Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece of postmodern pulp cinema
burst off the screen in 1994. His second Directorial film, it was made for just
$8 million but went on to take over $200 million at the box office becoming one
of the most financially successful independent films of all time and has since
become one of the most critically successful films as well. Nominated for seven
Oscars and winning one for Best Original Screenplay, Pulp Fiction has found its place in cinema history as one of the
greatest cult films of all time and reinvigorated not only the fortunes of some
of its cast but made Hollywood sit up and take notice of small time,
independent cinema.
Tarantino often makes use of a non linear storyline but here
it is not so much non linear as circular. Pulp
Fiction features three interconnecting storylines which are sometimes told
from different angles and always out of sequence. The effect is that it builds
the story as the film progresses in quite a different way to a traditional
narrative but one is never lost of confused. The script is amongst the best if
not the best I’ve ever seen and is dense, meandering and full of great dialogue
and pop culture references. It is a joy to listen to and the tremendous cast
deliver each line with great aplomb.