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Pulp Fiction
File:Pulp Fiction cover.jpg IMDB 8.7/10 (190,703 votes) top 250: #8
Directed by	Quentin Tarantino
Written by	Quentin Tarantino Roger Avary
Produced by	Lawrence Bender
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 and Bruce Willis
Cinematography	Andrzej Sekula
Edited by	Sally Menke
Distributed by	Miramax Films
Release dates	May, 1994 (première at Cannes) October 14th, 1994 October 21, 1994 November 24th, 1994 February 18th, 1995
Running time	154 min. (168 min. deluxe edition)
Language	English
Budget	$8 million

Pulp Fiction is an Oscar-winning 1994 film directed by Quentin Tarantino who co-wrote the screenplay with Roger Avary. The film's idiosyncratic characteristics include fragmented storyline, eclectic dialogue, ironic and campy influences, unorthodox camerawork, and numerous pop culture references. Tarantino and Avary won Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and the film was nominated for seven Oscars in total, including Best Picture.^[1][2]

The plot, in keeping with most other Tarantino works, runs in nonlinear order. The unconventional structure of the movie is an example of a so-called postmodernist film. The film's title refers to the pulp magazines popular during the mid–20th century, known for their strongly graphic nature. The film's dialogue and the majority of its scenes were a collage of other works of "pulp" fiction, that is to say bits of other, less acclaimed, works.

The film had an impact on the careers of its cast members. It provided a breakthrough role for Samuel L. Jackson, previously a supporting actor who became an international star in a part Tarantino wrote especially for him.^{[citation needed]} It revived the fortunes of John Travolta who was going through something of a career slump at the time, and allowed Bruce Willis to move away from the action hero reputation he had gained through films such as Die Hard. It raised the profile of Uma Thurman and led to greater recognition for character actors such as Ving Rhames and Harvey Keitel. Eric Stoltz was also acclaimed for his role as Lance.

Plot

Using many elements of a black comedy with many stylistic and pop culture touches, Pulp Fiction weaves through the intersecting storylines of Los Angeles gangsters, fringe characters, petty thieves and a mysterious attaché case. In keeping with Quentin Tarantino's directorial trademark of non-chronological story telling, Pulp Fiction is written out of sequence, i.e., it was not written in chronological order then rearranged out of sequence.^[3]

There are three main storylines in Pulp Fiction: Vincent and Jules, Vincent and Mia Wallace, and Butch Coolidge. All three are intertwined.^[3] Template:Spoiler

The Diner (first part)

Pumpkin (Tim Roth) and Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer) discuss robbing restaurants instead of their usual liquor stores because at their last robbery they made more off of robbing the customers than the store. They decide to rob the one they are currently in and pull out revolvers. Pumpkin jumps up and screams, "Everybody be cool, this is a robbery!" Honey Bunny grabs a revolver and screams, "Any of you fucking pricks move, and I'll execute every motherfuckin' last one of you!"

The title credits play set to the song "Misirlou" by Dick Dale.

Vincent & Jules

File:Pulp Fiction Vincent and Jules.jpg

Hitmen Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) head to a Los Angeles apartment to retrieve a briefcase that was involved in a failed deal for their boss, gangster Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). They also have to kill Brett (Frank Whaley), the one who was supposed to have set up the deal, and his cohorts. The briefcase is a classic MacGuffin, whose contents are never revealed except indirectly as a glowing, gold light.

Jules shoots Brett's cohort (whom he had referred to as "Flock of Seagulls" for his hairstyle) and then, after a long and conversation on loyalty led by Jules, Vincent and Jules gun down Brett. They spare their informant, Marvin (Phil LaMarr), who happened to be there with the gang.

Throughout the entire scene there is an ongoing conversation about McDonalds restaurants in foreign countries. Vega notes that since Paris uses the metric system, a Quarter Pounder with cheese is called a "royale with cheese." This was brought up earlier while Jules and Vincent are driving to Brett's apartment.

