Pulp Fiction (1994)

Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American neo-noir black comedy crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary. Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhames, and Uma Thurman, it tells several stories of criminal Los Angeles. The title refers to the pulp magazines and hardboiled crime novels popular during the mid-20th century, known for their graphic violence and punchy dialogue. Pulp Fiction won the Palme d’Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, and was a major critical and commercial success. It was nominated for seven awards at the 67th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won Best Original Screenplay; it earned Travolta, Jackson, and Thurman Academy Award nominations and boosted their careers. Its development, marketing, distribution, and profitability had a sweeping effect on independent cinema.

Pulp Fiction’s narrative is told out of chronological order, and follows three main interrelated stories that each have a different protagonist: Vincent Vega, a hitman; Butch Coolidge, a prizefighter; and Jules Winnfield, Vincent’s business partner. The film begins with a diner hold-up staged by a couple, then begins to shift from one storyline to another before returning to the diner for the conclusion. There are seven narrative sequences; the three primary storylines are preceded by intertitles:

01: “Prologue – The Diner”

02: Prelude to “Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife”

03: “Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace’s Wife”

04: Prelude to “The Gold Watch” (a – flashback, b – present)

05: “The Gold Watch”

06: “The Bonnie Situation”

07: “Epilogue – The Diner”