All these stories were written and told in a non-chronological order, we find a fragmented storyline, unorthodox camera work and numerous pop culture references, all challenging the classic narrative we come to expect from a main stream film. The film’s title and advert/cover refers to the pulp magazines popular during the mid-20th century, renowned for their strong graphic nature.
The film as a whole can be broken up into six major parts, we do see within these parts a beginning, middle and an end for the multiple stories and characters, it is not clear however, where these elements fit in. Also we find that there is no unified but a multiple narrative, as each character shares with us there own idea of resolution and what they are trying to achieve during the film. The itself is well known for its cross cutting between stories, characters, time and space, all acting as devices to challenge the Todorov analysis of a classic structure.
The opening shot is the dictionary definition of the word ‘pulp’ followed by the reference to the magazines and their strong graphic nature. This is there to tell us immediately what to expect from the rest of the film.
The first part of the film, ‘The Diner part 1’, introduces us to a pair of petty crooks drinking coffee and talking about their aspirations and achievements. At this point in the film we don’t know there names just that their occupation is holding up shops. Straight away we see intertexuality of a crime genre just from the dialogue used.
The equilibrium here is that these people are happy and content with their lives as criminals, the disruption occurs when Tim Roth’s character dreams of something bigger and more dangerous. After discussion with Amanda Plummer’s character, who is still content and happy to carry on with what they currently do, Roth decides that the restaurant they are in would be an ideal place to rob. Just before this scene comes to a close, both characters pull out guns and begin the robbery. We see the majority of this sequence with the camera level with the table top still being able to see both characters upper bodies, the window which informs us it’s daytime, and what’s on the table which is what you would expect. Later on in the film we discover that this sequence, mainly the dialogue, is from the point of view of Tim Roth’s character.
After this the title sequence and credits appear and we don’t know how the robbery progressed, therefore not providing us with a resolution or a new equilibrium for the stars, just the climax. At this point we believe this is the start of the story and the resolution will lead us into the rest of the plot.
In the next part of the film we see Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) driving in a car talking about Vincent’s return from Amsterdamn. Both these men are very smartly dressed in black suits with white shirts, as the car scene unfolds the dialogue and costume tell us that these men are gangsters and that they lead the life of stereotypical gangsters. Again we are given the idea of crime and violence as a key genre.
The two men have been sent by their boss, Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), to retrieve a briefcase from a former business partner. The men ‘get in to character’ and proceed to the room where they find the case. In the room we see a definitive opposition between the Vincent and Jules, and the three other men. Vincent and Jules look very professional and organised, they seem to be the men in power, they carry guns and they are calm and collective. The men they find in the room however are relaxed eating breakfast until Vincent and Jules enter, then you find that they are all nervous and scared. You also find that they seem younger, very casually dressed, and the apartment is messy and unorganised.
The equilibrium gets disrupted here when the man sitting at the table tries to reason with Jules in an over confident way. This is seen as an attempt to take control of the situation so Vincent and Jules rectify it and kill the man after justifying their reasons. The resolution here is that Vincent and Jules wanted the briefcase back which they achieved. It is in this scene where we see pop culture references to the ‘Big Kahuna Burger’, a fast food restaurant that was popular in the 1950’s and 60’s but only remerged after the film was released and became a success.
The film then cuts to Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) sitting in front of the camera listening to the person whose point of view the camera has taken. Although we can here a voice we don’t know who it is and only assume where it is coming from. The illusion of time has been disrupted here because we don’t know the chronological order of the events that have happened so far and now we are inside a club we don’t know what time of day it is.
We find out that the voice we are hearing is Marsellus and the camera is from his point of view as he hands Butch cash to throw a fight. We see Vincent and Jules walk in looking completely different to when we saw them last. They still have the briefcase but are wearing shorts and Hawaiian shirts. No explanation of why they are dressed so differently is made or even mentioned. This certainly challenges the classic structure in that there is no continuity or any devices that lead us to believe the film is linear. We also see another narrative unfold in Butch’s task to “go down in the fifth”, again highlighting the multiple storylines interwoven in the film.
The next part of the film is where Vincent and Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) meet and go out. In the opening scene of this sequence we see a shift in power and control from Vincent to Mia as she tells him what to do and where to go. She reminds him that her husband, Marsellus, his boss told him to take her out and show her a good time. In this sequence we see more devices that lead us to believe that this is a gangster and crime genre when we see Vincent buying and shooting heroin, and also Mia taking cocaine.
