The film "Pulp Fiction": actors and roles. Crime novel

Movie " Crime novel" became a cult black comedy of American cinema and one of the famous works of the director. The tape came out in 1994. Tarantino also contributed to the original screenplay, for which the film was awarded an Oscar.

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The music in the trailer and the film, so easily recognizable by fans, and just cinema lovers, was not written specifically for the tape. The soundtrack was composed of compositions by various artists in the genres of rock and roll and surf rock.

The film is divided into frames and quotes. The audience especially remembered the flowery, albeit uncensored, dialogues of Jules and Vincent about the peculiarities of national cuisines: “Hamburgers! The cornerstone of a healthy diet."

Samuel L. Jackson (Jules Winnfield)

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Jules Winnfield - a bandit in the service of crime boss Marsellus Wallace, an expert on the Bible. Together with his partner Vincent Vega, he goes to pick up the suitcase belonging to the boss from other bandits. A simple assignment turns into a shootout, after which the miraculously surviving Jules makes a firm decision to quit his career as a criminal.

Works with director Quentin Tarantino for many years. After his debut in Pulp Fiction, the actor has appeared in Tarantino's drama Jackie Brown (1997), the spaghetti western Django Unchained (2012) and another western, The Hateful Eight, which was released in 2016. For his work in Pulp Fiction, Jackson received a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for an Oscar.

Viewers of the 2010s Jackson is known primarily for the role of Nick Fury - the hero marvel comics, in the image of which the actor appeared in the films of the series "Iron Man", "", "The Avengers". In 2018 and 2019, Marvel fans will see the actor as Fury in Avengers: Infinity War and Captain Marvel.

John Travolta (Vincent Vega)

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Vincent Vega - Jules' partner, participates with him in the ups and downs around the suitcase. After the assignment, on behalf of the boss, he goes to "walk" the wife of that one, Miya. The walk turns into disaster when Mia, mistakenly confusing heroin for cocaine, nearly dies from an overdose.

American film actor with Italian roots. He first became known to the public in 1978 after the release of the cult film-musical "Grease", where he played leading role. Travolta's career took a further turn after the release of Pulp Fiction in 1994. The 80s were a time of recession for the actor, but after the role in the film by Quentin Tarantino, Travolta's business went up again. Travolta is also known as a writer, film producer, dancer and singer. In the musical "Grease" Travolta performs several songs that have become super hits of their time.

Bruce Willis (Butch Coolidge)

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Butch Coolidge is a professional boxer. Agreed to merge the match, taking money for a contractual loss, but violates the conditions and wins the battle, before which he put all the money received from the bandits on himself. Together with the money and his girlfriend, Fabian is about to run away, but events take an unexpected turn.

One of the most famous actors in Hollywood. He became famous primarily thanks to the series of films " Toughie”, where he played the role of police officer John McClane. Last movie The series came out in 2013, but it's not over yet - viewers will see Willis as McClain in 2019's Die Hard: Year One. Willis is so widely known that he has appeared at least six times in different films as a cameo - that is, in the role of himself. For example, in the movie Ocean's Twelve (2004).

Uma Thurman (Mia Wallace)

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Mia Wallace is the wife of a crime boss. He goes for a walk with Vincent Vega to the Jack Rabbit Slims restaurant, where the heroes perform a twist to the single “You Never Can Tell” and win the main prize for the dance. After the “walk”, he goes home to Vincent Vega, and from there he almost goes to the forefathers, mistakenly taking a large dose of the drug.

The role of Mia in "Pulp Fiction" first brought fame. For this role, the actress was nominated for three prestigious film awards at once - Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA. The photo of Thurman on the film poster becomes one of the most recognizable images of the actress. In 2003 and 2004, Thurman again appears on the screens in the films of Quentin Tarantino - in the Kill Bill series, where he plays the main role. And in 2014, the erotic drama "Nymphomaniac" was released, where Thurman plays one of the minor roles. Collaboration with Trier continues, the actress will appear on the screens in his film "The House That Jack Built" in 2018.

Tim Roth ("Pumpkin" by Ringo)

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Ringo is a petty robber who, along with his girlfriend Yolanda, robs an eatery where he just drank coffee. Jules and Vincent end up at the same cafe, allowing a couple of robbers to get away with their loot.

He firmly joined the team of director Quentin Tarantino and played his best roles in the latter's films - Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction, The Hateful Eight (2016) and in the black comedy Four Rooms, where Tarantino turned out to be one of four directors who participated in the filming (each filmed his own episode). Art-house fans know Tim Roth from his role as Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Peter Greenaway's drama The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989).

Amanda Plummer ("Sweet Bunny" Yolanda)

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Yolanda - Ringo's girlfriend, robs the cafe with him, where Jules and Vincent have breakfast, discussing the desire of the first to leave the underworld.

The role in "Pulp Fiction" has become one of the most famous in the career of an actress. In 1991, Amanda Plummer appears on the screens in the film by Terry Gilliam "The Fisher King", built around one of the legends of the Arthurian cycle. The film received high marks from critics and collected many awards (Oscar, Golden Globe, Venice Film Festival prizes). To date latest work Amanda in the movie was the role in the fantasy thriller The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013).

Harvey Keitel (Winston "The Cleaner" Wolfe)

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Winston Wolf, nicknamed "The Cleaner", helps Jules and Vincent clean up themselves and the interior of the car, where one of them blew a man's head off. Wulf then delivers the car, along with the corpse in the trunk, to a car yard.

