Pulp Fiction

So I seem to have a review every movie I watch thing going on, but hey if you don't want to read them don't. I just like to add my own opinions and I like to read others' reviews and articles because some are quite interesting and add more. So it's Pulp Fiction this time, which I saw on t.v by chance at my sister's house, of course we'd all seen it before and I have it on dvd but it's still a good watch.

It's just a brilliant movie, it's clever, funny, shocking, poignant, different and wonderfully casted. The intertwining tales weave with one another brilliantly and you're hooked from start until finish. Despite the fact that none of the characters are of a particularly good nature you still like them anyway, my favourites are Mia Wallace and Captain Koons and I wish they had been in the movie more. Mia comes across as a clever woman with a sharp wit who does genuinely love her husband. She is weakened by her drug addiction to cocaine and her obvious disappointment at a failure to become a t.v star and I think she wants more from life, although after nearly overdosing on heroin by accident she's probably curbed that want for excitement.

Though violent it's dark overtones are lightened with humour and good dialogue and you can never take the movie too seriously, it's the stories of seemingly ordinary people with less than ordinary lives- two hit men, their boss, the boss' wife, a corrupt boxer and his girlfriend, two robbers and the people who come into their lives including a drug dealer, his wife and her friend, a soldier returned from Vietnam, a 'cleaner', sadists and a taxi driver. Their world is full of corruption, violence, murder and drugs with only a glimmer of redemption via one of the assassins, Jules, who believes he has been given a moment of clarity thanks to divine intervention and seeks to leave his life as a hitman whilst the other hitman, Vincent, seems his opposite dismissing the intervention as a coincidence, even listing examples to support this. Vincent is one of the characters to receive his comeuppance, as does his boss Marcellus in a way whilst Butch and Mia receive warnings for their bad behaviour.

Vincent and Jules have the most on screen time as we follow them as they do their boss' bidding, collecting his suitcase during which they narrowly escape being shot by a man in hiding, meeting with their boss during his talk with Butch, Vincent taking Mia on a dinner date, Vincent death, the accidental death of Marvin and the attempt to dispose of the evidence, and the climax of the movie in the restaurant where Jules has his moment of clarity and Pumpkin and Honeybunny attempt to rob them. They keep the movie flowing with their frequent appearances and their links to all the other characters, being the only two who interact with all the main people (as far as I've noticed). Despite their dark ways and questionable jobs you still enjoy their presence and almost root for Vincent and Mia and indeed almost mourn for Vincent despite him getting what he deserved, he had the same warning as Jules but took the more dangerous path alas given a cold but clear comparison.

I find it hard to believe Jules will ever be anything other than wicked, his moment of clarity seems to borderlining on a moment of insanity and his idea of turning to the right path is by rewarding robbers, ironic really.



Mia is prominent as the female lead, the image of her smoking on a bed in a low cut black dress with a gun and an open book of pulp fiction before her is iconic, she has more lines than any of the other women and much more on screen time. The closest to her is Butch's girlfriend Fabienne, followed by the taxi driver Esmarelda, Lance's wife Jody and her friend Trudi and of course Yolanda/Honey Bunny. She seems like a willing trophy wife in one respect who after failing to land it big in the t.v world thanks a show that never took off past the pilot may have married Marsellus for the money and status, although I think there is some genuine affection there. She comes across as a sociable woman who is smart, witty and a risk taker, she does not interfere in her husband's business and indeed takes a cool, aloof attitude to it as seen with regards to Tony Rocky Horror's alleged fate, her brief appearance when she opens the door to Vincent and Marsellus and seems disinterested in what's going on and her scene after Marsellus gets off the phone and she seems to ask no questions about the conversation.

Pulp Fiction was ground breaking for its day, a movie without a hero it did not need a direct happy ending or unquestionably good characters to make money or gain fans. It was gritty presenting us with more realistic characters and it added a dark edge to things keeping the film from being mudane. It's not perfect, no film is, but is brilliant and worthy of being ranked among the best. It stands the test of age being just as enjoyable now as it was then and just as funny and witty even though we all know the lines by now.