Not knowing how to start reviewing this amazing film, as it is considered one of the very best modern classic movies in the 90s. But let's give it a go.
First
of all, we have to emphasize the special cast, consisting of John
Travolta,
Uma
Thurman,
Samuel
L. Jackson and
Bruce
Willis, but the special mention should be given to the excellent
director and writer of this movie, Quentin Tarantino, without
forgetting Roger Avary, who also did a great part of the script.
In
Pulp
Fiction
we find a mixture of disjointed and parallel stories that do not
have any global sense, in spite of the nimble winks given by the
director (such as the first scene in which Travolta feels like
pooing, that matches up with one of the last scenes).
The film is considered a masterpiece by many people; rubbish by others. And I definitely belong to the first group. It has a very original approach and it does not stop there, but it takes us directly to a sequence of stories about violence, drugs and corruption, in which each character has different problems that complicate the situation in such a way that only a good jigsaw puzzle enthusiast could clear it up better than Tarantino.
Pulp
Fiction could
be disconcerting to the viewer because the narration, full of
flash-backs and flash-forwards, interweaves three different but
closely linked stories that are not presented in the order in which they
happen. In this sense, it is worth to praise Tarantino's witticism
fitting every piece of the jigsaw puzzle in such a way that the
result has a solid and intelligent coherence.
The
film starts with a couple that is going to hold up a bar at gunpoint.
Just at the moment when the show is going into action, the credits
appear on the screen, what leaves us with a special interest to know
how the robbery ends. So, as we will see below, this initial scene
will not be solved until the ending, creating the first open front of
the film.
On
the second scene (that happens before the first one), two hired guns,
Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel L. Jackson), dressed up in
black suits pretend to recover the mysterious briefcase of the
leader, Marsellus Wallace. To do so, they kill with an incredible
naturalness two of the three boys who stole the briefcase. But,
again, even though the display does not finish there, the film starts
another one, contriving the second open front. Then,
the thugs meet their boss in a bar, but now they are dressed up in
swimsuits. This sequence may leave us a bit disconcerted, because it
is sure that something has happened, but there is not yet any trail.
At
the meeting, Marsellus entrusts Vincent with entertaining his wife,
Mia (Uma Thurman) while he is out of the city. After having dinner
and dancing in a restaurant, they go home where the girl takes an
overdose of heroin, what makes it a very overexciting situation. Afterwards, Vincent finally achieves reviving Mia and they promise
not to tell anyone about what has happened.
Later
on, the story of the boxer, Butch (Bruce Willis), gets into the show.
Although Marcellus bought Butch to lose a boxing match, he betrays
him by wining it. The boxer tries to escape hastily with his
girlfriend not to be caught. In their hurried flight, she has forgotten the
watch that Butch appreciates so much, so he has to go back home and
pick it up.
At
his house, Butch finds Vincent very negligent, which gives him the
advantage to kill the thug before he could act. After obtaining his
watch, he tries to escape again but, unexpectedly, Marsellus cut in
front of him. Butch knocks him down and then he has a car crash.
be solved.
The
scene in which Vincent and Jules are recovering Marsellu's suitcase
comes back. They kill another boy and take another one into their
car, where he is also killed but now accidentally. Their black suits
get bloodstained, and that is why they turn to a friend, who gives
them that curious swimwear with which they arrive at the bar where
the film started. There, all of the scenes will be solved as well as
the relation that this event has with everything that goes on in the
film. The only thing that is not solved is what Marsellu's suitcase
contains.
Maybe the best of the film is not the characters or their interpretations, the originality or the provocation, to my opinion the best are the dialogues, Tarantino's unmistakable mark. Supposed absurd and empty messages about hamburgers or foot massages which, behind their gullibility, conceal (or not) a personal code that takes to the depth of each character. There is no doubt that this film ―that mixes complexity and dexterity― is one of the greatest emblematic dialogue makers in the film world.
A masterpiece that, as any masterpiece, is indispensable.