Harvey Keitel's film career began in 1967 with Who's Knocking on My Door? The film became the debut for both the actor and the director, with whom he later collaborated closely. Harvey played in Scorsese's tragicomedy Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), the crime drama Mean Streets (1972), the neo-noir thriller Taxi Driver (1976), in The Last Temptation (1988), where Keitel played Judas Iscariot - and these roles brought fame to the actor. The 78-year-old actor continues to act and does not take big breaks in his career. In 2017, viewers saw him in French comedy"Madame".

Maria de Medeiros (Fabian)

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Fabian is the girlfriend of Butch Coolidge, a boxer. I was supposed to collect things in a rented apartment, but I forgot the gold watch - Butch's family heirloom. The hero was forced to return for them, and this led to a chain of unexpected and unpredictable events.

Maria de Medeiros is an actress from Portugal who has also worked as a film director, screenwriter and singer. She made her first film appearance at the age of fifteen. plays on theater stage in France (where he lives). In 2007 she recorded music album. As a film actress, she is known mainly to the European audience. She starred in French, Portuguese, Spanish films. In the USA, in addition to Tarantino, she worked with director Philip Kaufman (melodrama Henry and June, 1990).

The film "Pulp Fiction" - official trailer (video):

One of the most famous films American director Quentin Tarantino, a classic of the crime comedy genre called " Crime novel”, which is in the top ten in the list of films on the IMDb website, is the owner of more than 40 film awards, including “ golden palm» Cannes Film Festival and Awards « Oscar" per best script. Great actors played in it: John Travolta("Without a face", "Password" Swordfish "), Samuel L. Jackson("Goodfellas", "Coach Carter"), Tim Roth("Reservoir Dogs", "Four Rooms"), Amanda Plummer("The Fisher King", "Hercules"), Eric Stoltz("The Butterfly Effect", "Fluke"), Bruce Willis("The Fifth Element", "Die Hard") and Wing Rhames("War Losses", "Final Fantasy").

« Crime novel"At the same time, it strikes with the richness of its plots and confuses with the randomness of actions. As conceived by Tarantino, the film is divided into three parts, and the first of them is both the beginning and the end of the picture. Each of these parts is a separate story in which all genres, images and attributes of an ordinary Hollywood film are mixed.

The first of the stories is about a gangster in a black suit, Vincent Vega, who walks the boss's wife:

Do you hate it too?
- What?
- An awkward silence. Why do people have to talk about something in order to feel at ease?
- I do not know. Good question.
- Only when you find your man, you can be silent for hours and enjoy it.
- It's not about us. We hardly know each other.
- Okay. I'll go powder my nose, and you come up with a topic for conversation.
- Will try...

Three tomatoes are walking down the street: a tomato mom, a tomato dad, a tomato child. The baby tomato starts to fall behind and the daddy tomato becomes furious, he runs up to him, crushes him and says: « Catch up, ketchup!"

Other story – about a boxer who deceived a mafia boss, but by chance gets out of a serious scrape:

– Whose motorcycle is this?
– It's a chopper, baby.
– Whose chopper is this?
– Zed.
– Who is Zed?
– Zed is dead, baby. Zed is dead.

third story – about a couple of strange robbers, a hysterical woman and a cowardly but level-headed man who are trying to rob a small restaurant.

John Travolta as scumbag Vincent, Samuel L. Jackson as Bible-reciting gangster Jules, Harvey Keitel as an intellectual – Wolf's lifesaver, cocaine player Mia Wallace performed by Uma Thurman, Wing Rheims as mob boss Marsellus Wallace, himself Quentin Tarantino in the role of henpecked Jimmy - all these actors played in Pulp Fiction, perhaps the most colorful and memorable characters in the history of world cinema.

The music for the film is collected from the good old hits, and the soundtrack has been in the top twenty of the best-selling in the history of cinema for 16 years.

Excellent directing by Tarantino with perfect shots, an original and witty script with unexpected plot twists, great dialogues with Tarantino's trademark dark humor, brilliantly played roles and Oscar-winning camera work. – all these components that make the film a cult film in its genre and spawned a sea of ​​​​fans and imitators. The minimum age limit for watching the film is 16 years.

• $5 million of the $8 million budget was spent on actors' salaries.
• Quentin Tarantino couldn't decide who to play – Jimmy or Lance, but Lance had a rather difficult resuscitation sequence for Mia, during which the director would have to be behind the camera, so he chose Jimmy.
• In the scene where the adrenaline syringe is inserted into Mia's chest, in reality the needle is pulled out, that is, the scene is played in reverse.
• Butch's great-grandfather bought a gold watch inherited from his grandson in Knoxville, Tennessee, hometown Quentin Tarantino.
• Uma Thurman refused to play Mia Wallace, but Tarantino persuaded her by reading the script to her over the phone.
• Tarantino says about the contents of the case: "There lies what the viewer wants to lay there."
• As Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega leave the club, an off-camera radio announces the theft of the grand prize for a dance competition.
• The 1964 Chevrolet Malibu that Vincent Vega drives in the film belonged to Tarantino and was stolen during filming.
• Jules' "Bad Motherfucker" wallet belongs to Quentin Tarantino.
• Brona Gallagher, who played Trudy, is wearing a T-shirt with the image of The Frames, one of the Irish rock bands in which an acquaintance of the actress plays - he was promised to wear a T-shirt if Brona was invited to the film.
• The restaurant scene (at the beginning and end of the film) was filmed in a real establishment, the building of which was destroyed after the film's release. The curse "fuck" is used by the characters of the film 271 times.
• The cinematographer of the film - Andrzej Sekula - filmed it while in a wheelchair.
• For the roles in "Pulp Fiction" claimed: Johnny Depp and Christian Slater (Pumpkin), Paul Calderon ( Jules); Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke and Matt Dillon ( Butch); Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Ryan, Joan Cusack, Isabella Rossellini, Daryl Hannah ( Mia) and Sylvester Stallone and Daniel Day-Lewis (Vincent).
• The surname of the girl - a taxi driver named Esmeralda – Villa Lobos, owned to the best friend Quentin Tarantino.
• The length of the special edition of the film is 168 minutes.

