Pulp
Fiction
Trivia:
'You play with matches you get
burned.'
(Total Trivia Entries: 68)
Where did the famous bible quote come from? Keep reading to find out.
Directed
by: Quentin Tarantino
Written by: Quentin Tarantino (writing & stories)
Roger Avary (stories)
Starring:
John Travolta - Vincent Vega
Samuel L. Jackson - Jules Winnfield
Tim Roth - Pumpkin/Ringo
Amanda Plummer - Honey Bunny/Yolanda
Eric Stoltz - Lance
Bruce Willis - Butch Coolidge
Ving Rhames - Marsellus Wallace
Phil LaMarr - Marvin
Maria de Medeiros - Fabienne
Rosanna Arquette - Jody
Peter Greene - Zed
Uma Thurman - Mia Wallace
Duane Whitaker - Maynard
Paul Calderon - Paul/English Bob
Frank Whaley - Brett
Quentin Tarantino - Jimmie Dimmick
Harvey Keitel - The Wolf
Angela Jones - Esmarelda Villalobos
The Stories in Chronological Order:
The scenes of the stories in chronological order are as follows:
The
first scene would be Vincent and Jules chatting
in their car while on their way to do a 'job'.
The
next scene would be
the 'Bonnie Situation' when Vincent shoots Marvin in the face and they
go to Jimmie's house to get cleaned up.
Then
the next scene would be
the diner robbery, beginning from when Pumpkin and Honey Bunny decide
to rob the diner to when Jules and Vincent are in the diner having
their
breakfast and get caught up in the robbery.
The final scene would be
'The Gold Watch' story.
The last chronological scene would be Butch and Fabienne riding away from the hotel on Butch's newly acquired motorcycle, which would mean that the last line of the movie would be "Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead."
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Quentin Tarantino's Directorial Trademarks:
Red Apple cigarettes - Butch and Mia all smoke Red Apple cigarettes. The same brand is smoked by Tim Roth's character in Four Rooms (1995). Pumpkin also has a pack of Red Apples laying in front of him in the opening scene. The red apple and the green worm can be made out when looking closely.Bare feet - Uma Thurman is barefoot for most of the movie. Also the cab driver, Esmarelda, does not have shoes on.
Long take - When Jules and Vincent step out of the elevator for their "foot massage" debate, we follow them all the way through the labyrinthine hallways to Brett's door, past Brett's to a window and finally, back to Brett's door again, all in a single take.
Long take - When Butch gets out of the Honda to retrieve his watch, we follow him around a building, through a hole in a fence until he is across the street from the apartment.
Corpse view - After Marsellus is hit by Butch's car we see the camera from the unconscious (corpse like) Marsellus' point of view, which is of the pedestrians looking down at him.
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Casting:
Pulp Fiction cost $8 million to make, $5
million of which
went to
pay the actors' salaries.The role of Vincent Vega was written for Michael Madsen, who played the character's brother, Vic Vega, in Reservoir Dogs (1992), but he couldn't do the film due to scheduling conflicts for another film.
Daniel Day-Lewis wanted the role of Vincent Vega, but Quentin Tarantino turned him down in favor of John Travolta.
Apparently John Travolta was paid $150,000 for his part in the film.
In an interview with James Lipton on the show "Inside the Actors' Studio", John Travolta went into details of the many obstacles of tackling his role as Vincent Vega. The most challenging being that of how he was going to show the essence of his character as that of a heroin addict. Never using the drug himself, director Quentin Tarantino had Travolta research his characters addiction by speaking to a recovering heroin addict that he (Quentin) knew personally. Travolta asked Tarantino's friend to tell him how could he know what it felt like to be on heroin (without actually using it of course). Tarantino's friend explained "If you want to get the 'bottom envelope' feeling of that, get plastered on Tequila, and lie down in a hot pool. Then you will have barely touched the feeling of what it might be like to be on heroin." John Travolta then explained that he was ecstatic to tell his wife that he was "told" in order to research aspects of his upcoming roles' character, he had to get plastered on Tequila and lie in a hot pool. He stated she happily joined him at the hotel hot tub which had shots of Tequila lined from end to end on the railings to assist him in his "research".
Samuel L. Jackson auditioned for the part of Mr. Orange in Reservoir Dogs (1992), but it went to Tim Roth. Tarantino enjoyed Jackson's work so much that he wrote the part of Jules specifically for him. However, it was almost given to Paul Calderon (Paul/English Bob) after a great audition. When Jackson heard this, he flew to Los Angeles and auditioned again to secure the role. Calderon ended up with a small role as Paul.
