Day 7: Pulp Fiction (1994)

Movie #5 – Pulp Fiction (1994) - 154 min, cert 18.

Another one of my favourite films, although completely different to the previous day’s. While The Good, the Bad and the Ugly uses dialogue very sparingly, Pulp Fiction throws superfluous dialogue at you in huge quantities, but therein lies a lot of its appeal. Tarantino presents his characters to you in as realistic a way as possible. When they talk, it isn’t just to propel the plot forward. They talk about random stuff, because that’s what people do. They talk about European fast food, foot massages and how to rob a bank with a telephone.

The film is split into sections (shown out of sequence). A short pre-credit sequence which turns out to be a scene from later in the movie, shown from a different point-of-view, then a longer sequence which serves to introduce the two main characters of Jules Winfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta) who are hitmen working for Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). Thereafter, the film is split into three long sections each of which tells a different story, although all three revolve around the same set of characters, including Butch Coolidge, a boxer (Bruce Willis), Mia Wallace, Marsellus’ young wife (Uma Thurman), plus a number of other lesser characters.

None of these sections have any complex plot developments, but that doesn’t matter because that’s not what the film’s about. The movie is far more interested in how the characters react to the situations they find themselves in, and how they interact with each other, than it is with the situations themselves. I think it is this approach more than anything else that gives the film a fresh look that is unlike anything that has gone before.

The cast is nothing short of superb. It reads like a countdown of the coolest actors in Hollywood at the time, and they all put in great performances. Travolta, Jackson, Thurman & Willis are all magnificent, but it doesn’t stop with them. Ving Rhames, Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, Christopher Walken, Eric Stoltz & Amanda Plummer all put in great performances. The film probably raised the profiles of all of these actors to some degree. It completely restarted Travolta’s failing career, making him A-list once again, and many of the roles that Ving Rhames has done since (Mission: Impossible, Con Air, Entrapment) must surely have come off the back of this.

Much has been made of the use of swearing in the dialogue for this movie. Indeed, I believe at the time it broke the records for the sheer number of expletives in a single film. But, to me, it seems justified. It’s how you would expect these characters to talk. Anything less than this would seem somehow false, and it wouldn’t fit in to the natural feel of the movie that Tarantino has clearly worked so hard to achieve.

One thing that Pulp Fiction does have in common with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a great soundtrack. Although, while the latter has an original score written for it, Pulp Fiction uses an eclectic selection of pop songs, most of which were fairly obscure before the movie came out, but are now iconic staples which will forever be associated with it. Every song fits the mood of the scene it accompanies perfectly. It is one of the very few movie soundtracks that I have in my CD collection.

To sum up, much like the last one, I can’t say anything derogatory about this movie. It’s a classic, and I love it. Is it as good as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly? Probably not, but  it surely comes very close. Another 10/10 without any doubt. So my personal list now looks like this –

1. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
2. Pulp Fiction (1994)
3. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
4. The Godfather (1972)
5. The Godfather: Part II (1974)

Next on the list is a film I’ve not seen yet, but I’ve been wanting to see it since it came out. Inception looks right up my street. Unfortunately, although I have downloaded the movie, my laptop died before I managed to finish burning it to a DVD, so I am having a forced hiatus in my challenge while I sort out getting myself a new one. Oh well, at least it means I can get round to some of the jobs I’ve not done over the last week because I’ve been too busy watching movies. Like wrapping the kids’ Christmas presents.