Quentin Tarantino himself noted that, in his opinion, a good story should have a plot, a main part and a denouement, but not necessarily in this sequence. Of course, the plot of the movie Crime novel"was inspired by the examples of the masters of the past, whom Tarantino admired for many years as a movie fan. The film consists of a number of scenes that are closely related to each other. But even among people who have identified pulp fiction more than once, a complete picture of what is happening can be formed with difficulty, since the order of the scenes is mixed and the chronological sequence is not respected. How long are the events of the movie? The main ones are only two days - from Jules and Vincent's car trip to work, to Butch and Fabian's departure from the city on Zed's chopper. The full chronology does not even start from the meeting of little Butch and Captain Koons, but from the events before the First World War, which begin the history of those very golden watches. There is even a remounted one, in the correct chronological order, a version of Pulp Fiction. It is worth building the scenes that are shown in the film in a linear sequence, omitting the events that are only mentioned (the story of the Coolidge family and the Samoan Antwan, whom Marsellus threw out of the window).

• A conversation between Captain Koons and little Butch Coolidge in the living room. The officer gives the boy a gold watch - the property of the Coolidge family with a difficult fate.
• Jules and Vincent Vega are in a car discussing specifics of Europe such as other names for cheeseburgers, beer in a movie theater, mayonnaise instead of ketchup, and the right of police officers to search people on the street.
• Vince and Jules get out of the car, retrieve the weapons from the trunk, and go to an apartment building to track down Marsellus Wallace's unreliable associates. Men discuss the boss's wife, TV pilots, female foot massages. Armed with guns, they enter an apartment where Jules is quoting a passage from the Bible. Mafiosi kill three guys, miraculously escaping from execution and take away a diplomat with a yellow glow inside.
• On the way to Marsellus' bar, Vince accidentally shoots Marvin the snitch in the head. The criminals are forced to seek help from a guy named Jimmy. They have an hour and a half to do something with the corpse, wash off the blood and bring the car in order. Marsellus sends them to the aid of Mr. Wolfe - a cleaner. As a result, the car is washed from the blood, as well as the shooters themselves.
• Jules and Vincent decide to have breakfast at a diner. At this moment Ringo and Yolanda try to rob the cafeteria, but Jules foils the plans of the hapless criminals. A conversation is started, and the hero of Samuel L. Jackson is on the right path. After the situation is resolved, the men leave.
• Marsellus Wallace is talking to a boxer named Butch. He offers him to hand over the fight for money, putting his pride to hell. Afterwards, Butch runs into Vincent at the bar, who treats him with no respect.
• Vincent visits a drug dealer named Lance. He buys heroin from him and says that someone scratched his favorite car, which had been in the garage for three years before.
• In the evening of the same day, Vince Vega, on behalf of the boss, takes Marsellus's wife Mia for a walk. He visits Jack Rabbit Slim's, admires a five-dollar milkshake, and participates in dance competition. Back at the Wallaces' house, Mia snorts heroin and overdoses on the drug. Vincent takes the comatose girl to his drug dealer and they save her with an injection of adrenaline right through the heart. After everything they've been through, Mia and Vincent agree to keep the incident a secret.
• On the second day, a boxing match takes place in the evening, where Butch Coolidge foils plans for selling bets and kills, not on purpose, his opponent Wilson in the ring. Marsellus comes to the dressing room, where his wife Mia and Vince Vega are also present. He is beside himself with rage and orders to find an unreliable partner.
• Butch arrives at a hotel room with his girlfriend Fabian. They make love and go to bed. The next morning, Butch realizes that the girl left his father's watch in the rented apartment and he must go to where armed criminals are clearly waiting for him. He gets into Fabian's car and goes there.
• Arriving at the place, Butch manages to pick up his father's watch, and finding an automatic weapon on the table, he kills Vincent, who went to the toilet. On the way back, Butch accidentally runs into Marsellus and they get into a scuffle, chase and fight. The men are taken prisoner by two perverts and raped by Wallace. Butch is released and does not leave him in trouble. They agree on further relations, and Butch is removed from Los Angeles forever, along with Fabian.

Randomness and influence on the plot

Quentin Tarantino fills his story with a whole series of little things, random and unplanned events, or the consequences of other decisions in the past, or not the most thoughtful plan. But these plot twists have direct impact on the behavior or, more importantly, the worldview of their protagonists. That is, unforeseen situations, decisions secondary characters, expose the personalities of Jules, Butch, Vincent and force them to reconsider their attitude not only to a particular situation, but to other people and even their own future. Let's remember these very accidents in no particular order.

1. When Vincent Vega and Jules, in their usual gangster fashion, crack down on two guys in the apartment, a third (fourth, if you count Marvin) suddenly appears on the scene. They did not foresee that another person, still with a weapon, could hide in the toilet. He jumps out unexpectedly with a gun, firing six bullets that go past Vincent and Jules. They kill the guy in cold blood, but this accident, for Vincent, just an accident, becomes a turning point for Jules (Samuel L. Jackson).