Jules's
character was originally written to have a gigantic afro, but a
crew member obtained a variety of afro wigs and one jheri curl wig.
Quentin Tarantino had never thought about a jheri curl wig, but Samuel
L. Jackson tried it on, Tarantino liked it, and it was kept.Apparently Isabella Rossellini, Meg Ryan, Daryl Hannah, Joan Cusack and Michelle Pfeiffer were all auditioned for the role of Mia Wallace. Out of all of them, Tarantino said he preferred Pfeiffer. Rosanna Arquette also auditioned for Mia, but was offered the role of Jody instead. Other actresses considered for the role of Mia were Meg Tilly, Alfre Woodard and Holly Hunter.
Uma Thurman originally turned down the role of Mia Wallace. But apparently Quentin Tarantino was so desperate to have her as Mia, he read her the script over the phone, finally convincing her to take on the role.
The hairstyle of Uma Thurman's character Mia Wallace was loosely modeled after Louise Brooks, a silent film actress of the 1930's, and is known as the Louise Brooks bob (although Uma's hair is a bit longer but the style is the same). Brooks was also considered one of the first naturalistic actors in cinema compared to many other silent film performers of the day.
Mickey Rourke, Matt Dillon and Sylvester Stallone were all considered for the role of Butch.
The role of Butch was originally supposed to be an up and coming boxer. Matt Dillon was in talks to play the role, but never committed. Tarantino then changed the role and offered it to Bruce Willis, who apparently had been disappointed at not being signed to play Vincent.
Apparently Bruce Willis worked on the film for only 18 days.
The parts of "Honey Bunny" and "Pumpkin" were written specifically for Amanda Plummer and Tim Roth.
Quentin Tarantino wrote "The Wolf" character specifically for Harvey Keitel.
Quentin Tarantino originally wanted Christopher Jones for the role of Zed.
Quentin Tarantino hesitated over the choice between playing the character Jimmie or Lance. He ended up choosing Jimmie's role because he wanted to be behind the camera in Mia's overdose scene.
Pam Grier auditioned for the role of Lance's wife Jody. Although she had a great audition, Quentin Tarantino decided not to cast her because he couldn't imagine Grier getting pushed around the way the character does. Ellen DeGeneres also read for the role of Jody.
The cab driver, Esmarelda Villalobos (Angela Jones) appeared in a 30-minute short called Curdled (1991) in which she played a character who cleaned up after murders. This makes her fascinated by the idea of murder. Quentin Tarantino saw this film and decided to include this character in Pulp Fiction but as a cabdriver.
The role of Fabienne was originally written with Swiss actress Irene Jacob in mind. Jacob turned down the role to star in Trois couleurs: Rouge (1994) (English title: Three Colors: Red).
Steve Buscemi had to refuse the role of Jimmie due to scheduling conflicts. However, he does have a cameo appearance as the Buddy Holly waiter in Jack Rabbit Slim's.
Lawrence Bender, the film's producer makes a cameo appearance as one of the long-haired yuppies at the coffee shop.
The man who comes out of the bathroom shooting at Jules and Vincent is played by Alexis Arquette who is the brother of Rosanna Arquette.
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Screenplay & Production:
Quentin Tarantino wrote two of the three Pulp Fiction stories before he wrote Reservoir Dogs (1992) and True Romance (1993). After the success of those films, he decided to write a third story, intending to have each segment directed by a different person.
In the opening sequence with Honey Bunny and Pumpkin are discussing robbing the diner, Jules can be heard talking in the background about quitting "the life" and Vincent can be seen entering the bathroom.
Jules' car, a 1974 Chevy Nova, is never actually seen in full frame; only the interior or parts of the exterior are visible.
Quentin Tarantino incorporated aspects of the Netherlands into his films as he loves Amsterdam's. He wrote the Pulp Fiction script in Amsterdam, in a hotel room and in coffee shop ("Dutch" for hash-bar) Betty Boop. He stayed for several months, and left the video rental store "Cult Video" with an unpaid bill of about $150. This stay explains the references to Dutch culture and customs at the beginning of the movie. Vincent tells his heroin dealer that "I just got back from Amsterdam and discusses it with Jules in their opening scene. In the conversation in the Jack Rabbit Slims restaurant, Mia mentions that she goes to Amsterdam to "chill out" for a month or two every now and again. In the same restaurant, Vincent smokes Drum, which is a Dutch rolling tobacco. Also, the book version of the movie's screenplay includes some cut dialogue between Vincent and Mia - he realizes that she was "the girl in the cowboy hat" in a photo at a hash bar they both visited, the Cobra, which is right across from the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. Also in the scene at the motel with Butch, he calls Fabiene "tulip", then she says she likes to be called "tulip", as this flower has come to be a trademark symbol of the Netherlands.
