Well thought out, stunning idea

Rating: 10/10 (8 September 2004)

SPOILERS
If a survey was to be carried out, of people's favourite directors, the odds are the list will include Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, Bob Zemeckis, Alfred Hitchcock, Peter Jackson, Ron Howard and Francis Ford Coppola. If the survey was to be changed however so that people were asked to name the director they considered to define "cool", there's little doubt that Quentin Tarantino would be nominated for nine times out of ten. After working for a few years in a video store, Tarantino would go on to create some amazing films. Writing and directing "Reservoir Dogs" (1992), "Jackie Brown" (1997) and the "Kill Bill" films (2003 and 2004), Tarantino would become viewed as the ultimate film style guru. Whilst personally, his top film is the previously mentioned "Reservoir Dogs" however, to the majority of the world, his ultimate film is his 1994, Oscar Nominated, "Pulp Fiction".
Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" tells a web of stories revolving two hit men (John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson), their boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) and their gangland associates. Showing this combination of stories in a different order to their chronological order, the film shows us the highs and lows as we experience a couple of days in their lives.
The beauty of "Pulp Fiction" is simply this idea of it's order. Whilst most films are obviously designed to run in one straight story, an order where a character dies and that is the end of the actor's participation, "Pulp Fiction" works against the grain because the stories are connected in different ways to each other. We are shown conclusions to stories before the whole events play out (Travolta's outcome for example), and we are shown events from different points of view (Travolta and Jackson talking on one side of a restaurant whilst Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer plan their robbery across the room). This sense, almost of dramatic irony, is superb because at times we feel this awareness at events whilst at others we try to explain to ourselves why certain background surroundings happen as they do. The film, in effect, leaves us guessing until the end conclusion.
Tarantino's films are always amazing because they are just so well written. In the opening scenes to "Reservoir Dogs", Tarantino manages to get practically the entire films characterisation resolved through two brief arguments about Madonna and about tipping. By doing this, he gets us to know the characters before the plot even begins. In "Pulp Fiction" he repeats this process to a lesser effect with a random conversation between Travolta and Jackson. At the beginning of the film, these two are travelling to a job and as they go they discuss Europe and the Metric System. We learn about the characters whilst we listen to this amusing, if random, story of the French equivalent to the Quarter Pounder Burger.
Finally, the other thing worth saying about "Pulp Fiction" is the way Tarantino manages to get such good acting performances. Whilst in "Reservoir Dogs" Tarantino gets superb performances out of Buscemi, Keitel, Roth and Madsen, in "Pulp Fiction", he manages the impossible act of rescuing John Travolta's career. In the build up to Tarantino's film, Travolta's career has practically disappeared into weak films about talking children. All this changes however when Tarantino hires him to play Vincent Vega. Putting a strong element of charisma and scepticism into Vega, Travolta puts in a career high performance and even receives an Oscar Nomination for his trouble. The film over all would receive seven Nominations in the 1995 Academy Awards, but put against some tough competition (Oscar friendly "Forrest Gump" and the amazing "Shawshank Redemption"), the film comes away with only the one Oscar for the script. If the Oscar for director was given to the wrong man, there's little doubt that Travolta was worthy of the award which would end up in the hands of Tom Hanks. Travolta isn't alone however in the superb performances. Gathering a jaw dropping cast, Tarantino gets outstanding performances from fellow Oscar Nominees in the form of Uma Thurman and Samuel L Jackson, as well as Rhames, Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel and Tim Roth.
Basically "Pulp Fiction" is a jaw dropping movie. Whilst on a personal note, Tarantino did a slightly better job on "Reservoir Dogs" (1992), any sort of major comparison between the two would be harsh. Both Fiction and Dogs deserve to be up there in a list of the all-time greats. If you've never seen either film, then you should make the time. Tarantino is a legend and in "Pulp Fiction" he has created a beauty.