1. When Marsellus is chasing Butch, the latter is ready to kill the mafiosi at any opportunity. A couple of minutes ago, Butch was glad that he managed to avoid death at the hands of Vincent, that he managed to take his father's watch. He was driving in his girlfriend's car, humming a song until, as a friend, he met Marsellus at the crossroads. The latter just went out to buy donuts and coffee while he and Vince were waiting for Butch, and was also a victim. unexpected meeting. This accident with minimal chances changes the situation and Butch's attitude to what is happening. Now he is ready to defend himself and kill the pursuer. That is, for the third time in a day (after the sad boxing match and the massacre of Vince) to become a killer, which, before the whole situation with the corrupt match, was something alien to him. He snatches a pistol from the burly man, shuts up the owner of the shop and prepares to shoot Marsellus in cold blood in the head. But an accident happens - the owner of the store turns out to be not from the timid and takes the situation into his own hands. He suddenly knocks out Butch, and later, along with his friend or brother Zed, turns out to be a sadist and rapist. Seeing what is happening in this basement, Butch, freed, again changes his attitude towards Marsellus. He was ready to kill him recently, but, nevertheless, does not leave two perverts to be punished. The personalities of Zed and Maynard lead Butch to commit another murder.

1. When Mia (Uma Thurman) is sitting with Vincent at Jack Rabbit Slim's, she hears about a dance competition. They participate in a cult scene that later, as an act of bonding, leads Vincent to the toilet to, among other things, consider his future behavior with the boss's wife. While Vincent Vega is talking to himself in the restroom, Mia falls into a drug coma. Travolta's hero suddenly has to face a frightening prospect. For Lance, Vincent's call also becomes complete surprise. He peacefully watches TV at his home while eating Fruit Brute breakfast cereal with milk. After a couple of minutes, the drug dealer already has to participate in the resuscitation of a person with a huge syringe.

1. Butch had what he thought was a well-thought-out plan. Break your boss's bets, cash in on the boxing match yourself, get your money and run away. Train tickets were bought, a motel room was booked, where Fabian's girlfriend was already waiting for him. But an unforeseen accident happens - Fabian forgets to take the most important thing from the former apartment - Butch's father's gold watch, which is so dear to him. Such an oversight leads to a whole series of events and murders, which the character of Bruce Willis, with confidence, will call the worst day of his life.

1. Vincent and Jules have just completed their task. They dealt with their boss's unreliable associates, took away a mysterious diplomat with a golden glow inside, and even escaped accidental death at the hands of a stranger. Suddenly, the unexpected happens - Vincent Vega inadvertently kills Marvin in the back seat of the car, as the gun accidentally went off. This leads the heroes to a new series of incredible events and acquaintances.

1. For Jimmy (Quentin Tarantino), who spent his mornings in a bathrobe with a cup of coffee, life was simple and straightforward. He was waiting for his wife, who was due to come home from a work shift at the hospital at nine in the morning. And now an unforeseen situation with a friend Jules now put this whole life on the brink of collapse. Moreover, it is not so much about complicity in the murder and violation of the law, but about the loss of a spouse.

1. And although Jules is already set to change his life after the shooting incident, yet a new surprise in the restaurant gives him confidence. Vincent and Jules were just having breakfast at the cafe when a pair of unlucky robbers, Bunny and Pumpkin, decided to rob it. Moreover, they had never robbed a cafe before, which they themselves admitted to each other - the decision was a spontaneous outcome of a short dialogue.

1. Interestingly, the weapons in the movie Pulp Fiction are not always used for their intended purpose, but often by accident or not as intended. At the beginning of the movie Pulp fiction, a huge revolver fires six bullets, but they miss their targets, although they should not leave Vince and Jules and a wet place. The machine gun in Butch's hands kills Vince, although it happened almost by accident, and the weapon was intended just for the character of Bruce Willis. Butch wants to shoot Marsellus with a headshot, but the owner of the shop, Maynard, doesn't let him do it. Vince's gun unexpectedly blows Marvin's head off, which shouldn't have happened. Jules' gun is not used as intended to kill the Gringo, but instead becomes a tool to control the situation.

Violence in the frame, in one form or another, almost always stands out on the canvas of the plot of films. Not infrequently, it is the apogee of individual story arcs, lines of characters, and directors traditionally bring us to him emotionally. This is done by building tension, with the help of music, dialogue and visual storytelling, up to working with a palette of colors and lighting. Quentin Tarantino in "Pulp Fiction" actually makes fun of violence - this one is so important element to the cinema. While other directors still avoid excessive violence in the frame, Crime novel does not just do the opposite - the film Pulp fiction uses violence in the frame as part of the narrative and an integral element in the disclosure of its characters. Moreover, these very scenes, most often, are the result of random spontaneous events.

While public condemnation of wrong things makes us take crime seriously, Tarantino shows, through the example of his heroes, how everything is relative. Vincent Vega and Jules have a casual conversation, discussing mayonnaise, the name of burgers and drugs in Europe. Who gave foot massage to whom, and how TV shows are launched. They only say a couple of phrases that they will now kill several people in cold blood, and the dilemma boils down to the fact that it was necessary to take shotguns and not come too early. These few minutes that the men linger at the door are of no fundamental importance and will not decide the fate of the guys on the other side. Vincent and Lance engage in spontaneous, sparse dialogue about why scratching other people's cars while breaking the law. It's about the sale of drugs, about their use, which destroys the life and body of Vince.

Bunny (Yolanda) and Pumpkin (Tim Roth) make fun of how banks are robbed today - that it doesn't take a gun, just a phone. They drink coffee and have breakfast, and then decide to carry out an armed attack. Vince Vega and Jules discuss whether or not eating pork is fun, who vagrants are, and what it's like to walk the world. They've already killed four people this morning, washed brains and blood off a car, and now they're running into a couple of robbers. And the most striking reason that Tarantino gives the viewer to make fun of violence, of course, refers to the plot of “The Bonnie Situation”. The five men (Vince, Jules, Jimmy, Mr. Wolf, Marsellus) are completely unaware that poor Marvin was killed. They only worry about scraping the rest of it off the car, clothes, and getting it done before Bonnie arrives. Jules is more worried about blood on the towels at Jimmy's house than what they've done.

