Crime/Drama
2 hours and 34 minutes
Rated: R
Written by: Quentin Tarantino
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Produced by: Lawrence Bender
Cast:
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
You won't know the facts until you've seen the fiction.
The 1990s, like the 1970s, served as another renaissance for independent filmmakers. After the polished, studio films of the 1980s-Reagan era, Hollywood was desperate for an injection of new ideas and new blood. The answers ended up coming from the indie market where filmmakers like Robert Rodriguez, Jon Favreau, the Cohen brothers, Kevin Smith, and Quentin Tarantino were beginning to come of age. Many of these filmmakers would soon surprise everyone with unlikely stories that would somehow manage to find an audience not only in their own decade, but in the many years that would follow - often reaching the much coveted status of becoming a cult classic. Unquestionably, Pulp Fiction is the biggest cult movie of the entire 1990s (with perhaps only some serious competition from The Big Lebowski).
So what is it that makes Pulp Fiction such an iconic motion picture? Was it really an innovative movie or did it in fact just recycle old filmmaking tropes without anyone realizing? Well, the answer to that question is actually both. Pulp Fiction's almost literary telling is nothing new. Filmmakers of the past had played around with continuity in their films - most notably Stanley Kubrick with his film The Killing and Mario Bava, who is verbally paid tribute to in the dialogue of Pulp Fiction, with his movie Black Sabbath. What made these old tactics so fresh again by the time 1994 rolled around was that no motion picture of the 1980s had really played around with its own storyline and been a major box office success (of course there are probably one or two exceptions to this). Think of all the John Hughes-esque movies of the 1980s told in a rather uninspired point A to point B fashion. Pulp Fiction moves from point A, to point B, to point C, and then back to point A again. It isn't the first film to ever do this (it isn't even Tarantino's first movie to do this), but after a decade of rather unimaginative Hollywood storytelling, Pulp Fiction revitalized an old trope successfully.
But this does not mean by any standards that Pulp Fiction isn't a creative motion picture. Quite the opposite in fact. Because Pulp Fiction is able to take these old filmmaking techniques, and these old stories, and rehash them into something entertaining and fresh is precisely why it is a creative tour de force that has earned its cult status. Think about it, what's more tiresome than the story of the man who has to take out his boss's wife but he can't touch her or the story of a boxer who must throw a fight but decides against it instead? Pulp Fiction makes these old stories feel fresh and entertaining by injecting them with what Quentin Tarantino does best: incredibly sharp dialogue. As we follow the conversations of hitmen, mob bosses, boxers, bartenders, and drug dealers - we learn that these are just people who, like the rest of us, have problems. They are definitely different problems than our own, but they're day-to-day problems that we as an audience can find both relatable and even quite comical.
Like any Tarantino movie, Pulp Fiction is full of top notch performances delivered by more than capable performers. John Travolta, who at the time was experiencing a career lull, shows why he won an Academy Award so many years ago. Samuel L. Jackson delivers what will most likely be the best performance of his entire career for as long as he is a working actor. Uma Thurman, Eric Stoltz, Ving Rhames, Tim Roth, Christopher Walken, and Harvey Keitel all showcase their incomparable talents as well. Perhaps the only disappointing performance is given by Maria de Medeiros, which is surprising given her range as an actress, who is given some rather flat dialogue that proves to be forgettable in this movie full of memorable quotes.
Despite all of this, Pulp Fiction is certainly a divisive movie. Not everyone could love it. Tarantino peppers the film full of references and nods to TV, art, and cinema of the 1970s to the point where only he could keep up with all of the allusions to Roger Corman, Brian De Palma, Mario Bava, and so on. Of course, this doesn't detract from the viewing experience of the film since the dialogue alone is enough to carry it, and to be completely fair what cult film doesn't have its group of naysayers to go with it?
Pulp Fiction's only major flaw lies solely within its third segment: The Gold Watch. Prior to this story, the film is one enjoyable piece of comedic but intelligent dialogue about the characters problems interrupted with moments of violence. Quintessential Tarantino. The Gold Watch follows this formula as well, except that the dialogue seems somewhat out of place compared to that of the sequences before (and after) it. In both The Bonnie Situation and Vincent Vega & Marsellus Wallace's Wife, the dialogue is funny, often juxtaposed around the mundane and the unbelievable. In The Gold Watch, the dialogue is far from being funny - in fact it feels uninspired and boring. The scenes between Bruce Willis and Maria de Medeiros fall short of their marks, causing the viewer to actually tune out, waiting for the inevitable interruption of violence to draw them back in. This is really such a shame given both the actors' talent and the talent of the filmmaker.
When it is all said and done, Pulp Fiction has earned every bit of its notoriety and cult appreciation. It is a film for true movie lovers across the globe who no doubt, even if they don't pick up on all of Tarantino's references, are quick to call the movie a cinematic masterpiece. While it may not be that, it certainly comes remarkably close of being a perfect motion picture. At the very least, it will always be discussed when dialogues of both cinema and Tarantino are brought up, and will undoubtedly be the film that many will always refer to as being Quentin Tarantino's finest film.
9.5/10
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