Vincent Vega And Marsellus Wallace's Wife

File:Pulp Fiction Mia.jpg

Vincent and Jules arrive at a bar owned by Marsellus Wallace just as Butch Coolidge is concluding a meeting with Wallace himself. Wallace is paying Coolidge a large sum of cash to throw an upcoming boxing match.

At Marsellus's request, Vincent Vega shows his wife Mia (Uma Thurman) a good time while Marsellus is out of town. Vincent arrives at Mia's house and, while waiting on her, listens to her play "Son of a Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield on the sound system. They head to Jack Rabbit Slim's, a slick 1950s-themed restaurant with lookalikes of the decade's top pop culture icons as staff (television impresario Ed Sullivan as the maître d', and servers such as singer Buddy Holly (Steve Buscemi) and actresses Marilyn Monroe and Mamie Van Doren), an option for patrons to eat at a booth or a classic car refitted as a booth.

Vincent and Mia make small talk, wherein she recounts her experience as an actress in a failed television pilot, "Fox Force Five" (which could also be a play on the 666 phenomenon as "F" is the 6th letter of the English alphabet.) The show followed the exploits of an all-female team of secret agents, each having a particular specialty. Mia's character, Raven McCoy, was a knife expert raised by circus performers. She also knew a zillion old jokes from her vaudevillian grandfather. She refuses to tell the joke from the pilot out of fear of embarrassment.

(Note: Tarantino has acknowledged the similarity between Fox Force Five and the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (DiVAS) in Kill Bill)

Mia then demands that Vincent dance with her in the Jack Rabbit Slim's twist contest, and they dance to Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell". When they return to the Wallace house, she is carrying the trophy. While listening to Urge Overkill's version of Neil Diamond's "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon", Mia finds Vincent's stash of heroin in the pocket of his coat,. Then she proceeds to cut and snort a line of it, mistaking it for cocaine. She overdoses, not just because it was heroin but because she had already done multiple lines throughout the evening, and a fearful Vincent rushes her over to his small-time drug dealer Lance (Eric Stoltz). Vincent convinces Lance to help him, and together they ready an adrenaline shot. Vincent injects Mia in the heart with a syringe full of adrenaline. She wakes up with a howl.

Upon arriving back at the Wallace residence, Mia finally reveals her corny joke: "So there's Papa Tomato, Momma Tomato and Baby Tomato walking along the street. Baby Tomato starts lagging behind, and Papa Tomato starts getting really angry. So, he turns around and squishes Baby Tomato and says, 'Ketchup.'" They agree not to tell Marsellus of the overdosing incident, both fearing what he might do to either of them.

The Gold Watch

File:Pulp Fiction Butch.jpg

Aging prizefighter Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) accepts a large sum of money from Marsellus, agreeing to "take a dive" by allowing himself to be knocked out in the fifth round of his upcoming match. However, Butch double-crosses Marsellus, instead betting the money he received from Marsellus on himself (with, due to the fights being fixed, very favorable odds). Butch wins the bout, accidentally killing his opponent in the process, and flees with a vengeful Marsellus in pursuit.

There is a flashback, in which the child Butch Coolidge (Chandler Lindauer) receives his watch from a war buddy (Christopher Walken) of his father, who kept the watch in his rectum for two years to hide it from the Vietcong after his father's death in a Vietnam War POW camp. This gold watch, which has been passed down from father to son since his great-grandfather fought in World War I, is of great sentimental value to Butch.

Butch is compelled to return to his apartment to retrieve the wristwatch after he discovers his girlfriend Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros) has forgotten to pack it. He is worried that most likely Marsellus is there looking for him. When Butch enters, all appears well. Butch quickly gets the watch and is ready to leave. Satisfied no one awaits to kill him, Butch grabs toaster pastries in his kitchen and puts them in the toaster. While waiting for the pastries to cook, Butch notices a silenced MAC-10 submachine gun on the kitchen counter. Butch is shocked and picks up the gun. Upon hearing the toilet flush in the bathroom next to the kitchen, he readies himself in time to encounter Vincent Vega exiting the bathroom. They both freeze. The toaster pastries pop up, and Butch shoots Vincent.