Symbolism in Pulp Fiction

Quentin Tarantino deliberately and not always focuses our attention on objects, scenes and even passages from the Bible, to which we, throughout the viewing of the film "Pulp Fiction", return again and again. Let's take a look at these six elements of symbolism that play an important role in the development of characters or simply in moving the plot of Pulp fiction forward.

One of the most discussed subjects in world cinema, over a quarter of a century, it has acquired the most incredible theories and interpretations of the yellow glow. The simplest say that inside are gold bars (which is not confirmed by the weight of the diplomat), diamonds from the robbery in Reservoir Dogs, a gold suit from the movie “ Real love”, to which Tarantino wrote the screenplay earlier. The most famous theory says that inside is the soul of Marsellus Wallace, locked in combination 666, which he sold to the devil, and he removed it, according to legend, from the back of his head, on which Marsellus now has a small band-aid. True, what relation can a pair of young guys, supposedly partners, have to such a mystical subject and why then Ringo, in a cafe, says that this is a wonderful sight.

In fact, the content of the diplomat is not so important. Far more decisive for the plot of Pulp Fiction is its fate and the need to preserve it at all costs. Vince and Jules kill three people for him, then Marvin accidentally dies, a situation with Bonnie begins, and then there is a danger of losing valuable cargo in a cafe, giving it to robbers. As if according to the precepts of Hitchcock himself, this item simply moves the story forward, through the hands of the main characters, and carries more symbolic than practical significance. As he said many times in interviews Tarantino, inside is exactly what each viewer wants to think on their own.

Toilet rooms. We'll take a look at Vincent's three fateful toilet trips in Pulp Fiction separately, each of which forced the plot of Pulp fiction. unexpected twist. But if you remember, the toilet rooms appear in the film not only in these three cases. Mia leaves to powder her nose, but actually sniff cocaine at Jack Rabbit Slim's. In the apartment of Marsellus's young partners, the third guy hides in the closet before unloading his large revolver on the intruders. Vince Vega and Jules wash their hands in Jimmy's bathroom and discuss the poignancy of the situation they're in. Two metaphors are usually used here. One concerns the toilet, as a place where we do “dirty deeds”, and then we have the opportunity to “wash ourselves”, which suits the heroes of the film Pulp Fiction, in view of the crimes they commit. And the second metaphor considers the toilet as a place where a person is vulnerable, and after leaving from where the plot finds the characters “with their pants down”.

As with the diplomat, this gold watch that little Butch receives from Christopher Walken's character is symbolic and the driving force behind the plot. In this case, for Butch, this little object moves his story forward, confronting Vincent first in the bathroom of the apartment, then Marsellus on the street, and then with the perverts in the basement of the store. Among other things, the gold watch gives Butch a certain meaning. Yes, he wants to drink cocktails somewhere on a tropical island instead of with his girlfriend Fabien. But he would have received good money anyway for rigging the fight and collaborating with the mafia. But this is exactly the connection Butch wants to get rid of. The gold watch reminds him of the past generations of his family - of the men who fought with honor on the fronts of the First and Second World Wars, of his father, who died with honor in captivity, rescuing his subordinates in Vietnam. Later, Butch will return to the path of honor when he decides to save Marsellus from bullying.

Samurai sword. In the scene where Butch (Bruce Willis) breaks out of the prison of the rapists, he stops. Until recently, he was ready to shoot Marsellus in the head, but now he decides not to leave him to be punished by perverts. First, the choice of Willis's character falls on a quite ordinary, for a hardware store, hammer. Then to the baseball saw - a traditional attribute in the movie under the counter in American stores. The chainsaw turns out to be a less ordinary object, but here the samurai katana seems alien here. Maynard and Zed mocked people here, killed them, which is quite likely. But today there was an unusual person who picked up the same outstanding object. For Butch, this is a decision to save Marsellus, and the sword itself is a connection with his ancestors, who lived and died with honor, as japanese samurai centuries before.

Confederate flag. Although the events of the film Pulp Fiction unfold on the streets of Los Angeles, we see the Confederate flag - one of the sad symbols civil war in the USA in 1861-1865. We see this item all in the same Maynard's shop. There is a popular interpretation of this symbolism in Pulp Fiction. In fact, when Butch saves Marsellus from a terrible fate, he frees a black man who has been abused by two whites, with a southern accent and a Confederate flag hanging next to the national one. And although Zed determines the fate of the first victim with a rhyme, a certain symbolism and reference to racial problems in the United States can be found here.

This is no longer just an element of symbolism in the film, but one of the most famous characters"Pulp Fiction" itself. The passage concerns, to the greatest extent, precisely the development of the character of Jules. Previously, the phrase did not mean anything biblical to him. He simply considered it a pretentious addition to the cold-blooded murder of a man whom he had poked a finger at. After the case of avoiding death from bullets, Jackson's hero begins to look for meaning and apply lines from the Bible to himself and his life, and then to situations. In a scene in a cafe and a dialogue with Gringo (Tim Roth), Jules argues who is the shepherd - who is weak, and who is the tyranny of evil.

It is noteworthy that for two and a half hours of the film "Pulp Fiction" by Quentin Tarantino, only once do we hear confirmation that events are unfolding in Los Angeles. Marsellus Wallace tells Butch that he has lost all privileges in the city and must leave today. As with Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino puts more emphasis on revealing his characters than revealing locations. Without a doubt, Los Angeles is full of interesting places, cult ones, but the film does not exploit them. We will not see HOLLYWOOD letters or other symbols of the city in the frame. Most of events and dialogues take place indoors, with a focus on people and their stories. Moreover, due to the many cultural references, the surroundings of the Jack Rabbit Slim's restaurant, the cafeteria, you might think that we are in the middle of the twentieth century. But it's still the 1990s and that's another incredible feature of Pulp Fiction. The frame is summer, although Jules and Vince Vega note that it can be chilly in the morning without clothes. Most of the events take place during the day, but there are also evening scenes, again, more often indoors, and not in open locations, as one might expect.

Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction

Tarantino did not accidentally place in his New film a lot of references not only to pop culture, his favorite films of the past, but also to his first successful project " Mad Dogs". In fact, the two stories take place in the same MCU and also in Los Angeles. In addition to being similar in narrative spirit, the events unfold in the same city, in summer time, indoors and outdoors, in "Pulp Fiction" you can find whole line direct references and allusions to Reservoir dogs.

The most famous Reservoir Dogs reference is one of the main characters. Vincent Vega and Vic Vega (Mr Blond from Reservoir Dogs) are not just namesakes, but siblings. Quentin Tarantino himself confirmed this fact, as well as the fact that he initially thought of inviting Michael Madsen to the role as a background to his past adventures, but he chose to participate in another project, which he obviously had time to regret later. And secondly, for several years Tarantino nurtured the idea of ​​making a picture about the two Vega brothers, the events of which, for obvious reasons (they were both killed), would have preceded both Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.

Tarantino performed not just a cameo, but a full-fledged role of Jimmy - a man who agrees, at his own peril and risk, to rescue Jules and his partner. So it's interesting that in the credits this character is listed simply as Jimmy, but if you set a goal, you can find information that the name of the hero is Dimmick. Larry, aka Mr. White, from Reservoir Dogs, had the same surname, which hints at a family connection between the two characters.

The appearance of Steve Buscemi in a small cameo as a waiter at Jack Rabbit Slim's is already a bold reference to Tarantino's past work. And it is worth noting that in Reservoir dogs his character, Mr. Pink, talks at length about the work of waitresses and recalls that he himself worked for the minimum wage.

Tarantino came up with the Big Kahuna Burger fast food chain, and it did not exist in reality in Los Angeles, although with the advent of popularity for his films, the fictitious brand began to be exploited by different establishments. Jules remarks that this Hawaiian burger he takes from Brad's table is delicious and encourages Vince to try it in the future. Interestingly, the trademark appeared for the first time in the movie Reservoir Dogs. Michael Madsen's character Vic Vega brings a carbonated drink to the warehouse with a Big Kahuna Burger emblazoned on the cup. In the future, the invented trademark will be glimpsed in ''Four Rooms'', ''From Dusk Till Dawn'' (in the first film and the new series), in ''Death Proof'' and even in the Robert Rodriguez film ''The Adventures of Sharkboy'' and Lava''.

You can once again mention the mysterious contents of the diplomat, which must take possession of Vince and Jules, on an important mission of Marcellus. One theory, and Tarantino confirmed that he originally meant it, is that inside the diplomat are the diamonds from the Reservoir Dogs heist. Hence the glow, and the thoughtful glances of first Vince, and then Ringo, at the contents.

In a deleted scene from Reservoir Dogs, the characters Eddie, Mr. White, and Mr. Pink allude to a certain nurse named Bonnie, even in the context of the words "Bonnie's situation." In Pulp Fiction, it's the title of an entire section of the film, and Nurse Bonnie is Jimmy's wife and appears in the frame where the characters visualize her coming home at the wrong time.

Actress Linda Kaye played a woman in "Reservoir Dogs" who is forcibly dragged out of her car by Mr. Pink. In Pulp Fiction, her character is not deliberately shot by Marcellus Wallace when he wants to shoot Butch after a car accident.

In fact, Jules, like Vincent Vega, is a cold-blooded killer who earns his living by following orders from his boss. He does not question whether a person deserves to die. He worries about the cleanliness of the towels in the bath, but is completely indifferent to the death of the young guy Marvin. He quotes the Bible, but for a long time he does not even think about the meaning of the words he utters. In Pulp Fiction, Tarantino lets us know that even assassins can be human when he turns the hero line 180 degrees. In a conversation with a cafeteria robber, Jules admits that he understands how difficult it is to change his life, and that he is trying his best, which is why he will save the life of Pumpkin (Ringo) and Bunny (Yolanda), and will not let Vince shoot them for 1500 dollars, in particular.

The rethinking of your life and the world around you that comes over Jules in a wave is interesting for a number of reasons. At the very beginning of the film Pulp Fiction, he is presented as an aloof killer who has a dialogue about female foot massages, TV pilots, cheeseburgers in Europe. A few minutes later, he kills three people in cold blood, following his typical behavior. He follows the orders of his boss and does not think much about whether the person pointed to is worthy of death. Moreover, in a dialogue with the hero of Tim Roth, at a table in a cafe, Jules admits that on any other day he would have killed them long ago without moving an eyebrow. And yet, in last scene movie "Pulp Fiction" Jules exchanges not only money for life. He saves one life in a kind of exchange for the three deaths he brought at the beginning of the story. Thus, Quentin Tarantino in his story emphasizes that we always have a choice, even in the extreme conditions of a world of violence. This is the culmination of an idea, following the choice Butch made earlier to save Marsellus from being bullied by rapists.

