Scott,

I knew I discovered a great site when I stumbled upon GITS a few months ago. Let me join the ranks in thanking you for one-stop access to invaluable information and all that you do here on a daily basis. THANK YOU!

Your PF analysis is extraordinarily good; or, at least I found myself nodding in agreement with everything you had to say. And you covered the sequence quite well.

I too wondered about the nonlinear choice after initial viewing. After several viewings, I came to the exact same conclusions. He had to do it this way in order for all the threads to work. My initial take,(wish I could relive that), was that it was a masterful tension device. When we finally realize that our hero’s are in the very coffee shop as Pumpkin and Honey Bunny (Garcon!…Coffee!), we have several delicious feelings wash over us - not the least of which is - oh shit! Rather than be mired in character development, we already know Pumpkin & Honey Bunny and have spent half of the movie wondering when we would see them again. I don’t know how I didn’t see it coming, but I didn’t. But as you point out, we needed Jules to have his epiphany beforehand for the puzzle pieces to fit well. And if it were told in a linear fashion, we would be deprived of the end surprise.

I have heard Tarantino say that he enjoys setting up several plotlines to keep audiences thinking. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoy this format(I like puzzles). But he is actually sowing seeds as he goes in the dialogue. Look for example at the dialogue between Jules/Vincent on the way to Brett‘s apartment:

We learn about(1. Royale/cheese for Brett’s setup, 2. Fact that Marsellus is not to be messed with - He threw Tony R. four stories for giving a foot massage - what might he do if someone accidentally kills his wife?, 3. Mia starred in a failed pilot which sets up humorous Jackrabbit dialogue/joke later). The standalone Chris Walkin gold watch scene (while incredibly funny) addresses the good question of “Why in the world would Butch go back to his apartment after throwing the fight?” A: The Watch (I don’t have time to go into it, but it is VERY IMPORTANT hehe).

A third reason why Vince should NEVER have gone to the bathroom - Mia OD’s while he has an interesting heart-heart with himself.

Scott, another amazing post. I know this is a rerun but it is still great to read it again.

ZTC - great observation on the other bathroom moment.

Reminds me of the great John Lennon quote: "Life is what happens while you are in the bathroom"

Wow. I just watched Pulp Fiction for the first time (I know, I know), after becoming a QT fan based on his more recent movies. Your analysis was brilliant, and I thank you.

Great analysis, Scott.

I've never really watched PF with the question in mind "could this structure have been forged in the edit"?

If you put the three stories chronologically, the movie ends with a happy ending for Bruce Willis' character.

Willis was the movie's biggest star at the time.

Now, Travolta was the big surprise and having Travolta's character die before the end would have been a downer.

Any thoughts?

@Karel: I could be dead wrong on this, but I really feel what I articulated in my post about Jules "getting it" (the Truth) and Vincent not "getting it" is the -- for lack of a better word -- moral center of the story. The fact that Butch (Willis) does the honorable thing -- going back to save Marsellus -- supports that idea because his actions are also 'moral' in nature. So in the midst of this crazy, seemingly immoral world, there are two morality tales going on, the biggest one being Jules' 'conversion' which he exhibits in that last scene by not blowing away Pumpkin and Honey Bunny. And the nonlinear approach actually makes those points in a more dramatic way than if QT had simply told the story in a straight chronological manner.

QT may have just decided to go nonlinear because - as I noted - it's cool. But per Jung and synchronicity, if that's the case, his choice actually supports the emotional plot of the story. That said, I bet QT knew that and was intentional in that regard in using nonlinear approach.

In fact, this just occurred to me. Isn't it interesting Jules quotes the Old Testament? If you look at the story of Jacob and Esau, the Good Brother and the Bad Brother, might that not tie into Jules and Vincent, Good Brother / Bad Brother? Pulp Fiction has an almost Old Testament feel to it with all its violence and craziness.

It makes a lot of sense and I bet you're right.

BTW I attended the May 1994 Cannes press screening, 8am at the Salle Lumiere when Pulp Fiction was first shown to the world press.

I will never forget the electricity in the air.

@Karel: Nice one for the memory banks!

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