While driving back to the motel from the apartment complex, Butch sees Marsellus crossing the street in front of him. They recognize each other, and Butch accelerates into Marsellus. He then collides with another car and rolls into a small parking lot. A group of ladies help Marsellus back to his feet. In his POV, he sees Butch running away from the scene. He takes out his gun, and the ladies run away. Butch runs down the sidewalk with an injured leg, while Marsellus limps on his trail, firing stray bullets. Butch punches Marsellus repeatedly while they enter a pawnshop. Butch takes Marsellus' gun and is about to execute him, when the pawnshop owner, Maynard, turns a shotgun on the two. He knocks out Butch, and Marsellus passes out soon after. Maynard picks up the phone and dials his partner Zed (Peter Greene).

Marsellus and Butch wake up to find that they have been tied up to chairs with red ball gags strapped in their mouths. Maynard and Zed turn out to be sexual predators and rapists. Living in a hole in the floor is The Gimp, their sexual slave. The Gimp (Stephen Hibbert), dressed in leather and leashed to the ceiling, laughs at Butch while Zed and Maynard take Marsellus into the back room and rape him. Butch escapes his bonds and punches out the gimp, hanging him on his leash. He quickly runs back upstairs and is faced with the choice of saving himself or aiding Marsellus. Knowing Marsellus wants him dead, he could easily leave Marsellus. Instead, he makes a choice to save Marsellus.

In what is likely a reference to a similar scene in the film The Last House on the Left, Butch looks around the shop, picks up and tries out a variety of weapons, and finally settles on a katana. He goes downstairs and opens the door; Zed is raping Marsellus on a small wooden pommel horse, while Maynard watches with glee in his eyes. Butch slashes Maynard across his chest and then, while stunned, stabs him through the torso. Zed retreats from Marsellus and sees Butch. Butch is about to kill Zed when Marsellus gets Maynard's shotgun, simply says "Step aside Butch", and shoots Zed in the groin/thigh. Butch asks "What now?" and awaits Marsellus' reply. Marsellus continues to watch Zed writhe and says that he is "gonna get medieval on your ass." He tells Butch that he'll let him go free as long as he never tells anyone about the rape, leaves Los Angeles and never returns. Butch agrees, and quickly leaves town on Zed's chopper with Fabienne. Chronologically the last lines are spoken after Fabienne asks whose chopper it is and Butch replies, "Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead."

The Bonnie Situation

The story now flashes back to Vincent and Jules. During Jules's discussion with and shooting Brett, there was another member of the gang in the bathroom. After Vincent and Jules shot Brett, the man, wielding a "Handcannon", burst out of the bathroom and shot wildly at them missing every time. Astonished, the two fatally shoot him. Jules discusses how it was a miracle that they did not get shot, and decides to retire from his job as a hit man for Marsellus.

They take Marvin with them in the back seat of their car. During a conversation, Vincent asks Marvin's opinion and carelessly points his gun towards Marvin's head. The gun goes off, shooting Marvin in the head and making a bloody mess of the car and Vincent and Jules. Jules and Vincent argue other whether Jules hit a bump causing the shooting. Jules calls his friend Jimmy (Quentin Tarantino), and they are allowed to use his house temporarily. They ask him if they can leave the deceased Marvin in his garage. He objects saying his wife will be coming home from work soon, so they call Marsellus, who arranges the help of Winston Wolfe (Harvey Keitel). Wolfe takes control of the situation and pays Jimmy to let them use his linens to cover the seats. Jules and Vincent clean the car, hide the body in the trunk, dispose of their bloody clothes, and change into "dorky" T-shirts provided by Jimmy. They take the car to a junkyard, and while Wolfe finishes things up, Vincent and Jules go out to breakfast.

