Pulp Fiction (1994)

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Pulp Fiction is a 1994 thriller directed by Quentin Tarantino and stars John Travolta as Vincent Vega.

Plot Synopsis

Just like Tarantino's previous work Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction does not follow the typical "A to B" method of storytelling. The movie is non-linear, and told in three stories, with a Prologue, two Preludes and an Epilogue. The three stories are out of order, but follow the same characters and plot structure. Still, it does get quiet confusing at times, particularly when figuring out who died before which scene and why or how.

Prologue

Pumpkin and Honey Bunny hatch their plan

Criminal couple Pumpkin ( Tim Roth) and Honey Bunny ( Amanda Plummer) sit in a diner eating breakfast when Pumpkin proposes an idea to Honey Bunny. His plan is to rob the diner and steal the wallets of all the customers. Honey Bunny agrees, and the two pull out their guns as the opening credits begin.

Prelude I

Hitmen Vincent Vega ( John Travolta) explains to his partner Jules Winnfield ( Samuel L. Jackson) about the differences of American and European fast-food culture and other entertainment, such as getting beer at the movies in Europe (true!) and being able to smoke pot legally in Amsterdam. The two are on a way to a job, sent by their boss Marsellus Wallace ( Ving Rhames). On their way to the apartment, Jules and Vincent discuss the implications of giving a woman a foot massage and Vincent reveals to Jules he is taking Marsellus's wife Mia Wallace ( Uma Thurman) out while he is out of town. Though Jules insists that a foot massage is nothing, Vince maintains it is sensual. He clinches this by asking Jules if he'd give HIM (Jules) a foot massage! In the apartment with their target Brett ( Frank Whaley), Vincent retrieves the mysterious briefcase Marcellus sent them to get. After finding the briefcase, Jules recites his trademark "Ezekiel 25:13" passage, before him and Vincent dramatically shoot Brett.

Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife

Vincent and Mia dancing to Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell"

The first of the three stories begins with Marcellus convincing veteran boxer Butch Coolidge ( Bruce Willis) to throw a fight and go down in the fifth round. Butch agrees, as Vincent and Jules enter wearing T-shirts and shorts. Jules goes to the bathroom, as Vincent mocks Butch. Butch doesn't respond, after seeing Vincent's strong relationship with Marcellus. Later, just before Vincent picks Mia up, Vincent buys high-grade heroin from his dealer Lance ( Eric Stoltz), who claims that though it may not be up to Amsterdam standards, they are, after all, in the U.S. .

Vincent picks up Mia, just after shooting up, and he takes her to Jack Rabbit Slim's, a 50's era theme diner. Vincent initially tries to be distant from Mia, but opens up to her and begins to ask her personal questions. The two participate in a dance contest Jack Rabbit Slims is holding, since she insists, and take first prize. They go back home with their new trophy, as Vincent goes to the bathroom and Mia looks through his jacket. She finds a bag of his heroin, but mistakes it for cocaine and overdoses after snorting it. Panicked, Vincent rushes a dying Mia to Lance for help. Lance initially rejects Vincent's pleads for help, until he finds out that Mia is Marcellus Wallace's wife, and takes her in to his house. His wife Jody ( Rosanna Arquette) pesters Lance with questions as her searches for an adrenaline shot. Once he finds it, Vincent nervously plunges it into her heart, instantly and violently waking Mia up. He silently drives her home, and drops her off. Mia shares her Fox Force Five, a television pilot she starred in, joke with Vincent, after refusing to tell him at dinner. As Mia walks off, Vincent blows her a kiss. "I'm going to go home and have a heart attack now." he tells her blandly.

Prelude II

While watching TV, a young Butch is interrupted by Captain Koons ( Christopher Walken), a Vietnam War veteran who was in a POW camp with Butch's father. Just before Butch's father died, he gave Koons a watch to give to Butch. The watch was in Butch's family for generations, and Captain Koons offers, quite seriously, some very graphic, unnecessary details about how Butch's father and then he himself, kept the watch "safe", and as young Butch eagerly grabs it, adult Butch suddenly wakes up, just before his boxing match he was paid to lose.

The Gold Watch

Butch and Marsellus tied up.

Butch jumps out of a window into a dumpster, having just killed the man he was supposed to lose to in his boxing match. He is picked up by taxi to go to his hotel room and hide out. On the way there, the taxi driver Esmerelda VillaLobos (Angela Jones) asks him about what it was like to kill the man he fought. Butch stops off at a telephone booth and talks to an unseen man Scotty, about the fight. Butch made bets on himself, and now has made a profit and plans to leave for Tennessee the next morning. Butch enters his motel room, to find his girlfriend Fabienne ( Maria de Medeiros) lying in bed. They roll around playfully, fantasizing about their life to come. The next morning, Butch find out that his prized watch, was forgotten in his apartment by Fabienne. In a fit of rage, Butch throws the television and yells at Fabienne. She crouches in a corner, scared. Butch calms down and exits the room, off to get his watch. In his apartment, after getting the watch, Butch puts some Pop-tarts in his toaster. He sees a sub-machine gun on his counter and picks it up curiously. He hears his toilet flush and Vincent come out. Both stand, staring at each other, until the toaster goes off and Butch shoots Vincent.

