Pulp Fiction Quiz

Summary Title: Pulp Fiction - A Classic Crime Film by Quentin Tarantino

• Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhames, and Uma Thurman.

• The film tells several stories of crime in Los Angeles, California, and is self-referential from its opening moments, beginning with a title card that gives two dictionary definitions of "pulp."

• The plot of the film occurs out of chronological order, following three main interrelated stories that each have a different protagonist: Vincent Vega, a hitman; Butch Coolidge, a prizefighter; and Jules Winnfield, Vincent's business partner.

• Pulp Fiction won the Palme d'Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and was a major critical and commercial success, earning seven Academy Award nominations and winning Best Original Screenplay.

• The film is widely regarded as Tarantino's masterpiece, with particular praise for its screenwriting, self-reflexivity, unconventional structure, and extensive homage and pastiche.

• The cast was also widely praised, with Travolta, Thurman, and Jackson earning particular acclaim.

• Pulp Fiction has had a sweeping effect on independent cinema, influencing films and other media that adopted elements of its style.

• The film was inspired by the three-part horror anthology film Black Sabbath (1963), and the initial inspiration was the three-part horror anthology film Black Sabbath (1963), by Italian filmmaker Mario Bava.

• The script included a couple of made-up commercial brands that often featured in later Tarantino films: Big Kahuna burgers and Red Apple cigarettes.

• Pulp Fiction was initially turned down by TriStar Pictures as "too demented," but Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein was enthralled, and the film became the first that Miramax fully financed.

• The film's production, marketing, distribution, and profitability had a significant impact on independent cinema.

• In 2013, Pulp Fiction was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

• The film's cast includes Bronagh Gallagher, Phil LaMarr, Burr Steers, Angela Jones, Duane Whitaker, Peter Greene, Stephen Hibbert, Steve Buscemi, and Kathy Griffin."Pulp Fiction": Filming, Music, Release, Reception

• "Pulp Fiction" was initially rejected by TriStar Pictures before being picked up by Miramax, which was recently acquired by Disney.

• The film was budgeted at $8.5 million and became the first movie that Miramax completely financed.

• Principal photography began on September 20, 1993, and wrapped on November 30 of the same year.

• No film score was composed for "Pulp Fiction," and instead, an eclectic assortment of surf music, rock and roll, soul, and pop songs were used.

• The soundtrack was central to the film's engagement with the "younger, cinematically knowledgeable spectator" it solicits.

• "Pulp Fiction" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1994, winning the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize.

• The film opened in general release in the United States on October 14, 1994, in 1,100 theaters.

• Against its budget of $8.5 million, "Pulp Fiction" grossed $107.93 million at the U.S. box office, making it the first "indie" film to surpass $100 million.

• The response of major American film reviewers was widely favorable, with Roger Ebert calling it "a startling, massive success."

• The film won several awards, including Best Picture by the National Society of Film Critics, National Board of Review, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and others.

• Tarantino was named Best Director by several organizations, and the screenplay won several prizes, with various awarding bodies ascribing credit differently.

• Some commentators took exception to the film's frequent use of the word "nigger" (mentioned 18 times).The Impact of Pulp Fiction: Awards, Influence, and Critical Analysis

• Pulp Fiction received numerous awards and nominations, including an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay shared by Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary, and recognition from the Independent Spirit Awards, British Academy Film Awards, and Belgian Film Critics Association.

• The film is regarded as one of the most significant films of its era, challenging the ossification of American movies with their brutal formulas.

• Pulp Fiction's influence can be seen in imitative and innovative style, resurrecting John Travolta and film noir, creating a "guys-with-guns frenzy", and inspiring a British brand of noir, among others.

• Pulp Fiction's impact on Hollywood was significant, forever altering the game of so-called independent cinema, cementing Miramax's place as the reigning indie superpower, and initiating the ongoing cycle of disordered cinematic narratives.

• The film had an impact on popular culture, influencing television, music, literature, and advertising, and becoming a significant focus of attention within the growing community of internet users.

• Several scenes and images from the film achieved iconic status, including Jules and Vincent's "Royale with Cheese" dialogue, the adrenalin shot to Mia Wallace's heart, and the scene of Travolta and Thurman's characters dancing.

• Pulp Fiction is now considered one of the greatest films of all time, appearing in several critical assessments and ranking highly in popular surveys.

• Critics have analyzed the film within the framework of postmodernism, with its host of pop culture allusions and convoluted narrative technique characterized as postmodern tricksiness.

• The film has been interpreted as a form of American nihilism, a romance centered on nonnaturalistic discourse, and politically correct.

• The film's narrative has been compared to the tales of terror and the uncanny practiced by such writers as Cornell Woolrich and Fredric Brown, and to the visual strategies of Sergio Leone.

• Pulp Fiction's style is characterized by its expansive, brightly colored widescreen visuals, and its flourishes, the apparent witty banality of the dialogue, and the goofy fracturing of temporality.

• The film has been labeled as a black comedy and a neo-noir, but some critics argue against the classification of Pulp Fiction into the neo-noir genre.Analysis of Pulp Fiction: Violence, Homage, Television, and Motifs

• Pulp Fiction has been analyzed for its postmodern style, which uses surfaces and pop-cultural figures to create a flattened spatiality.

• Criticisms of the film include the suggestion that it empties violence of any critical social consequences, and instead offers viewers shock, humor, and irony without insight.

• The film is full of homages to other movies, with two scenes in particular prompting discussion: the dance sequence at Jack Rabbit Slim's and the moment when Marsellus crosses the street in front of Butch's car.

• The mysterious briefcase in the film has been the source of much speculation, with theories ranging from it containing diamonds to Marsellus's soul.

• Jules's ritualistic recitation of Ezekiel 25:17 before he executes someone is a fabricated version of the biblical passage, inspired by Japanese martial arts star Sonny Chiba's creed in Karate Kiba.

• The film's action often revolves around characters who are either in the bathroom or need to use the toilet, with these moments leading to significant plot developments.

• Some critics have seen Jules's transformation and reflection on the meaning of his speech as a commentary on the absence of objective frameworks of value and meaning in a nihilistic culture.

• Others have suggested that the film's use of homages and intertextual references, as well as its focus on television, are central to its postmodern style.