The Diner (second part)

File:Pulp Fiction Pumpkin and Honey Bunny.jpg

While they have breakfast, Jules talks about his idea to retire. Vincent does not like the idea despite Jules enthusiastic musings. While Vincent is in the bathroom, the pair thieves from the first scene hold up the diner. Honey Bunny screams "Any one of you fucking pricks move, and I'll execute every one of you motherfuckers!", which is slightly different from the earlier scene, where she ends the sentence with "every motherfucking last one of you!". This can be taken to show the difference between perspectives. They demand all of the patrons' wallets, money, and valuables. Pumpkin demands that Jules hand over the mysterious case, but Jules grabs Pumpkin's wrist, whips his gun out, and holds him at gunpoint in a Mexican standoff. Honey Bunny becomes hysterical, and trains her gun on Jules screaming for him to let Pumpkin go. Jules convinces her to be quiet, and Vincent emerges from the restroom with his gun trained on Honey Bunny. Jules explains his ambivalence toward his life of crime, takes his wallet back from Pumpkin, gives Pumpkin his cash, and lets the pair go free with all of the patrons' valuables.

Vincent suggests that they should leave now, they put their guns in their pants, and walk out of the diner.

The end credits roll.

Characters and cast

• John Travolta as Vincent Vega, a professional hit man and one of the two main protagonists. He does not change his ways and ends up dying because of this.

• Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield, the other protagonist, also a professional hit man. He has an epiphany about his life and decides to end his gangster ways and roam the earth "like Kain".

• Bruce Willis as Butch Coolidge, an aging prizefighter who changes the outcome of a fixed fight to win enough money to start a new life. After Coolidge kills the opponent who was supposed to win, Marsellus Wallace wants him dead until he saves his life from murderous rapists.

• Ving Rhames as Marsellus Wallace, a crime kingpin who contracts out the two protagonists to do his dirty work.

• Uma Thurman as Mia Wallace, the wealthy and seductive drug-addicted wife of Marsellus who nearly dies of heroin overdose while in the company of Vincent Vega.

• Harvey Keitel as Winston Wolfe, or simply "The Wolf". He is a "clean-up man", a universal problem solver employed to help Jules and Vincent after Vincent accidentally shoots someone in the face.

• Tim Roth as Pumpkin ("Ringo"), a small-time robber who strikes on the notion to hold up a restaurant. However, his life is changed after attempting to rob Jules.

• Amanda Plummer as Honey Bunny (Yolanda), Ringo's girlfriend and partner in crime.

• Maria de Medeiros as Fabienne, the naïve girlfriend of Butch.

• Eric Stoltz as Lance, Vega's drug dealer.

• Rosanna Arquette as Jody, Lance's girlfriend, who's into body piercing.

• Christopher Walken as Captain Koons, a Vietnam War veteran and prisoner of war who explains the importance of Butch's gold watch.

• Quentin Tarantino as Jimmie Dimmick, Jules' friend who lets them use his house to clean up the mess from the accidental fatal shooting of Marvin.

• Phil LaMarr as Marvin, a young thief that tries to steal Marsellus's briefcase. He is accidentally killed by a shot from Vincent's magnum.

• Peter Greene as Zed, a demented rapist that rapes Marsellus.

Template:Spoiler-end

Production

^{[original research?]}

Origins

Homage as style

Like Tarantino's other works, Pulp Fiction makes extenstive use of the homage to other past films, film genres, television with specific attention to the gangster film genre and to "popular culture since 1950."^[4]

The film has a feeling of a naturalistic universe common to classic Hollywood gangster films. This feeling is heightened by the circular, nonlinear plot construction which at once confuses and underlines the relationship between cause and effect. Because Jules believes his life was spared miraculously, in a way that does not conform with a naturalistic universe, he feels compelled to break out of the gangster lifestyle, thus making a conscious decision not to resign himself to fate. Another major theme is that of self preservation within a naturalistic universe "where the long view is the short run."^[4] This seems to be the driving force for Vincent. There is also a nod toward the importance of one's own family history in defining who a person is in the story of Butch and the gold watch. New York University film and television professor Ken Dancyger argues that "identity crises are the shaping device in Pulp Fiction."^[4]

"The Gold Watch" sequence was heavily based on a script entitled Pandemonium Reigns, which Tarantino purchased from his friend Roger Avary.

