just how this is the case will now be discussed.

1. The watch that was passed down from generation to generation serves as the primary device of Butch’s views concerning honor, perhaps even the starting point for them. As a result, he will risk death in order to make sure he has the watch, which represents his honor.

2. While Butch respects Marsellus, when Marsellus asks him to work against his honor it ultimately backfires with Butch refusing to dishonor himself by deliberately throwing a boxing match. The conversation in the car reveals a lot about Butch’s view concerning this, with his justification for killing the opposing boxer being that the boxer was never capable of beating him and was only in the match because it was going to be fixed. Thus, to Butch, anyone who goes against their own honor deserves to die if it comes to that.

3. While this all ultimately leads to Marsellus being caught by two rather savage criminals, Butch refuses to leave Marsellus to such a fate, as that would be dishonourable. Subsequently, Butch returns to save him in order to keep is honor. An interesting matter of note is that Butch uses a Samurai sword, which is a Japanese weapon associated with the honor of the Samurai.

4. Butch’s relationship with Vincent Vega (John Travolta) is strained as Vincent represents logic, which is innately opposed to honor. In order for honor to exist, a person must go against what they logically believe the correct path, and instead stick rigidly to some form of code. The example the film uses is that Butch leaves his watch in his apartment and goes back there despite knowing that hit men would be waiting there for him. Logically, he could buy another watch of equal value with the money, but that watch is attached to his honor so he must return for it. In returning for the watch, he makes an illogical choice and thus symbolically kills logic by killing Vincent Vega.

Mia - Mystery/the unknownMia Wallace is associated with the concept of mystery and the unknown. As a consequence of representing mystery, all her scenes involve some sense of intrigue or the unknown.

1. Befitting of the lady of mystery, the first scene involving Mia Wallace does not

actually have her present. In this scene, Jules (Samuel Jackson) and Vincent (John Travolta) are discussing how their boss, and Mia’s husband, threw a guy off a building. As Mia represents mystery, it is in doubt what the reasons for this attack were and Jules and Vincent both speculate on the rumour that he was thrown off the roof for giving Mia a foot massage.

2. Following that, Jules and Vincent begin discussing how their boss ordered Vincent to go out on Friday night with Mia. Even this has an element of mystery behind it, with them both discussing the nature of the meeting. Jules argues that a man and a woman going out on a Friday night is a date, whereas Vincent argues it is just eating out with a friend’s wife.

3. The first scene of the date with Mia involves Vincent entering the Wallace household, with Mia Wallace speaking with him via speaker. Using this, she plays a game with him by directing him towards the speaker to respond to her. Furthermore, this is symbolic of mystery as though the audience and Vincent hear her, they do not see her.

4. The date then starts, with Mia initiating yet another mystery by ordering an overly expensive milkshake. Vincent thus attempts to logically understand why the milkshake is so expensive. Immediately after, Mia requests that Vincent come up with a decent topic of conversation while she goes to the bathroom. This is another mystery for Vincent to try to understand, as she gives no details concerning a preference of subject. In response, he brings up the massage topic on her return.

5. Mia, of course, lets him continue theorizing before revealing that the mystery is false and presenting another mystery by saying that only Marsellus and the man he threw off the building know what it was about

6.Next, Mia tells Vincent the story of her minor television career, telling how the show would have included a joke told by her on every episode. When Vincent asks about the joke, she refuses to reveal what the joke was, thus still remaining a mystery.

Marsellus – authority

Whenever Marsellus Wallace is in a scene he is basically in it as an authority figure, as the boss. As a result of this theme being associated with him, he rarely actually does anything himself but rather orders others to.

1. As he represents authority and as the briefcase is basically the item that the plot revolves around in Pulp Fiction, Marsellus believes the briefcase belongs to him. Despite this, as authority he can only really get others to do his work so sends Vincent and Jules to get it back to him. In other words, this is symbolic of the manner in which authority depends on others to succeed, to manipulate ideas and forces in order to accomplish something.

2. QT further explores this theme when he shows the luxury Marsellus is in compared to

the difficult situation his subordinates are in. The first example of this is when Jules and Vincent are in trouble and he is sitting by a pool relaxed, the second is when he is off buying takeaway when Vincent is killed.

Pulp Fiction and the number "5"

Hard points:5 members in Fox force five.5 dollar shake.Butch's dad hid the watch 5 yrs in his ass.Butch picks up 5 objects in the Hillybilly pawn shop(4 weapons and a bike key)The match was fixed upto 5th round (In the fifth, Butch's ass goes down.)

Lame points:5 lead characters: marsellus, mia, jules, vincent, butch.Last line of the movie in a chronological order "Zed's dead, baby; Zed's dead." contains 5 words. Many scenes involve five persons at a time present during a scene(on screen, off screen, alive, dead)The movie cost $8 million to make, $5 million of which went to pay the actors' salaries. (IMDB source)5 scenes shuffled together for the entire story (Vince and Jules, The Bonnie Situation, The Diner, Jack Rabbit Slims and The Gold Watch )

Does this count?Pulp Fiction at number 5 in IMDb top 250.