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“Blessed is he who in the name of charity and goodwill shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness.”
This just sums up the whole movie in a nutshell. This film is one wild ride. An anthology of three interconnected stories that take place in a modern-day Los Angeles tinted by echoes of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, the movie impresses in every possible way.
Writer/director Tarantino has merged film noir with the gangster tale and pulled them both into the ‘90s. As definitive as Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather saga was for the ‘70s, so is Pulp Fiction for today’s generation.
Introduction
Movie’s Name - Pulp Fiction
Directed by - Quentin Tarantino
Genre - Drama, Crime
Original Language - English
Runtime - 2h 33m
Rating - R (Graphic Violence|Drug Use|Strong Violence|Pervasive Language|Some Sexuality|Strong Language)
Plot - Spoiler Alert!
What startled Pulp on release was its audacious story dynamics. It was originally planned as a straight anthology flick — Tarantino’s decision to cross-reference the yarns mines even more dramatic gold (i.e. the hero can get killed halfway through).
While none of the stories amount to much on their own — if you told Pulp in a linearity, it would start with Vincent and Jules arriving at Brett’s apartment and end with Butch and Fabienne Dooming off on Zed’s chopper—in crisscrossing the exposition, Tarantino forges hooks of expectation and curiosity that pay off one by one in satisfying ways.
Pulp Fiction’s three tales are structured to intersect and overlap at key points, even though they are not presented in chronological order. Tarantino arranges his initial scene to dovetail with his final one in a remarkable example of closure. Those confused by the structure will see everything clearly once the final line is spoken.
“Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife” is the first story. It opens with Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) out on a hit for their boss, Marsellus (Ving Rhames). Along the way, Vincent confesses that he’s uneasy about an upcoming job – taking out Marsellus’ young wife Mia (Uma Thurman) while the main man is out of town.
The source of the nervousness lies in a story circulating that Marsellus had a man thrown out a fourth story window for giving Mia a foot massage. One wrong step and Vincent could find himself in deep trouble.
“The Gold Watch” is about a boxer, Butch (Bruce Willis), who is handsomely paid by Marsellus to throw a fight. Only at the last moment does it become more profitable to renege on the deal.
So, along with his French girlfriend, Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros), Butch goes on the run, hoping to live long enough to spend some of the fortune he has suddenly gained.
“The Bonnie Situation” ties together a few loose threads. It also introduces Harvey Keitel as a suave problem-solver named Wolf and Quentin Tarantino as Jim, a man worried that his wife will come home from work to find a dead body in a blood-spattered car in his garage. Sometimes, it appears, helping out Marsellus is not without its complications.
The method of the movie is to involve its characters in sticky situations, and then let them escape into stickier ones, which is how the boxer and the mob boss end up together as the captives of weird leather freaks in the basement of a gun shop.
Or how the characters that open the movie, a couple of stick-up artists played by Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer, get in way over their heads. Most of the action in the movie comes under the heading of crisis control.
About the Movie
The movie becomes a bit easier to understand once you realize that it’s essentially a black comedy dressed up as a crime drama. Each of the three main story threads begins with a situation that could easily form the subplot of any standard gangster movie.
But something always goes wrong, some small unexpected accident that causes the whole situation to come tumbling down, leading the increasingly desperate characters to absurd measures.
Tarantino’s originality stems from his ability to focus on small details and follow them where they lead, even if they move the story away from conventional plot developments. Perhaps no screenplay has ever found a better use for digressions. Indeed, the whole film seems to consist of digressions.
There’s a nice moral progression to the stories. We presume that Vincent hesitates to sleep with Mia out of fear rather than loyalty. Later, Butch’s act of heroism could be motivated by honor, but we’re never sure.
The film ends, however, with Jules making a clear moral choice. Thus, the movie seems to be exploring whether violent outlaws can act other than for self-preservation.
Personal Verdict
This is Tarantino's masterpiece, there's no other way to say it. It has arguably one of the smartest scripts I've ever seen. The story, which is non-linear, is so well constructed it takes several viewings to grasp it all.
The movie doesn't seem to be about any specific thing, but there is a subtle hint of redemption as a central theme. The characters and performances in this movie are practically perfect. This is still one of the best performances I've seen from Sam Jackson, and it's an outrage he didn't win an Oscar.
Each scene has its own unique flavor and charm, every segment has its own arc while also tying into the main plot. The comedy is great, the serious moments are great, and every word of dialogue is exciting despite seemingly not having any reason to exist.
This movie is just such a great time, and I recommend it to everyone who loves movies. I cannot think of a single genuine flaw with it, and it will remain one of my favorite movies for a long time.
The Bottom Line
If you are a fan of seeing movies that make you think and assume and then you get completely fooled out by the plot then it is one of them.
A Tarrantino masterpiece which blows off your mind with a whole lot of things happening all together making it a quite compelling yet amazing journey of fun, entertainment with a touch of dark comedy.
My ratings for the movie - 4.5 on 5
You may watch the movie on Amazon Prime - Pulp Fiction
Written By - Resmita Barai
Edited By - Umme-Aiman
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