"Just because you are a character doesn't mean you have character."
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Produced by Lawrence Bender
Written by Quentin Tarantino
Story by Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary
Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Maria de Medeiros, Ving Rhames, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, Christopher Walken, Bruce Willis
Cinematography: Andrzej Sekuła
Edited by Sally Menke
Production companies: A Band Apart, Jersey Films
Distributed by Miramax Films
Release date: 10 September 1994 (South Korea)
Running time: 154 minutes
Country: United States
Budget: $8–8.5 million
Box office: $213.9 million
"Pulp Fiction" is a comedy crime drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The story is about the lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.
Cast
- John Travolta as Vincent Vega
- Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield
- Uma Thurman as Mia Wallace
- Harvey Keitel as Winston Wolfe or simply "The Wolf"
- Bruce Willis as Butch Coolidge
- Tim Roth as "Pumpkin" or "Ringo"
- Amanda Plummer as Yolanda or "Honey Bunny"
- Maria de Medeiros as Fabienne
- Ving Rhames as Marsellus Wallace
- Eric Stoltz as Lance
- Rosanna Arquette as Jody
- Christopher Walken as Captain Koons
Quentin Tarantino was the first director whose name I memorized as my father was his big fan. This way, there is wonder that I've seen "Pulp Fiction" many times and moreover I've enjoyed it each time: eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and a host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references - what's more required?
Performances of all cast are on a high level: as characters are vivid it's interesting to keep an eye on their developing. However for me the brightest role turned out Samuel L. Jackson's one: I can't find any other word to describe his acting except perfect.
"Strangenesses"
Advantages
- Quentin Tarantino
- John Travolta as Vincent Vega
- Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield
- Uma Thurman as Mia Wallace
- Harvey Keitel as Winston Wolfe or simply "The Wolf"
- Bruce Willis as Butch Coolidge
- Tim Roth as "Pumpkin" or "Ringo"
- Amanda Plummer as Yolanda or "Honey Bunny"
- The story is piecemeal and out of sequence
Disadvantages
- Probably violence but for me everything is perfect
"Strangenesses"
- The obvious absurdity which makes the film unique
Clue Moments
- The robbery
- Dancing
- All dialogues
Soundtracks
- Dick Dale feat. Tim Roth feat. Amanda Plummer - Pumpkin and Honey Bunny (Dialogue)/Misirlou
- John Travolta feat. Samuel L. Jackson - Royale With Cheese
- Kool & The Gang - Jungle Boogie
- Al Green - Let's Stay Together
- The Tornadoes [USA] - Bustin' Surfboards
- Rick Nelson - Lonesome Town
- Dusty Springfield - Son Of A Preacher Man
- Centurians feat. Bruce Willis feat. Maria De Medeiros - Zed's Dead, Baby/Bullwinkle, Pt. 2
- Chuck Berry - You Never Can Tell
- Urge Overkill - Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon
- Maria McKee - If Love Is A Red Dress
- Peter Green feat. The Revels feat. Duane Whitaker - Bring Out the Gimp (Dialogue)/Comanche
- The Statler Brothers - Flowers On The Wall
- John Travolta feat. Samuel L. Jackson - Personality Goes a Long Way
- The Lively Ones - Surf Rider
- Samuel L. Jackson - Ezekiel 25:17
- The Robins - Since I First Met You (Collector's Edition Bonus Tracks)
- Link Wray - Rumble (Collector's Edition Bonus Tracks)
- The Brothers Johnson - Stawberry Letter 23 (Collector's Edition Bonus Tracks)
- The Marketts - Out Of Limits (Collector's Edition Bonus Tracks)
- Quentin Tarantino - Tarantino Talks! Stranger Than Fiction (Collector's Edition Bonus Tracks)
Quotations
* * *
Jules: You, flock of seagulls, you know why we're here? Why don't you tell my man Vincent where you got the shit hid at?Marvin: It's over th...
Jules: I don't remember askin' you a Goddamn thing! You were saying?
Roger: It's in the cupboard.
[Vincent starts looking in the upper cupboard]
Roger: No, no, the one by your kn-knees.
Jules: We happy?
[Vincent continues staring at the briefcase's contents]
Jules: Vincent! We happy?
Vincent: Yeah, we happy.
Brett: I'm sorry, I didn't get your name. I got yours, Vincent, right? But I didn't get yours...
Jules: My name's Pitt. And your *ss ain't talkin' your way out of this sh*t.