The mysterious briefcase

The only indisputable observations about the stolen attaché case recovered by Jules and Vincent are that its latch lock combination is "666", the "Number of the Beast" as given in the Biblical Book of Revelation, and that the contents of the case either glow orange or are highly reflective. The only acknowledgments of its contents include the captivated stare of Vincent and later the character called "Ringo", his reaction, "Is that what I think it is?", and his response (to Jules saying "Uh-huh"), "It's beautiful." Whenever asked, director Tarantino has replied that there is no explanation for the case's contents: it is simply a MacGuffin. Originally, the Pulp Fiction case was to contain diamonds (stolen in the film Reservoir Dogs), but this was seen as too mundane. For filming purposes, the briefcase contained an orange light bulb, silver foil, and a battery. Despite Tarantino's explanation, many theories have been proposed for the contents of the briefcase, such as it containing Marsellus's soul.^[5]

The glowing briefcase is an accidental reference to the film Kiss Me Deadly, where a briefcase glowed from its nuclear contents. When Tarantino learn of the similarity, he said it was purely accidental but that he liked the idea.^[5]

Jules' Bible passage

File:Pulp Fiction-Bible.jpg

As explained by Jules in the final scene in the diner, he recites a passage from the Bible — Ezekiel 25:17 — each time he kills someone. The passage reads as follows:

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 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 my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.

In the last scene of the movie, Jules repeats the passage to Pumpkin (who he refers to as Ringo), but phrases it slightly differently.

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 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.

This is, in fact, not an actual passage from the Bible, but a collage of several passages. Ezekiel 25:17 in the King James Version reads:

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

This is actually a typically obscure reference to Karate Kiba / Chiba the Bodyguard, a 1976 film starring Sonny Chiba (whom Tarantino has hailed as "the greatest actor to ever work in martial arts films" and has worked with in the making of Kill Bill), which opens with a nearly identical misquote, likewise attributed to Ezekiel 25:17:

The path of the righteous man and defender is beset on all sides by the iniquity 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 execute great vengeance upon them with furious anger, who poison and destroy my brothers; and they shall know that I am Chiba the Bodyguard when I lay my love upon them! (Ezekiel 25:17)

Also in Star Wars Revenge of the Sith videogame, Samuel L. Jackson's character Mace Windu says the catchphrase, "I will strike you down with great venegence." Whether this was a nod to Jackson's former role isn't known.

Casting

The film is known for revitalizing the career of John Travolta and launching Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman into stardom, however Thurman's came more aless with Kill Bill.

Other actors considered for the film included Daniel Day-Lewis as Vincent; Paul Calderon as Jules; Mickey Rourke, Matt Dillon and Sylvester Stallone as Butch; Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Ryan, Joan Cusack, Isabella Rossellini and Daryl Hannah (later cast in Kill Bill) as Mia; Johnny Depp and Christian Slater (previously cast in True Romance) as Pumpkin; and Pam Grier as Lance's wife Jody, who was later cast in the lead of Tarantino's Jackie Brown.