The Big Kahuna burger brand mentioned in the movie made its first appearance in Reservoir Dogs (1992) when we see Vic Vega aka Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen) drinking from a cup with the Big Kahuna logo on it.
Apparently the Ezekiel bible quote was taken from any early draft of From Dusk Till Dawn (1996). Harvey Keitel's character was supposed to say it while walking backwards down the hallway facing the vampires.
During an interview Quentin Tarantino admitted that Jules' (Samuel L. Jackson) bible quote of Ezekiel 25:17 was something he remembered from the Sonny Chiba movie Karate Kiba (1976) aka The Bodyguard. He said he never read it in the bible, and it is taken almost word for word from that film. Tarantino has always been a Chiba fan and has included references to him in True Romance (1993) and a cameo by Chiba in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003).
Many people believe that the band-aid seen on the character Marsellus Wallace's (Ving Rhames) neck was an
intentional choice by the
filmmakers. In reality, it came from an accident Rhames had while
shaving his head. When Quentin Tarantino noticed this, it inspired him
to open the "Butch Coolidge and Marsellus Wallace" sequence with a
close-up of the band-aid instead. Ultimately Tarantino liked showing
the band-aid rather than Rhames' face because it accentuated the
character's mercurial nature and was more visually exciting than a
series of single shots of Rhames and Bruce Willis.In the script, the character of Paul the bartender (played by Paul Calderon) is referred to as "English Bob". Jules even refers to English Bob, saying "Yeah, [Winston Wolf] is about as European as fucking English Bob". However, when he says the line "My name's Paul, and this is between y'all" this apparently stuck, as he is credited as 'Paul' in the credits.
Vincent Vega's 1964 Chevelle Malibu convertible actually belongs to Quentin Tarantino and was stolen during the production of the film.
In the movie Vincent is upset when he finds out that his car (Chevelle Malibu) has been keyed, but he doesn't know who is responsible for doing it. Quentin Tarantino has been quoted as saying that Butch is responsible for keying Vincent's car.
When Vincent first walks into Mia's house, you can see one of the back doors is slightly open. This was done so the camera wouldn't be seen in the reflection.
The restaurant scene was filmed at the Hawthorne Grille (originally Holly's) located at 13763 Hawthorne Blvd., Hawthorne, CA. The building was demolished soon after filming.
When Mia Wallace's says to Vincent "An Elvis man should love this" this is a reference to an earlier cut scene where Mia claims that everyone can be classified as either an "Elvis" (Elvis Presley) person or a "Beatles" (The Beatles) person. She bets Vincent that he is an "Elvis", and he confirms it.
In a deleted scene Vincent tells Mia he's been fantasizing about being beaten up by Emma Peel of the Avengers. Uma Thurman played Emma Peel in the movie The Avengers (1998).
Mia Wallace's television pilot involved a team of 5 female secret agents, which included a blond woman, an African-American woman, and a Japanese woman. Uma Thurman's next picture with Tarantino would be Kill Bill (2003), where she was part of a team of 5 assassins, 4 of which were female and, besides her, consisted of a blond woman, and African-American woman, and a half-Japanese-half-Chinese-American woman. The French Sophie character may have also been a part of the team of assassins, making it 5. Mia's pilot character's specialty was knives. The Bride's first kill in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) was with a knife.
In Jack Rabbit Slim's restaurant, when Mia orders her $5 shake, that waiter "Buddy Holly" asks her if she wants it "Martin and Lewis or Amos and Andy?" He is referring to two comedy duos, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, two white men; Amos and Andy, two black men. Basically, he is asking her if she wants a vanilla shake or a chocolate shake. She has vanilla.
When Vincent calls Lance on his cell phone, Lance is eating a bowl of Fruit Brute, a cereal from the older monster cereal family. Fruit Brute (which, along with Yummy Mummy, Frankenberry, Boo Berry, and Count Chocula, make up the monster cereals) was later discontinued. Quentin Tarantino has held onto a box and drops it into scenes from time to time. It also made an appearance in Reservoir Dogs (1992).
The movie that Lance is watching when Vincent arrives with overdosed Mia is the Three Stooges short, Brideless Groom (1947). Apparently Tarantino is an avid Three Stooges fan, but couldn't get the rights from Comedy III to show them in the movie. So while a Three Stooges film appears on screen as Brideless Groom is public domain, the Three Stooges themselves do not. Emil Sitka, the frequent Three Stooges co-star who does appear on screen, is credited as "Hold hands you lovebirds".