The pair go to ‘Jack Rabbit Slims’, a 50’s theme restaurant where by all the staff are look-alikes of 50’s and 60’s stars. We also see adverts and movie posters of the time hanging on the walls, vintage cars that you sit in to eat your meal, and what is referred to as ‘classic’ twisting competition. To begin with both characters are uncomfortable with each other but as the night progress’s we see these binary oppositions erode away and they become friendly and start enjoying each others company.
In the next part of the film we learn more about Butch and the fight he’s paid to throw. This sequence is the only part of the film that displays a clear linear pattern as we see it change from night to day. We also see Butch kill Vincent which challenges the whole structure of the film because Vincent is still a key character at the end of the movie. Another question that arises from this sequence is the whereabouts of Vincent’s partner, Jules. No explanation has been made as to his absence.
The next chapter in the film is referred to as ‘The Bonnie Situation’, this sequence jumps back to part two of the film where Vincent and Jules retrieve Marsellus’s briefcase. The opening scene here is of a man we’ve never seen before holding a gun whilst hiding in a bathroom. The point of view has shifted this time round to that of this mystery gunman lying in wait. The gunman comes out of the bathroom and shoots until he is out of ammunition, both Vincent and Jules are unhurt by any of these bullets and proceed to open fire and kill the man.
Jules believes this to be ‘divine intervention’ as there are bullet holes in the wall behind them. This in itself ask the question of whether or not this could happen, the verisimilitude of the text is challenged by this act as it is never explained. Vincent and Jules seem to know and have some sort of relationship with one of the men in the room, the only one they haven’t killed or threatened, Marvin. The three men leave the crime scene still confused as to why they are still alive and on the car journey home Vincent accidentally shoots, and kills Marvin on the back seat.
At this point they drive to a near by friends house, Jimmie Dimmick (Quentin Tarantino) to clean up the mess. The man sent by Marsellus to resolve the situation is Winston ‘The Wolf’ Wolfe (Harvey Keitel) who is dressed in a dinner suit at 8 o’clock in the morning. The reason Mr Wolfe is dressed so smartly is never explained, he also tells Marsellus over the phone that he is at least 30 minutes away yet he says, and does get there in under 10.
This again challenges the illusion of reality and conflicts with the aspect of time and space as he is so far away yet gets there so quickly, and he is wearing a dinner suit so early in the morning. He instructs Vincent and Jules in what to do to clean up the car and agrees with Jimmie to take all his bed linen and quilts to disguise the interior. Jimmie never mentions how he will explain where all these items have gone to his wife, and the issue is never raised among the other men.
This part of the film however, does explain why Vincent and Jules are wearing ridiculous clothes when they meet Marsellus earlier in the film. This is further evidence of a lack of linearity and continuity as this sequence is near the end of the film and chronologically Marsellus has already received his briefcase and Vincent is dead!
The final chapter of the film takes us back to the start, even though it actually occurs 3 quarters of the way through the story. We are back at the diner but this time with Vincent and Jules eating breakfast. As they eat two ‘wannabe’ diner bandits discuss how they are going to hold up the restaurant. As Vincent leaves to go to the bathroom the thieves who we find out to be Yolanda and Ringo stand up and proceed to attempt a robbery. This time round however, we notice that Yolanda’s (Amanda Plummer) dialogue is slightly different from the opening scene.
This may be a mistake or another example of how Pulp Fiction challenges the ideas of continuity and a classic structure. Another reason for the change may be that this time the point of view has shifted from Ringo to Yolanda, who may see the same sequence of events in a different view to that of her partner. Vincent and Jules are still holding the briefcase which again confirms the lack of space and time. Jules is also explaining to Vincent how he is about to go straight and retire from the gangster industry, this may explain his absence at Butch’s apartment where Vincent was killed.
As the robbery continues we see a shift of power and control from one to another and then back again. The original equilibrium of Vincent and Jules having breakfast is disrupted by the robbery but then re-established when Jules takes control back to protect the contents of the briefcase. In this scene Jules refers to his gun as ‘Mr 9mm’ yet it is a Colt 45.
The film ends with Vincent and Jules walking out of the diner with what they set out to get, Marsellus’s briefcase, Yolanda and Ringo achieved what they wanted in holding up somewhere bigger and earning more money, and we know that Marsellus got his briefcase back. We can also assume that Butch left LA with his winnings from the fight and the money from betting on such high odds of him winning. I feel the film as a whole is about resolution and although we see a multi narrative we can also see that they are unified by achieving what they set out to do.
Pulp Fiction has many characteristics of a classic narrative but equally as many that challenge it.