It's amazing how Quentin Tarantino created this memorable image of world cinema by showing us a criminal who is paid to kill. Moreover, Vincent is also a drug addict who smokes, drinks alcohol and injects heroin. This, at first cinematic glance, unsightly and unpleasant character is revealed through dialogues. We almost feel sorry for him when Vince doesn't intentionally blow Marvin's brains out in the car, and he looks like a confused kid. When he is offended and embarrassed at the moments when his voice is raised. Vince famously injects Mia Wallace with a huge syringe and saves her life. He is ready to easily kill another person (Yolanda and Ringo) to help his friend Jules out of trouble or out of principle, for the sake of 1500 dollars. He is not able to refuse the boss, both with a request to kill some guys, and take his wife to a restaurant in the evening. He dances the iconic dance and wonders why a simple milkshake costs as much as $5. Thus, the plot reveals this killer and drug addict as a character and personality - a full-fledged participant in the history of Pulp Fiction. As a result, after a successful combination of circumstances with shots past, Vincent Vega, unlike Jules, does not see any signs in what happened and death overtakes him, as if quoting the very phrase from the Bible about vengeance for sins.

In fact, Vincent is the link between the arcs of two characters who are transformed throughout the story. A significant share of his screen time, especially in the first and final acts, Vince spends in the company of Jules. While the latter takes signs from above, changes his attitude to life, the future, John Travolta's character remains a cynic. He views his luck with the shots as just a coincidence, and views Jules' decision to quit crime as stupid. Subsequently, not following his friend to rest, Vincent receives two whole trials. The first is the situation with Mia, the chance to become a corpse at the hands of her own boss. And the second situation, already without an alternative or choice, leads the hero of Travolta to death, as if quoting the same passage from the Bible that Jules was so fond of. If Vince Vega had not been overtaken by death, he would have remained the same narrow-minded guy who, when not killing people, spends time with women, friends, pays attention to differences in Big Macs, and is interested in what a pilot is in TV shows.

It is noteworthy that although Vincent Vega- a criminal, also with heroin, alcohol and cigarette addiction, he lives on a certain concept honor, he thinks. He is ready to fulfill any order of his boss Marsellus. And it is not so important that it is to kill unfamiliar guys, deliver a mysterious diplomat or take Butch by surprise. Tarantino again makes fun of the life of such criminals in the storyline with Mia. Vince easily kills people with a gun, wipes the brains out of his hair, but he shudders from the task of taking the boss's wife to the cafe in the evening. He understands that Marsellus can test him and himself voices the idea that this is his personal test of loyalty.

Three trips to Vincent's toilet

Every time the hero of John Travolta goes to check the restroom, something unforeseen happens for him, for the viewer, and carries serious consequences. Thus, events important for the plot take place in contrast to a completely ordinary, reduced to jokes, process, like going to the toilet. In two scenes, Vincent Vega acts as a secondary character in the unfolding events, and in one scene, he is the protagonist who must resolve the current situation.

1. Vincent goes to the toilet at the Wallace house. For him, this is an occasion to gather his thoughts and plans regarding Mia and his future behavior, while maintaining loyalty to his boss Marsellus. While Travolta's character is talking to himself in front of a mirror, Mia (Uma Thurman) finds heroin in his raincoat pocket and falls into a coma. Up to this point in the story, Vincent's biggest concern has been the temptation to go beyond just dancing with his boss's wife. Now his whole life hangs by a thread in an instant, and it only took 2 minutes to go to the restroom.
2. Vincent Vega waiting for Butch at the last famous place residence. He has probably been waiting for some time and decides to go to the toilet to relieve himself. Vincent leaves his automatic weapons in the kitchen and retires. At these moments, Butch enters the apartment, driven by the desire to find his father's watch. In the famous scene where the sound of ready-made toast finally decides the fate of the hero John Travolta, a murder occurs. A couple of minutes away decide the fate of one of our protagonists.
3. The third time our long-haired bandit goes to the restroom for the movie, a robbery begins in the cafe, and Jules' life is under a small, but still threat, as well as the fate of the diplomat, because of which they had to endure so much. It is noteworthy that before that, two friends are engaged in a dialogue on philosophical topics about the meaning of life, about the future of Jules, about pork. And after Vincent Vega says his famous phrase, reducing the importance of topics to going to the bathroom. A few minutes later, he is ready to kill two unlucky robbers.

The character whose flashback begins the story of Pulp Fiction, if the pulp fiction scenes are arranged in the correct chronological order. We see little boy to which a stranger comes. A man in military uniform (Christopher Walken) served with Butch's father in Vietnam. He transmits family value the Coolidge family, who went through three wars, and gives the child some instructions. At this particular moment, the boy is silent, and we cannot draw any conclusions about his personality and attitude towards the death of his father and all this conversation on the floor in the living room. However, Tarantino leaves a powerful plot anchor here, which would later be revealed through Butch's relationship to his father's gold watch and his family's past.

It's even more interesting to speculate why Butch Cooldij would take the risk of challenging an organized crime boss, risking his and Fabian's lives to earn tens of thousands of dollars more. After all, cooperation with Marsellus could promise even greater dividends in the future. The plot of Pulp Fiction does not reveal to us the nature of their relationship and the circumstances of the meeting in the past. Along with this, Butch is clearly not happy with the fact that he has to deal with criminals, the dregs of society. That a bald black mafia boss tells him what to do, demoralizes his boxing career and personality in general, tells him to shove his pride to hell and sell himself, show himself a weakling in the ring and lose his honor for a couple of bundles of banknotes.

When Butch (Bruce Willis) crosses paths with Vince Vega (John Travolta), in the same bar, after talking to Marcellus, he's in for another act of humiliation. Vincent knows that Butch is a boxer and, apparently, the fact that he is here and talking with the boss is not accidental. He calls Butch first "Palooka", and then "Punchy", insulting him as an athlete, calling him a punching bag and a man, in fact, with beaten brains. Butch keeps himself in check, but he also sees how well Marsellus treats this most disrespectful brute, while Butch, just a couple of minutes ago, he offered to sell his honor and shove his pride in the ass. In an interview, Quentin Tarantino hinted that it was Butch who scratched Vincent's car - although it is not entirely clear where he found him at Wallace's establishment if Vince Vega and Jules arrived by taxi. Butch, in one scene, tells himself that this is how he will defeat all these scumbags, because they constantly underestimate him. He kills Vincent in cold blood in the closet, ending their correspondence acquaintance.