Other production details

• The shot where Vincent injects the adrenaline into Mia was filmed backwards.
• Pulp Fiction was originally titled Black Mask.
• Out of the $8 million it cost to make the movie, $5 million went to the cast.
• Mia Wallace's house is located at 1541 Summitridge Drive in Beverly Hills; most of the art shown in the film is the homeowner's. Most of the house where the scenes were shot can be seen from the road.
• The characters of Pumpkin, Honey Bunny, and Winston Wolfe were written specifically for Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, and Harvey Keitel, respectively.
• Jules uses a STAR model B pistol, and Vincent uses an Auto-Ordnance Colt 1911A1 model pistol. Both are 9mm caliber, chrome plated, and have custom "mother of pearl" grips, and are actually owned by Tarantino.
• Jules was originally scripted with an Afro, but due to a mix-up in wardrobe, had Jheri Curls.
• The name "Winston Wolf" was borrowed from a regular customer named "Winston Wolff" who frequented the video store where Quentin Tarantino worked. Later on, Wolff gained real world notice as a video game programmer at LucasArts, working on Dark Forces and Jedi Knight.
• In Tarantino's original script the character of Butch is a fighter in his twenties. The character was aged to a washed up boxer to accommodate Bruce Willis in the role.
• John Travolta is not a real-life smoker, but learned how to expertly roll Drum-brand tobacco into cigarettes for his part. Uma's character rolls her own before she overdoses in her home, and it is significantly "fatter" and less-expertly rolled than a seasoned pro would accomplish, because she usually smokes store-bought "Red Apples".
• Big Kahuna Burgers and Red Apple Cigarettes are trademarks of Quentin Tarantino films which he invented to avoid product placement. Big Kahuna Burger is featured in the Pulp Fiction apartment scene, From Dusk Till Dawn, and in Reservoir Dogs, when Michael Madsen walks in drinking a soda, and Red Apple, as well as being the cigarettes Butch buys inside Marsellus's bar, are advertised in the Tokyo airport in Kill Bill, Volume 1, in the LA airport in the beginning sequence of "Jackie Brown", and also appear in Four Rooms. However, in Pulp Fiction Vincent Vega rolls his own cigarettes using Drum, a real brand of tobacco. There is also a billboard ad for Red Apple Cigarettes in the background of a scene in Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion . Tarantino was dating the star of the film Mira Sorvino at the time.

Impact and reception

Box office

Made on a budget of $8 million, the film made $107,928,762 domestically and $213,928,762, making the film a box office success.^[6]

When the film was initially released in the United Arab Emirates, local distributors thought they'd received a "mixed-up" copy of the film, so they recut the entire film, placing it in chronological order.^{[citation needed]}

Critical response

Film critic Roger Ebert named Pulp Fiction as his 2nd favorite film of the 1990s.^{[citation needed]}

Awards

Pulp Fiction has both won, and been nominated for, many awards.

It has won the following accolades:^[7]

Year	Award	Category — Recipient(s)
1994	Academy Award	Best Original Screenplay — Quentin Tarantino
1994	BAFTA	Best Supporting Actor — Samuel L. Jackson
1994	Palme d'Or	Quentin Tarantino
1994	Edgar Award	Best Motion Picture Screenplay — Quentin Tarantino

It was nominated for the following Academy Awards:^[7]

• Best Actor (John Travolta)
• Best Supporting Actor (Samuel L. Jackson)
• Best Supporting Actress (Uma Thurman)
• Best Director (Quentin Tarantino)
• Best Film Editing (Sally Menke)
• Best Picture (Lawrence Bender, producer)

Soundtrack

File:PulpFictionSoundtrack.jpg

No film score was composed for Pulp Fiction, with Quentin Tarantino instead using an eclectic assortment of surf music, rock and roll, soul and pop songs. Notable songs include Dick Dale's rendition of "Misirlou", which is played during the opening credits.

The soundtrack album, Music from the Motion Picture Pulp Fiction, was released along with the film in 1994. In addition to songs from the film, it contains excerpts of dialogue, such as Jules' "Ezekiel 25:17" and "Royale with Cheese". The album peaked on the Billboard 200 at No. 21. The single, Urge Overkill's cover of the Neil Diamond song, "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon", peaked at No. 59.^[8]

A two-disc collector's edition of the album was issued in 2002, which had five additional music tracks, including Link Wray's "Rumble" and a spoken-word interview with Tarantino.