Brett: No, no, I just want you to know... I just want you to know how sorry we are that things got so fucked up with us and Mr. Wallace. We got into this thing with the best intentions and I never...
Jules: [Jules shoots the man on the couch] I'm sorry, did I break your concentration? I didn't mean to do that. Please, continue, you were saying something about best intentions. What's the matter? Oh, you were finished! Well, allow me to retort. What does Marsellus Wallace look like?
Brett: What?
Jules: What country are you from?
Brett: What? What? Wh - ?
Jules: "What" ain't no country I've ever heard of. They speak English in What?
Brett: What?
Jules: English, motherf*cker, do you speak it?
Brett: Yes! Yes!
Jules: Then you know what I'm sayin'!
Brett: Yes!
Jules: Describe what Marsellus Wallace looks like!
Brett: What?
Jules: Say 'what' again. Say 'what' again, I dare you, I double dare you motherf*cker, say what one more Goddamn time!
* * *
Vincent: Want some bacon?Jules: No man, I don't eat pork.
Vincent: Are you Jewish?
Jules: Nah, I ain't Jewish, I just don't dig on swine, that's all.
Vincent: Why not?
Jules: Pigs are filthy animals. I don't eat filthy animals.
Vincent: Bacon tastes gooood. Pork chops taste gooood.
Jules: Hey, sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know 'cause I wouldn't eat the filthy motherf*cker. Pigs sleep and root in shit. That's a filthy animal. I ain't eat nothin' that ain't got sense enough to disregard its own feces.
Vincent: How about a dog? Dogs eats its own feces.
Jules: I don't eat dog either.
Vincent: Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal?
Jules: I wouldn't go so far as to call a dog filthy but they're definitely dirty. But, a dog's got personality. Personality goes a long way.
Vincent: Ah, so by that rationale, if a pig had a better personality, he would cease to be a filthy animal. Is that true?
Jules: Well we'd have to be talkin' about one charming motherf*ckin' pig. I mean he'd have to be ten times more charmin' than that Arnold on Green Acres, you know what I'm sayin'?
* * *
Jules: I'm not giving you that money. I'm buying something from you. Wanna know what I'm buyin' Ringo?Pumpkin: What?
Jules: Your life. I'm givin' you that money so I don't have to kill your ass. You read the Bible?
Pumpkin: Not regularly.
Jules: There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities 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 the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you." Now... I been sayin' that sh*t for years. And if you ever heard it, that meant your *ss. You'd be dead right now. I never gave much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherf*cker before I popped a cap in his *ss. But I saw some sh*t this mornin' made me think twice. See, now I'm thinking: maybe it means you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here... he's the shepherd protecting my righteous *ss 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. And 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 tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.
* * *
Vincent: And you know what they call a... a... a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?Jules: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with cheese?
Vincent: No man, they got the metric system. They wouldn't know what the f*ck a Quarter Pounder is.
Jules: Then what do they call it?
Vincent: They call it a Royale with cheese.
Jules: A Royale with cheese. What do they call a Big Mac?
Vincent: Well, a Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it le Big-Mac.
Jules: Le Big-Mac. Ha ha ha ha. What do they call a Whopper?
Vincent: I dunno, I didn't go into Burger King.
* * *
Mia: Don't you hate that?Vincent: What?
Mia: Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it's necessary to yak about bullshit in order to be comfortable?
Vincent: I don't know. That's a good question.
Mia: 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.
* * *
Fabienne: Whose motorcycle is this?Butch: It's a chopper, baby.
Fabienne: Whose chopper is this?
Butch: It's Zed's.
Fabienne: Who's Zed?
Butch: Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead.
* * *
Jules: If my answers frighten you then you should cease asking scary questions.
* * *
Esmeralda: What is your name?Butch: Butch.
Esmeralda: What does it mean?
Butch: I'm American, honey. Our names don't mean sh*t.
* * *
Mia: Vincent, do you still want to hear my Fox Force Five joke?Vincent: Sure, but I think I'm still a little too petrified to laugh.
Mia: No, you wont laugh, 'cus it's not funny. But if you still wanna hear it, I'll tell it.
Vincent: I can't wait.
Mia: Three tomatoes are walking down the street- a poppa tomato, a momma tomato, and a little baby tomato. Baby tomato starts lagging behind. Poppa tomato gets angry, goes over to the baby tomato, and smooshes him... and says, Catch up.
