Cinema
Pulp Fiction
Quentin Tarantino · 1994
Synopsis
Los Angeles. Two hitmen working for the gangster Marsellus Wallace go to retrieve a briefcase with a mysterious content, discussing hamburgers in Europe and a man punished for massaging the feet of Mia, their boss's wife. One of them, Vincent, is assigned to take Mia out while Marsellus is away. Butch, a boxer at the end of his career, accepts money from the gangster to lose his next fight. In a diner, a couple finishing their breakfast decide to rob the place. The stories intertwine, told out of order.
Context
The film comes from a project of three short films conceived at the video store with Roger Avary, who supplied the boxer's story; a third part was to go to another filmmaker. The writing began in Amsterdam in March 1992. The president of TriStar judged the script too demented and put it back on the market; Miramax bought the rights and financed it for eight and a half million dollars. The casting of Bruce Willis helped to sell eleven million dollars' worth of foreign rights, and profitability was almost assured before the release.
Who it is for
A film of two hours thirty-four minutes, violent, rated in France as unsuitable for those under twelve, whose chronology the viewer has to reconstruct.
Prizes and reception
Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1994, Oscar for Best Original Screenplay shared with Avary, and some two hundred and thirteen million dollars in worldwide box office.