Pulp Fiction Analysis

Pulp Fiction is not quite like any other movie. As Desson Howe of the Washington Post wrote, "To watch this movie is to experience a near-assault of creativity." It's no wonder that this movie is considered a classic. Tarantino somehow manages to create a relationship between the characters and the audience. Despite many dark scenes, one can't help but to laugh. Very few directors can accomplish that black comedy.

One of the many things that makes Pulp Fiction stand out is it does not follow a linear structure, but rather it follows a non-linear structure. Harvey Weinstein of Miramax calls Pulp Fiction, "the first independent movie that broke all the rules. It set a new dial on the movie clock." Despite following a non-linear structure,

Tarantino does not confuse the audience. He accomplishes a unique way of capturing and holding the audience's attention. Even though some may say the movie begins at the end, the sequence of events all come together. Like Desson Howe wrote, "In the end, everything comes together in a multi-ironic Tarantino reverie."

Pulp Fiction is considered a multi-plot film because there are multiple stories in one movie but they are all somehow connected.

As Rita Kempley from the Washington Post puts it, Pulp Fiction is "...an anthology of three luridly overblown, chronologically deviant stories, their narratives linked via characters who slide from one segment to the other as easily as a moll onto her sugar daddy's knee." Tarantino develops each of the characters in different ways according to the role that they're supposed to portray. Butch somehow manages to appear compassionate and Jules and Vincent share a unique relationship. According to Rita Kempley, Samuel L. Jackson "...looks the part of an Old Testament prophet, eyes burning like charcoal briquettes..." and John Travolta "...manages to make Vincent sympathetic despite his occupation." Mia Wallace also plays an important character, serving as a femme fatale. Tarantino makes this role believable by showing many close-up shots. By not showing Mia's face, Tarantino builds up expectation, suspense, and interest. Even the way the characters talk makes them unique. Mia has a seductive way of talking whereas Butch always seems cool, calm, and collected, except in a rare scene where he blows up because his girlfriend forgot to bring his father's watch which meant a lot to him. But, that just makes Butch's character more relatable. The characters are also developed by internal actions. You can feel the characters feelings the way Tarantino zooms

into their faces and the way the characters themselves portray that emotion. For example, in Vincent and Mia Wallace's story, when Mia overdoses, Tarantino provides a close-up of everyone's faces. Even though there are no words being exchanged, you can just tell what they are feeling. This scene is also done in slight slow motion, building up intense suspense. The characters are also developed externally by the actions that they did. For example, the scene when Butch saved Marsellus from getting raped. He could have left after saving himself, but he made a choice to go back and rescue Marsellus.

Being that all the characters had an interaction at one point with each other, each one of their stories somehow tied in with the main characters.

Tarantino took the time to show what each character was going through. For example, Butch being on the run from these guys who were after him, when it turned out to be Vincent. Having so many characters involved could prove to be challenging for a director to get his point across, but Tarantino did it in a way that made sense and was all relevant to the main plot of the movie. Sound and music are important to the movie in that the music would change according to the scene. It's mostly used for effect and to get the viewer to feel whichever way the director wants them to feel. The actor's all bring the movie together. Basically, without the actors, there would be no movie. Pulp Fiction contains "three intertwined crime stories set in Los Angeles", thus making Los Angeles a character as

well.

Tarantino let the audience briefly into his mind with the creation of, what some may say, the masterpiece of Pulp Fiction. Who would have known that the script written in a dozen notebooks would make history? After all, as Janet Maslin in The New York Times so rightfully wrote, "You don't merely enter a theater to see Pulp Fiction: you go down a rabbit hole." A rabbit hole which no one can ever forget.