Pulp: the word itself conveys a sense of roughness, grittiness, blood and gore, and some serious edge. Pulp fiction refers to a type of literature printed on cheap wood pulp paper, often telling violent or offensive stories. The film Pulp Fiction recycles the style and content of the pulp magazines of old, to produce a fresh new series of bloody crime sagas. Pulp Fiction is very liberal with its violence - going so far as having good guys, bad guys, and innocent bystanders getting shot up without any legal consequences. The film is also very liberal with its bad language - there are F-bombs and sexual dialogue galore. Parts of the film are pretty shocking. Make no mistake, there is definitely a lot of pulp in Pulp Fiction.
Beneath its blood-soaked surface, the film can be surprisingly light and upbeat, thanks to its playfully witty dialogue and constant stream of ironic situations. It is a comedy at its core - not a comedy that ever makes me laugh out loud per se, but there are plenty of memorable and amusing lines throughout. Above all, it's just funny the way things turn out in this film. Seemingly unrelated characters run into each other, crazy stuff happens, and the outcome can be quite surprising at times.
That being said, I've always felt this film has a pretty weird and random series of stories. It's a series of nested short stories - one story starts, then another, then another, then it goes back to the previous one, until finally connecting back to the scene in the film's opening. The narrative is purposefully mixed-up, jumping around a few different characters with their own situations, which ultimately connects to each other. Each story is pretty interesting though: the bulk of the film focuses on a pair of hitmen, who terrorize and murder some dudes to retrieve a mysterious briefcase. This story is ultimately interrupted by the next, in which one of the hitmen takes the crime boss' wife out, and interesting occurrences take place (including some of the awesomest dancing ever). My favorite of the lot is the episode involving the golden watch, in which a boxer tries to flee from town to evade the boss' wrath, but has to go back to retrieve his father's pocketwatch. Crazy things ensue. The film's last stretch returns to the briefcase situation, in which even crazier things ensue, and the characters contemplate the greater meaning of everything that's happened.
There is a method to the madness, and it works sublimely. With constant biblical references and quotes, the film digs up some subtle themes regarding life and morality. The entire film illustrates the futility of a life of crime; only a few characters escape unscathed, thanks to whatever redemption they manage to find for their wrongdoings, but most everybody else suffers a tragic end from their own wrongdoings. In the end, I felt this film underscored a strong message about living the good life, especially in the shadow of organized crime (which is effectively demonized). Jules says it the best when he says, "The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd."
This film uses pretty solid photography and interesting editing. I feel it captures the ambiance of the locales extremely well. Acting is strong: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, and Uma Thurman are all striking in their respective roles. Writing shows excellent wit, with its plethora of great lines and conversation, and great nuance, with its plotting and narrative. This production has very real-looking sets, props, and costumes. Music is really hip too.
Pulp Fiction is a pretty weird and violent animal of a film, but it seems to get better the more I see it. If you can stomach the pulp, then it's certainly a must-see.
4.5/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Very Good | Film: Very Good)
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