* * *
The Wolf: You see that, young lady? Respect. Respect for one's elders gives character.Raquel: I have character.
The Wolf: Just because you are a character doesn't mean that you have character.
* * *
Jules: [talking about Mia, Marsellus Wallace's wife] I think her biggest deal was she starred in a pilot.Vincent: Pilot? What's a pilot?
Jules: Well, you know the shows on TV?
Vincent: I don't watch TV.
Jules: Yeah, but, you are aware that there's an invention called television, and on this invention they show shows, right?
Vincent: Yeah.
Jules: Well, the way they pick TV shows is, they make one show. That show's called a pilot. Then they show that one show to the people who pick shows, and on the strength of that one show they decide if they want to make more shows. Some get chosen and become television programs. Some don't, become nothing. She starred in one of the ones that became nothing.
* * *
Lance: You're going to give her an injection of adrenaline directly to her heart. But she's got, uh, breastplate... So you gotta pierce through that. So what you have to do is, you have to bring the needle down in a stabbing motion.Vincent: I-I gotta stab her three times?
Lance: No, you don't gotta f*cking stab her three times! You gotta stab her once, but it's gotta be hard enough to break through her breastplate into her heart, and then once you do that, you press down on the plunger.
Vincent: What happens after that?
Lance: I'm kinda curious about that myself...
* * *
Mia: I do believe Marsellus Wallace, my husband, your boss, told you to take ME out and do WHATEVER I WANTED. Now I wanna dance, I wanna win. I want that trophy, so dance good.
* * *
Fabienne: I was looking at myself in the mirror.Butch: Uh-huh?
Fabienne: I wish I had a pot.
Butch: You were lookin' in the mirror and you wish you had some pot?
Fabienne: A pot. A pot belly. Pot bellies are sexy.
Butch: Well you should be happy, 'cause you do.
Fabienne: Shut up, Fatso! I don't have a pot! I have a bit of a tummy, like Madonna when she did "Lucky Star," it's not the same thing.
Butch: I didn't realize there was a difference between a tummy and a pot belly.
Fabienne: The difference is huge.
Butch: You want me to have a pot?
Fabienne: No. Pot bellies make a man look either oafish, or like a gorilla. But on a woman, a pot belly is very sexy. The rest of you is normal. Normal face, normal legs, normal hips, normal *ss, but with a big, perfectly round pot belly. If I had one, I'd wear a tee-shirt two sizes too small to accentuate it.
Butch: You think guys would find that attractive?
Fabienne: I don't give a damn what men find attractive. It's unfortunate what we find pleasing to the touch and pleasing to the eye is seldom the same.
* * *
Fabienne: Where's my Honda?Butch: Sorry, baby, but I had to crash that Honda.
* * *
Jules: Look, do you wanna play blindman? Go walk with the shepherd. But me, my eyes are wide f*cking open.Vincent: What the f*ck does that mean?
Jules: It means, that's it for me. From here on in you can consider my *ss retired.
Vincent: Jesus Christ.
Jules: Don't blaspheme.
Vincent: Goddamn.
Jules: I said don't do that!
* * *
Butch: [driving back to his apartment after Fabienne forgot to get his watch][shouts]
Butch: Sh*t! Of all the f*cking things she could forget, she forgets my father's watch!
[normal voice]
Butch: I specifically reminded her - bedside table! On the Kangaroo! I said the words, "Don't forget my father's watch."
* * *
Vincent: That's the Marilyn Monroe section that's Mamie Van Doren... I don't see Jayne Mansfield, she must have the night off or something.
* * *
Marvin: Man, I don't even have an opinion.
* * *
Jimmie: I'm gonna get f*ckin' divorced. No marriage counselling, no trial separation, I'm gonna get f*ckin' divorced.
* * *
Esmeralda: So what does it feel like to kill a man with your bare hands? It's a topic I'm very interested in.
* * *
Jules: Whether or not what we experienced was an According to Hoyle miracle is insignificant. What is significant is that I felt the touch of God. God got involved.
* * *
Vincent: I promise I won't laugh.Mia: That's what I'm afraid of, Vincent.
* * *
Vincent: If you'll excuse me, I gotta go home and have a heart attack.
* * *
You may see the trailer here.
Plot: 9/10
Entertainment: 10/10
Acting: 9/10
Originality: 10/10
Music and Sound: 9/10
9/10
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