Pulp Fiction: Redefining the Crime Genre

Vincent: "You know what the funniest thing about Europe is?"

Jules: "What?"

Vincent: "It's the little differences. I mean they got the same s**t over there that they got here, but it's just - it's just there it's a little different."

Jules: "Examples?"

Vincent: "Alright, well you can walk into a movie theater in Amsterdam and buy a beer. And I don't mean just like in no paper cup, I'm talking about a glass of beer. And in Paris, you can buy a beer at McDonald's. And you know what they call a, uh, a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?"

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

Vincent: "Nah, man, they got the metric system, they wouldn't know what the f**k a Quarter Pounder is."

Jules: "What do they call it?"

Vincent: "They call it a Royale with Cheese."

What made Pulp Fiction one of the most influential movies of the 1990s, were “the little differences” with other crime movies. Quentin Tarantino’s approach towards storytelling— the way he twisted time, advanced the story through dialogue and violence and overall, marked his style as a director— made him one of the most alluring filmmakers of the 90s. With Pulp Fiction Tarantino re-envisioned the crime genre in modern cinema as well as independent filmmaking.

The film intertwines four violent stories about a pair of robbers, a drug dealer’s wife; two mob hit men and a boxer. Its title fits perfectly, as in old pulp magazines, in the film, no one is regular, and ordinary days don’t exist.

Its black humor, combined with the constant pop-culture references, obscenity and its outrageous amount of violence, had critics mesmerized— whether positively or negatively, everyone was speaking about the film upon its release. It was one of the most influential American movies of the 90s. In fact, the film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and opened the New York Film Festival.

One of the most controversial, yet enticing, aspects of the movie, was the shocking amount of violence and the style in which it was portrayed. Tarantino combined the comical violence of video games and cartoons, with the serious violence of crime movies, film noirs, and American gangster films. Violence is turned into an art form.

Such explicit depictions of violence, as in the scene where Vincent Vega gives Mia Wallace an adrenaline shot to the heart, often distract viewers from the underrated film script. Roger Avary and Tarantino script won the Oscar for a reason. Despite the violence and obscenity, there is a light-heartedness to the script. It’s possibly why many watch the film without really listening. It is through dialogue that viewers get to know the characters and understand the plot. Pulp Fiction manages to easily communicate how life can be awful, yet simultaneously funny.

As in Orson Welles, Citizen Kane, released in 1941, Pulp Fiction experiments with a nonlinear narrative. The four different stories would not be as interesting had Tarantino decided to use a linear narrative— the film would have started with Jules and Vincent arriving at Brett’s apartment and ended when Fabienne and Butch doomed off on Zed’s chopper. It’s throughout his fragmented story-telling that anticipations and curiosity are built in the viewer and that Tarantino manages to create that ultimate satisfaction one feels when all stories are finally knit together.

With its unique cinematic style filled with 70s pop culture references, Tarantino managed to put a twist in the Pulp genre, taking it to the next level. As Janet Maslin, film critic for The New York Times wrote: “ You don't merely enter a theater to see Pulp Fiction: you go down a rabbit hole. What’s more surprising is that the stimulating cinematic experience isn’t achieved through a flashy style, but rather through long takes, clever dialogue scenes, wide angled shots and the unpredictability of the narrative.

It’s important to highlight how the carefully selected cast brought the characters and dialogue to life. As in his debut film Reservoir Dogs in 1992, where he revived Lawrence Tierney’s career, in Pulp Fiction, John Travolta was cast as Vincent Vega, as he became a flagging star. Tarantino probably made this move with the purpose of reminding the audience of the 1970s, the period where the actor was most successful, a time in which the film is significantly inspired in. Travolta ended up nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Actor for his role as Vincent. Other cast members such as Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis and Uma Thurman were also heavily praised for their performance in the movie.