Pulp Fiction History

The year 1994 saw many great events occur. Whether we are observing the Rwandan genocide that left over eight hundred thousand people dead or the Russian invasion of Chechnya, the year 1994 was an eventful year to say the least. However, later that year, one of the greatest films of all time, and more importantly my favorite film, Pulp Fiction was released to critical acclaim on October 14, 1994. Hence, this essay seeks to provide a holistic historical overview and importance of the film, Pulp Fiction. This essay will be divided into three distinct sections. First, I will begin by elucidating upon the origin of the film. This is to say, I will explain the development of the film in the writing stage, and the background of the directors and

Pulp Fiction initially premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1994. At the film festival, the film was acquired for distribution by the Weinstein company. It is reported that Harvey Weinstein was so excited about the distribution of the film that he “hit the beach like commandos”. (Charyn 2006). In purchasing the distribution rights, Harvey Weinstein, decided to allow his company Miramax films to unveil the film during the month of October in late 1994. The film began its opening run in over 1,100 theaters. In its first weekend on the box office, Pulp Fiction beat out expectations and became the top-grossing film at the box office in its first weekend, where it ultimately edged out other well funded and well distributed films. In context, this accomplishment is even more important when we take into account that film had a measly production budget of just only eight and a half million dollars and a marketing budget of only ten million dollars, but grossed nearly one-hundred eight million dollars at the U.S. box office alone. Moreover, when looking worldwide, the film was even more so of a success where it grossed over two-hundred thirteen million dollars during its run in theaters. In total, the film is considered one of the highest grossing films of all time where it grossed nearly three hundred thirteen million

As far as society is concerned, Pulp Fiction primarily brought into light various aspects of pop culture that had previously died. In particular, we see this when referencing intrinsic combination of humor and violence, which had not been witnessed before in mainstream film and more importantly society, and more importantly the glorification of violence that was displayed within the film. In fact, many viewers were turned off by the explicit visualization of very egregious acts like execution style shooting of various individuals within the movie as well as the rape of Marsellus Wallace by a man in a gag costume. In film, Pulp Fiction changed the way in which filmmakers in particular dealt with the topic of violence and gore. This is to say that many filmmakers thought that violence was something that out to be avoided, that it was taboo in nature. However, after the the creation and success of Pulp Fiction, filmmakers began to embrace the idea of violence as being the main theme of a movie. Moreover, Pulp Fiction further the established the viability of independent film making. For Tarantino to have such a small production budget, premiere the movie on the festival circuit, and achieve the success that he had accomplished was nothing less than a Cinderella story. In this, Tarantino in a way shifted the film industry to focus on the notion that not