Pulp Fiction (1994)

Genre: Crime/ Drama

Time: 2h 45mins

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Quick Summary: The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

Cheeseburgers. This starts with a long conversation about cheeseburgers, which for some reason I was incredibly invested in.

Three different storylines go on throughout this film and for a while, they flick back and forwards between all three at seemingly random, pretty much a deconstructed narrative. It doesn't get confusing though, as all three have distinct characters and plot lines. By the end though, they all manage to fit together, and in the most odd ways. Each scene has its own unique flavour and charm, and every segment has its own arc while also tying into the main plot.

Like most of Quentin's films, this is full of dialogue. They endlessly talk about so much random stuff. Anything is thrown in there. Cheeseburgers, milkshakes, feet, Fonzie. It is entertaining though as we pinball through different conversations that lead to different ones, or connect with other events. A lot of them have incredibly perfect comedic timing, especially from Samuel L. Jackson. 

Now, I think this is just a personal choice of mine, but I disliked the middle story. I don't think I was very interested in the characters or what was happening. There were moments that caught my attention a bit more, but otherwise, I was just waiting for that section to finish. I didn't particularly like Bruce Willis in it either, he was lacklustre and he bored me. There was one scene in this one particularly that felt really out of place for this film, It doesn't bother me, but I feel like I would have preferred a car chase or a better shootout scene over what there was.

One small thing I will add is that the soundtrack absolutely slaps. Every song hits on this and fits in with the film. They're all so iconic to this.

This is an absolute field day with camera techniques. The use of tracking shots, dolly-zooms, variation in lens focus, quick-cut editing, slow-motion sequences, lyrical camera positioning, Steadicam tactics and close-up camera shots. It slams absolutely everything in it and it works. It's visually thrilling to work. 

Which is why the title is perfect. It mainly referred to "Pulp magazines" which contained a wide variety of genre fiction, most notably mystery, fantasy, horror, sci-fi, and western. It had all sorts that were sort of mashed together, like pulp (wink). This is Quentin's version of those, a homage to different films and genres. Though, sadly, even though I do like this film, I wouldn't say it's amazing, or his best. 

It is long, and for me, the sections were very boring. The endless dialogue can get tiring. To people who do not know his work, it is surprisingly violent too. 

As a film lover, I can tell it is for people who love films and look at the deeper meanings, finding all the layers. Don't get me wrong, this still can be enjoyable to casual film people, but it will lose an element to it if they don't understand all the little parts, which I will fault this for. There were a lot of references to other films I had no clue about.

Still a good film, just not as amazing as most people will make it out to be. A lot of this is quotable, and most people will recognise where it has come from. 

7/10

"That's when you know you've found somebody special. When you can just shut the fuck up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence."

"Vincent: And you know what they call a... a... a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?

Jules: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with cheese?

Vincent: No man, they got the metric system. They wouldn't know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is.

Jules: Then what do they call it?

Vincent: They call it a Royale with cheese.

Jules: A Royale with cheese. What do they call a Big Mac?

Vincent: Well, a Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it le Big-Mac.

Jules: Le Big-Mac. Ha ha ha ha. What do they call a Whopper?

Vincent: I dunno, I didn't go into Burger King."

"Vincent: Jules, did you ever hear the philosophy that once a man admits that he's wrong that he is immediately forgiven for all wrongdoings? Have you ever heard that?

Jules: Get the fuck out my face with that shit! The motherfucker that said that shit never had to pick up itty-bitty pieces of skull on account of your dumb ass."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go home and have a heart attack."