The shot of Vincent plunging the syringe into Mia's chest was filmed by having John Travolta pull the needle out, then running the film backwards.
The board games "The Game of Life" and "Operation" are both seen on a table while Vincent and Lance are administering the adrenaline shot.
On-screen Marsellus Wallace and Mia Wallace never actually speak to one another, even though they are husband and wife.
This movie contains the first product placement for a real world product of any Quentin Tarantino movie. When Esmarelda is waiting outside the arena for Butch we can clearly see 'THERMOS' on the bottom of the cup she is drinking from.
Knoxville, Tennessee, where Butch was meeting his connection and where his great-grandfather bought the gold watch, is also Quentin Tarantino's birthplace.
The marquee where Butch boxes advertises the following fights: "Coolidge vs Wilson" and "Vossler vs Martinez". The first is a reference to United States Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Woodrow Wilson, the second is a reference to Russell Vossler and Jerry Martinez, who are two friends of Tarantino's from when he worked in a video store.
In the screenplay, Butch is a featherweight boxer but in the film, Butch's opponent Wilson has his weight announced as "210 pounds" , implying that Butch is a heavyweight.
In the Pulp Fiction screenplay it says that Zed and Maynard are brothers.
Quentin Tarantino had originally intended "My Sharona" (by The Knack) to be played during the Gimp torture sequence, but the rights had already been licensed to another film, Reality Bites (1994). On top of this, one of the members of the band had become a born again Christian, and didn't want the song to be associated with a scene of sexual violence.
In the Pulp Fiction script it reads that the "The Bonnie Situation" was originally titled "Jules, Vincent, Jimmie and The Wolf".
According to an interview with Phil LaMarr (Marvin), it was he who came up with the idea of his character Marvin being shot in the face. Marvin was originally supposed to be accidentally shot in the throat and survive. Knowing that Marvin would die a slow, painful death, Vincent and Jules decide that Marvin should be shot in the head and put out of his misery. Knowing that this would make the characters unlikeable, LaMarr took his idea to Quentin Tarantino and he agreed to it, figuring that a single-bullet kill would be funnier.
During "The Bonnie Situation" story, Vincent says that if Jimmie had Lava in the bathroom, he could have gotten his hands cleaner. John Travolta started in show business singing in ads for Lava soap.
In Reservoir Dogs (1992), Nice Guy Eddie Cabot (Chris Penn) arranges for Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) who is shot to be treated by a nurse he knows named Bonnie. In Pulp Fiction, Jimmy's wife is a nurse named Bonnie.
In the movie whenever Vincent Vega (John Travolta) goes to the toilet something bad always seems to happen.
According to Roger Avary, who co-wrote the Pulp Fiction script with Quentin Tarantino, the original plan was to have the briefcase contain diamonds. This seemed neither exciting nor original, so Avary and Tarantino decided to have the briefcase's contents never appear on screen; this way each film goer could mentally "fill in the blank" with whatever struck his or her imagination as best fitting the description "so beautiful". The orange light bulb (projecting shimmering light onto the actors' faces) was a last-minute decision and added a completely unintended fantastic element. In a radio interview with 'Howard Stern' in late 2003, Quentin Tarantino was asked by a caller the contents of the briefcase, and he answered, "It's whatever the viewer wants it to be."
Apparently Jules' "Bad Mother Fucker" wallet actually belongs to Quentin Tarantino. The inscription on the wallet is a reference to the theme song of Shaft (1971).
A deleted scene from the final film involved Jules trying to consider what to do while Pumpkin and Honey Bunny rob the diner. In the scene, Jules points his gun at the bottom of the table and fires up twice, hitting Pumpkin and killing him. He then spins around and shoots Honey Bunny three times, killing her. As she falls her gun goes off and hits the Long Haired Yuppie Scum, who dies screaming on the floor. The scene then cuts back to Jules talking to Pumpkin in the diner, revealing the shootings to have happened entirely in Jules' mind.
Vincent leaves the diner with the book he reads while on the toilet when he gets shot in Butch's apartment.
For more insight to the making of this movie, take a look at this behind the scenes featurette where Tarantino explain why he cast Travolta, although Travolta knew he wasn't the most bankable choice:
Here Samuel L. Jackson commentary describing how his interpretation of the script's ending landed him the role:
Still want more then you can buy Pulp Fiction at Amazon
.
Source:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110912/trivia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulp_Fiction_(film)
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