Driving back, Butch is confident that he beat Marcellus, until he sees him crossing the street. Butch hits him with his car, and Marcellus goes tumbling over as Butch crashes his car. After waking up, Marcellus begins to shoot at Butch, who hobbles away. Marcellus stumbles after Butch, who heads into a pawnshop. Butch wrestles Marcellus to the ground and starts to punch him. He takes Marcellus' pistol and points it at his head, when the shop owner Maynard ( Duane Whitaker) intervenes and pulls out his shotgun. He captures both Marcellus and Butch, and calls his rapist-cop friend Zed ( Peter Greene). They choose Marcellus to take into the shops back room as Butch is watched by "the gimp" a masked figure wearing leather S&M attire, tied by the neck. The door closes, as Marcellus muffled yells are heard by a terrified Butch.

Butch finds his weapon of choice

Butch manages to break free, and punches the gimp, breaking his neck and head to exit the shop. Just before leaving, Butch hesitates, and contemplates saving Marcellus. Butch decide to save him, and searches for a weapon. After looking at several weapons in Maynard's shop, he decides on a Katana. He slowly enters the back room, and sees Zed raping Marcellus. Butch sneaks up on Maynard, and slices him with the katana. Zed stops, as Butch points the katana at him. Marcellus tells him to step aside, as he blasts Zed in the groin with Maynard's shotgun. Marcellus tells Butch to leave, and keep this a secret. Butch leaves, but Marcellus stays behind to call some bad guys he knows, who will further torture Zed. Butch swipes Zed's motorcycle keys and pick up Fabienne. She gets on the motorcycle, and they drive off.

The Bonnie Situation

The Wolf and Jimmy

Picking up with Vincent and Jules in Brett's apartment, a man waits in the bathroom apartment, as Jules recites Ezekiel 25:13. After shooting Brett, the man in the bathroom comes out, firing his Magnum. Inexplicably, he misses Jules and Vincent, from point black range. He is killed, as Marvin ( Phil LaMarr) sits in the corner, murmuring to himself. Jules and Vincent take him along, as they discuss what happened in the car. Jules thinks it was Divine Intervention, and wants to quit from being a hit-man. Vincent is disappointed, and asks Marvin's opinion. Marvin says he has none, and Vincent turns to talk to him. He is holding his gun, gesturing absentmindedly, with his finger on the trigger. His gun fires, and Marvin's head explodes in a bloody mess. Surprised and startled, Vincent and Jules drive to Jimmy's ( Quentin Tarantino) house to dispose of the body. Jules calls Marcellus, and he sends over the Wolf ( Harvey Keitel) a professional cleaner who walks Vincent and Jules through how to take care of the body. They clean the car, change clothes to the T-shirts and shorts they were wearing at the beginning of the film, and take the body to a junk yard to be disposed. Jules and Vincent decide to head to a diner for breakfast after the body was taken care of. This is one of the funniest parts of the story, as the two hit-men are both ready to explode, comparing themselves to a racing car "in the red" and a "mushroom cloud". To solve the tension, they switch places on "brain detail", at Jules' demand.

Epilogue

Jules holding up his wallet

While having breakfast, Jules tells Vincent he wants to "walk the Earth" instead of continuing his job as a hit-man. Vincent tries to convince Jules to stay, but Jules doesn't change his mind. Vincent goes to the bathroom as Honey Bunny and Pumpkin pull out their guns and hold up the restaurant. Pumpkin goes to Jules and asks for his wallet. He gives it to him and asks what's in the briefcase. Jules opens it for him, and Pumpkin is mesmerized with what is in it. Jules uses this to grab Pumpkin and hold him at gunpoint, as Honey Bunny runs over, ranting. She stands on a table as Jules, Honey Bunny (aka Yolanda), Pumpkin (aka Ringo), and eventually Vincent engage in a Mexican Standoff. Jules explains what he thinks is the meaning behind Ezekiel 25:13 and as an act of redemption, saying that he is "trying to be the shepherd", and sends Ringo and Yolanda off with some of his money. Jules and Vincent exit later, to go to Marcellus, creating a "full circle" with the story. We know at this time that Vince (at least) has already been killed by Butch, but somehow, our interest is held and it doesn't seem to matter. Tarantino is that deft with his narrative and characters.

Development

Writing

Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary had several influences when developing the story. The initial concept came from an Italian horror film Black Sabbath, which had three separate stories compiled into one film. After Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino returned to this idea, citing the trilogy film as an idea used in many novel, but not films. The separate stories were all based on cliche, old crime stories given a different twist. Tarantino and Avary began writing in Amsterdam, in March of 1992. Avary contributed the story that would become "The Gold Watch." The script was finished in January of 1993, and was ready to be sold.