Trivia

• In Tarantino's film Reservoir Dogs, Mr. Blonde's real name is Vic Vega. Travolta's Pulp Fiction character, Vincent Vega, is his brother.
• Also in Reservoir Dogs, Harvey Keitel (who plays Winston Wolfe in Pulp Fiction), plays Larry Dimmick/Mr. White, the cousin of Jimmy Dimmick (played by Tarantino) in this film.
• Mia Wallace's suit reappears in two of Tarantino's later films, Jackie Brown and Kill Bill, Volume 2.
• In a deleted scene, we discover that Vincent may or may not be a cousin of singer Suzanne Vega. During a conversation, Mia asks if they're related; he replies that his cousin's name is Suzanne Vega, but if she's a famous folk singer, then he hasn't heard anything about it.
• When Butch decides to help Marsellus, he passes a wall with Tennessee license plates. Butch previously mentions on the phone with his brother that he is from Tennessee and is planning to return. He remembers his father's ordeal in Vietnam and how men are supposed to help each other in tough situations.
• The majority of clocks in the movie are set to 4:20, specifically in the pawnshop. It is a widely asserted misconception that all of the clocks are set to this time.
• One of the film's producers was Danny DeVito. In DeVito's film Twins, the main characters' names are Vincent and Julius.
• When Vincent enters Lance's house with the overdosed Mia, the games Life and Operation can be seen amongst the books and clutter.
• Despite Steve Prince's claims, injecting adrenaline into someone's heart will not save them from a heroin overdose. The proper antidote is Narcan, an opioid antagonist, injected intravenously, intramuscularly, or sprayed intranasally.
• As the sole example of "real" pulp fiction in Quentin Tarantino's film Pulp Fiction, the character of Vincent Vega (John Travolta) is seen in several scenes reading the first Modesty Blaise novel while sitting on the toilet. The edition Vincent reads has a mock-up cover that Tarantino had his prop department make, based upon the cover of an early edition of the novel.
• Samuel L. Jackson has a cameo role in Kill Bill as Rufus, an organist in the El Paso Chapel. Jackson's character was also rumored to be Jules^{[citation needed]}, because of that character's desire to "walk the earth like Caine in Kung Fu". The fact that he works at a church and is very well traveled supports this theory, and Rufus is killed (along with the rest of the people in the chapel) on the orders of Bill (David Carradine). Carradine portrayed Caine in the Kung Fu television series.
• The cereal that Lance is eating when Vincent comes to his house with Mia is called Fruit Brute and it was discontinued in 1983. Quentin Tarantino tries to get the same cereal box in each of his movies, which has shown up in Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill, although the cereal through which Vernita fires a gun is called "Kaboom!".
• In the flashback to Butch's childhood, young Butch watches a TV show featuring static cartoon images with superimposed moving human lips. The show is Clutch Cargo, perhaps the best-known of the programs and commercials that used this "Syncro-Vox" technique.
• Harvey Keitel plays almost the exact same role, although he's a bit more sinister, in the movie Point of No Return.
• When Mia Wallace first meets Vincent Vega and is interviewing him with her camcorder, she asks him, "Can you dig it?" to which Vincent responds, "I can dig it." Mia responds, "I knew that you could!" in a nod to John Travolta's repeated phrase in Saturday Night Fever as Tony Manero.
• The T-shirt Vincent Vega is given by Quentin Tarantino's character after Vincent's and Jules' bloodied clothes are thrown out is from the UC Santa Cruz' sports team, the Banana Slugs. Tarantino owned that very T-shirt and dated a woman at UC Santa Cruz before his career took off.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Pulp Fiction in Popular Culture

References and footnotes

External links

• Pulp Fiction at IMDb
• What's in the Briefcase?, from the Urban Legends Reference Page
• Roger Ebert's review of Pulp Fiction
• Complete list of actors who were considered for roles
• Timeline of the movie

Preceded by Farewell My Concubine tied with The Piano

Palme d'Or 1994

Succeeded by Underground

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