Rent Pulp Fiction (1994)

Tarantino's Masterpiece? Certainly Influential - Pulp Fiction review by GI

Tarantino's second film is often cited by fans as their favourite of his films to date and with repeated viewings you can see why. Following his debut, Reservoir Dogs (1992) which I think is a clever and very innovative film it takes nothing away from this second feature as it too is very innovative and has been immensely influential. Pulp Fiction has many features of what has since become known as 'Tarantinoesque' not least his ability to show extreme violence but actually make you laugh as you watch it. The obvious scenes here include the shooting of Marvin (Phil LaMarr) and the resuscitation scene of Mia (Uma Thurman) - watch Eric Stoltz in this section he's hilariously brilliant. The main innovation that hit home when this first came to our screens was the clever use of timelines and the fluidity of the story even though it jumps around in time while following the diverse characters. They are of course all truly cinematic characters, Tarantino writes cinema about cinema meaning his films are concerned solely with cinematic vision and language. Every character is cartoonish in a way even when they are indulging in the most depraved acts, which include heroin and cocaine use, casual murder for money, torture, rape and armed robbery. Just in case you are one of the very few who has not seen this film it follows one morning in Los Angeles where two hitmen, Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent (John Travolta) are sent by their boss, Marcellus (Ving Rhames) to recover a briefcase. They end up getting into some scrapes which includes having to get rid of a body and being robbed but mixed up is the story of a boxer, Butch (Bruce Willis) and his relationship and betrayal of Marcellus. It all sounds a little complex and the structure of the film is convoluted but actually each episode and event is fairly plotless in a sense, the result is the film becomes even more entertaining. This is certainly a must see film and definitely worth repeated viewings because there's lots going on you might have missed (including hints of the supernatural!). For example I can tell you that it was Butch who keyed Vincent's car. Great cast too including Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Harvey Keitel, Rosanna Arquette, Christopher Walken and blink and you'll miss him Steve Buscemi.