Be the Shepherd

Rating: 10/10 (20 April 2020)

Pulp Fiction is a lesson that even if people act on their best intentions, if they are surrounded by evil or around bad influences, there are so many events outside of their control that they are bound to be punished eventually. This is why Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) decides to liberate himself from the "evil life" after experiencing his divine intervention. He wanted to be good and inspire benevolence in people rather than symbolizing the tyranny of evil men. In almost all the scenes of the movie we get reminded how destructive and grim situations can become if characters do not decide to live a life of virtue and responsibility. The verse recited by Jules progressively gains more power as we navigate the protagonist's desire for vengeance or restitution. It is the metaphor that if you initiate the process of changing your thoughts (biblical verse) maybe actions (forgiving pumpkin) might follow and also habits and life in general.
As is customary in Tarantino's films, the majority of the characters have temerity, choleric temperament, unforgiving, and reckless decision making. Vincent (John Travolta) accidentally shoots his friend on the face while Jules drives the car. Mia (Uma Thurman) overdoses with cocaine and has to be revived by Vincent with an adrenaline shot to heart. Butch (Bruce Willis) decides to run over Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) on the street and ends up destroying his girlfriend's car. Marcellus and Butch fight on a weapon's store, and they get restrained, tied up, and sodomized by strangers. Tarantino was dead set on sending a message that if you are participating in illegal, immoral, or destructive behavior, you will get punished by destiny, fate, or god.
The dialogue is some of the best I have seen in movies: Vincent's casual stories of Amsterdam, Jules and Vincent conversation on the comparison of feet massage and oral sex, the biblical verse Jules recites to his victims, pumpkin's description of how restaurants is the best place to rob. By these scenes the characters received personality, charisma, ideology, convictions. We get a glimpse into their life and aspirations; we understand their motivations. All of these instances give flavor and atmosphere to the movie that gives us a sense of novelty and originality.
The astute part is that most of the characters seem reasonable and humane despite their murderous behavior. This adds more to the message of the movie that humanity can still be recovered after falling into the valley of darkness. The tension was not as good as some of his other movies, but the scenes compensate it with other cinematographic content. Jules scenes in the restaurant robbery and in the recovery of the briefcase were intense, smart, ruthless, charismatic, audacious, and original.