The film opens in a diner as a couple of thieves discuss the possibility of holding up restaurants. This leads us into three
distinct strands; a date between a hit man and the wife of his boss, the boxer who is supposed to throw a fight and the
cleaning up of a hit man's mistake. The stories are told in non chronological order and we finally return to the diner for
the final scene.
1. What is contained in the briefcase?
There is no real answer to this and Tarantino has actually said that he didn't know what to put in the case so he decided
to leave it to the viewers to decide. However, it has been suggested that it contains 'the evil that men do' and as the
combination of the briefcase is 666, I'm prepared to go with this.
Another great suggestion is that it contains the diamonds from 'Reservoir Dogs'.
2. What films have influenced Tarantino in the making of 'Pulp Fiction'?
The dance competition is clearly influenced by Jean Luc Godard's 1964 film 'Bande A Parte' which Tarantino has named
his production company after.
The unknown contents of the briefcase are a homage to Robert Aldrich's film 'Kiss Me Deadly', made in 1955.
When Butch stops at the lights and sees Marsellus crossing the road, we are reminded of Alfred Hitchcock's film
'Psycho' when Janet Leigh stops at a set of lights to see her boss crossing the road.
The pawn shop rape is clearly reminiscent of 'Deliverance', made in 1972 by John Boorman.
'The Bonnie Situation' contains Jules and his friend Jimmy, clearly a reference to Francois Truffaut's film, 'Jules et Jim'.
The character of Wolf in this story is taken from Jean Reno's portrayal of a 'cleaner' in Luc Besson's 'La Femme Nikita',
a role reprised by Keitel himself in the American remake 'Point of No Return'.
In addition, the films of John Woo, Sam Peckinpah, Brian De Palma and Don Siegel are all important.
3. Why did Mia overdose at her house?
She thought that she was snorting cocaine whereas she was taking Vince's extremely pure heroin. His heroin had been
packaged as cocaine would normally be because his dealer had run out of the standard heroin packaging.
4. Why did Butch return to the pawn shop to save Marsellus?
Redemption is one of the central themes of this film and this scene along with Jules' saving of Honey Bunny and Pumpkin
in the diner are the best examples of this. Butch's conscience made him go back to save Marsellus and this acted as his
redemption for killing Wilson in the previous night's boxing match.
5. Why did Vince leave his gun on the counter at Butch's apartment when he went to the bathroom?
Quite simply, he didn't, the gun belonged to Marsellus. Vince was clearly with somebody else at the apartment as he
didn't react when Butch came in, thinking it was his partner. Jules had given up 'the life' by this point and Marsellus was
probably filling in on this job. For further evidence look at the scene where Butch runs Marsellus over; the 'big man' is
carrying two cups and as he is near to Butch's apartment, we can assume that he is Vince's partner.
6. Why are Honey Bunny's lines different from the beginning of the film and at the end?
A lot of people seem to think this is a mistake. My opinion is that Tarantino was showing us the difference between
perceptions of different people in the diner, the second time being Jules' perception. It makes little sense for Tarantino to
shoot the scene twice, unless there was a reason.
7. What was Winston Wolf doing in a tuxedo at 8:30 in the morning? Where was he?
The script explains that Winston was in a hotel suite where people were gambling. If you listen closely, you can hear
someone in the room telling the gamblers to 'place their bets'.
8. What was the book that Vince was reading on the toilet?
"Modesty Blaise", a pulpy novel written by Peter O'Donnell in 1965 which is very much in keeping with the film's title.
9. How does a guy like Jimmy know a gangster like Jules? Why does Jules refer to him as 'his partner'?
Quentin has said in an interview (Denver Post) that Jimmy used to work for Marsellus, but when he married Bonnie she
made him quit, and Jules respects that.
10. Who was Marvin and why did Jules and Vince take him with them?
I think we can assume that Marvin also works for Marsellus as Vince refers to 'our guy' before they go up to the
apartment.
11. Why is there a band-aid on Marsellus' neck?
The actor Ving Rhames simply had a rather ugly looking scar on the back of his neck and so the make-up artist covered
this up with a band-aid so that the scar didn't distract the audience too much.
12. There's bullet holes in the wall behind Jules and Vince before 'The Fourth Man' (a.k.a. Seinfeld) empties
his gun. Was this an editing error?
It seems to be possible that the holes might have been there for other reasons, it's not a great apartment, but it could be a
mistake in editing.
13. Red Apple cigarettes appear throughout the film, what are they?
Tarantino seems to have invented this brand presumably to minimise the amount of product placement in the film. This is
also done by using other brands which were around in the 1970's but are no longer available (ie Fruite Brute cereal).
14. What happened to the Gimp? Did butch kill him, or was he just knocked out?
The script explains that Butch hitting the Gimp caused him to hang himself to death on his leash.
15. Trivia
a) During the opening scene, you can see the bottom half of Vince as he makes his way to the bathroom. Look out for
his book, shorts, t-shirt and 'strut'.
b) The Buddy Holly waiter in Jack Rabbit Slims is played by Steve Buscemi who as Mr Pink in Reservoir Dogs, refused
to tip waitresses.
c) The room in Lance's apartment where Mia receives the injection of adrenalin contains two board games, Operation
and Life.
d) The cabdriver, Esmeralda Villa Lobos (Angela Jones) appeared in a 30 minute short called 'Curdled' in which she
played a character who cleaned up after murders. This makes her fascinated by the idea of murder. Tarantino saw this
film and decided to include this character in Pulp Fiction but as a cabdriver.
e) When Butch is sneaking up to his apartment, there is an advert for Jack Rabbit Slims on the radio.
f) Butch's great-grandfather bought the gold watch in Knoxville, Tennessee and this is also where Butch is meeting his
connection. Knoxville is Quentin Tarantino's birthplace.
g) The undercard for Butch's fight is Vossler vs Martinez; Russell Vossler and Jerry Martinez are two friends of
Tarantino's from Video Archives who use to live together and their constant fighting was the butt of jokes around the
store.
h) Lawrence Bender plays the 'long haired yuppy scum' in the restaurant hold up.
i) The guy who comes out of the bathroom is played by Alexis Arquette who is the brother of Rosanna and Patricia.
j) The cartoon being watched by the young Butch was 'Clutch Cargo', a kid's show from the sixties. The film playing in
the motel room was 'The Losers' directed by Jack Starrett in 1970; it's about five Hell's Angels sent to Cambodia by the
CIA to rescue a presidential adviser who has been captured by communists.
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