Even more interesting is Butch's decision to return to the shop's basement and save Marsellus from the rapists. The latter was destined not only to be a victim of violence and humiliation, but also, for sure, to be killed in order to avoid consequences. When Butch stops at the door, something in him switches. The reason is that while he's already killed two people in less than a day, Butch isn't a bad person. He is not a criminal. He is influenced by the glorious past of his family, where his great-grandfather, grandfather and father fought and died for their country. Butch's father saved his subordinates from death. What's more, in a flashback, Captain Koons says that he hopes Butch will never have to go through the same situation they were in with Major Coolidge. When two men find themselves in such a situation (captured in Vietnam), you have to take responsibility for a comrade. It looks like incredible irony, for Butch Coolidge, apparently, resurrects these parting words from the depths of the subconscious and Marsellus becomes such a comrade in misfortune for him, whom he had recently planned to shoot in cold blood in the head according to the principle: either you or me.

It is also interesting to pay attention to the attitude of Butch towards his girlfriend Fabian. He appears to the viewer as an emotional person who scolds, who can easily break loose. Butch just killed his opponent in the ring and doesn't care too much about it. He challenged an entire criminal organization. However, with his girlfriend Fabian, he is completely different. He clarifies why she wants to have a small belly, how she spent the day, what she will eat. Even when he breaks down at her, screaming (first learning about his father's forgotten gold watch, and then already on a motorcycle), after that he tries to soften the situation. Butch asks if the girl ordered breakfast and how the pancakes tasted.

Now, few people will be surprised by the non-linear plot, but in the early 90s, this Tarantino technique, although not innovative, impressed many directors and subsequently became widespread, for example, in Guy Ritchie's early films. Tarantino himself calls his favorite method of storytelling "first answers, then questions."

The plot is divided into 6 parts, gradually filling in the gaps in the origins and the relationship of what is happening. We follow the adventures of two criminal sixes Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield (John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson), their ruthless boss Marsellus Wallace and his sexy drug addict wife Mia (Ving Rhames and Uma Thurman), boxer Butch (Bruce Willis) and his girlfriends Fabian (Maria de Medeiros).

Them storylines complemented by a mass of charismatic characters. These are the unfortunate robbers Pumpkin and Sweet Bunny (Amanda Plummer and Tim Roth), Jimmy Dimmick (cameo of Tarantino himself, which later became a pleasant tradition in each of his films), Captain Koons and his golden watch (one of the best monologues in Christopher Walken's filmography for also echoes his role in The Deer Hunter), sadomasochists Zed and Maynard (Peter Green and Dwayne Whitaker). Not to mention the mind-blowing dance of Travolta and Uma Thurman, as well as Samuel L. Jackson's fiery quotation of a verse from the book of the prophet Ezekiel. When Tarantino wrote the script for Pulp Fiction, he saw only Vic Vega, Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs, in the partners of the hero Samuel L. Jackson. But Michael Madsen, who played him, could not accept the offer. The director remade the character - he turned into Vic's brother, Vincent Vega. The brothers have a lot in common - both dress stylishly, love violence and work for crime bosses. Travolta Tarantino was suggested by Harvey Weinstein for the role.

The audience counted 429 swear words and expressions in the film - a record for that time. Of these, 271 use the word fuck.

The cinematographer of Pulp Fiction, who previously worked on Reservoir Dogs, Andrzej Sekula, filmed the film from a wheelchair, where he ended up due to a car accident.

There is a pretty crazy theory that Mia Wallace and Beatrix Kiddo from Kill Bill are the same person. In Pulp Fiction, Mia reveals to Vincent that she tried her hand at acting on a Fox series that never saw the light of day. She describes his main characters as "blonde", "Japanese who knows kung fu", "black explosives specialist" and "sexy French". Mia herself played "the most deadly woman in the world, skillfully owning knives." All this is very reminiscent of Bill's team: Ellie, O-Ren Ishii, Vernita Green, Sofia Fatal and Beatrix Kiddo herself.

Another crossover between Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill (and it's not a samurai sword at all - they're different) is Jules and pianist Rufus, who plays at the Bride's wedding in Kill Bill Part 2. In the "Bonnie Situation" part, Jules decides to say goodbye to the world of crime, and in the next chapter discusses the possibility of leaving with a partner. There is an opinion that he really “tied up” and retrained as a traveling musician.

Many moviegoers are sure that Mia and Vincent Tarantino's dance scene was inspired by an episode from Federico Fellini's film Eight and a Half.

Dance from 8 1/2

After Mia and Vincent's twist to Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell" at a dance competition, they return home with a goblet in hand. Later, the radio broadcasts that unknown people have stolen the cup of the dance competition. And since we didn’t see the awards ceremony in the wrong way, the conclusion suggests itself – they didn’t win, but simply stole the cup.

We were never shown what was in Marsellus' briefcase, around which, in fact, the plot of Pulp Fiction spun. After many fan theories about the contents of the suitcase (diamonds from Reservoir Dogs, Elvis Presley's gold jacket, Wallace's soul), Tarantino ended conversations with one phrase: “I don't know. What you want is there." Well, the radiance emanating from the depths of the portfolio was made using a simple light bulb and a power supply - it automatically lit up when opened.

One of the film's producers was Danny DeVito. 5 years before that, he, along with Arnold Schwarzenegger, starred in the comedy Gemini. Their heroes were called... Vincent and Julius.