Pulp Fiction Script, FAQ & Trivia

Axiom3000 · admin Gender: Joined: 08 Apr 2007 Posts: 81

I. Pulp Fiction Script

Download the script here.

II. Pulp Fiction FAQ

1. What is contained in the briefcase?
There is no real answer to this and Tarantino has actually said that he didn't know what to put in the case so he decided to leave it to the viewers to decide. There's no truth to the 'friend of a friend' rumour that Quentin said the briefcase contains Marsellus' soul. One interesting suggestion is that it contains the diamonds from 'Reservoir Dogs'.
--> Speculation thread

2. What films have influenced Tarantino in the making of 'Pulp Fiction'?
The dance competition is clearly influenced by Jean-Luc Godard's's 1964 film 'Bande A Parte' which Tarantino has named his production company after. The unknown contents of the briefcase are a homage to Robert Aldrich's's film 'Kiss Me Deadly', made in 1955. When Butch stops at the lights and sees Marsellus crossing the road, we are reminded of Alfred Hitchcock's's film 'Psycho' when Janet Leigh stops at a set of lights to see her boss crossing the road. The pawn shop rape is clearly reminiscent of 'Deliverance', made in 1972 by John Boorman. 'The Bonnie Situation' contains Jules and his friend Jimmy, clearly a reference to Francois Truffaut's film, 'Jules et Jim'. The character of Wolf in this story is taken from Jean Reno's portrayal of a 'cleaner' in Luc Besson's La Femme Nikita, a role reprised by Keitel himself in the American remake Point of No Return. In addition, the films of John Woo, Sam Peckinpah, Brian DePalma and Don Siegel are all important.

3. Why did Mia overdose at her house?
She thought that she was snorting cocaine whereas she was taking Vince's extremely pure heroin. His heroin had been packaged as cocaine would normally be because his dealer had run out of the standard heroin packaging.

4. Why did Butch return to the pawn shop to save Marsellus?
Redemption is one of the central themes of this film and this scene along with Jules' saving of Honey Bunny and Pumpkin in the diner are the best examples of this. Butch's conscience made him go back to save Marsellus and this acted as his redemption for killing Wilson in the previous night's boxing match.

5. Why did Vince leave his gun on the counter at Butch's apartment when he went to the bathroom?
Quite simply, he didn't, the gun belonged to Marsellus. Vince was clearly with somebody else at the apartment as he didn't react when Butch came in, thinking it was his partner. Jules had given up 'the life' by this point and Marsellus was probably filling in on this job. For further evidence look at the scene where Butch runs Marsellus over; the 'big man' is carrying two cups and as he is near to Butch's apartment, we can assume that he is Vince's partner.

6. Why are Honey Bunny's lines different from the beginning of the film and at the end?
A lot of people think this was probably a mistake. It has also been thought by some that Tarantino was showing us the difference between perceptions of different people in the diner, the second time being Jules' perception. It is interesting to note that in a early version of the script the difference isn't there, but it was added in a later version.

7. What was Winston Wolf doing in a tuxedo at 8:30 in the morning? Where was he?
The script explains that Winston was in a hotel suite where people were gambling. If you listen closely, you can hear someone in the room telling the gamblers to 'place their bets'.

8. What was the book that Vince was reading on the toilet?
"Modesty Blaise", a pulpy novel written by Peter O'Donnell in 1965 which is very much in keeping with the film's title.

9. How does a guy like Jimmy know a gangster like Jules? Why does Jules refer to him as 'his partner'?
Quentin has said in an interview (Denver Post) that Jimmy used to work for Marsellus, but when he married Bonnie she made him quit, and Jules respects that.

10. Who was Marvin and why did Jules and Vince take him with them?
I think we can assume that Marvin also works for Marsellus as Vince refers to 'our guy' before they go up to the apartment.

11. Why is there a band-aid on Marsellus' neck?
The actor Ving Rhames simply had a rather ugly looking scar on the back of his neck and so the make-up artist covered this up with a band-aid so that the scar didn't distract the audience too much.

12. There's bullet holes in the wall behind Jules and Vince before 'The Fourth Man' (a.k.a. Seinfeld) empties his gun. Was this an editing error?
It seems to be possible that the holes might have been there for other reasons, it's not a great apartment, but it could be a mistake in editing.

13. Red Apple cigarettes appear throughout the film, what are they?
Tarantino seems to have invented this brand presumably to minimize the amount of product placement in the film. This is also done by using other brands which were around in the 1970's but are no longer available (i.e. Fruite Brute cereal).

14. What happened to the Gimp? Did butch kill him, or was he just knocked out?
The script explains that Butch hitting the Gimp caused him to hang himself to death on his leash.

15. Did Butch key Vince's car outside Sally Le Roy's?
The script has Vince pulling up to a white Honda in a near-empty parking lot outside Sally Le Roy's. There is no such scene in the filmed version, so it's tough to say what Tarantino's intentions were here. It's leaves the possibility open.

III. Pulp Fiction Trivia

Post trivia related to Pulp Fiction here, e.g.

- Quentin Tarantino hesitated over the choice between the character he was going to play: Jimmie or Lance. He ended up choosing Jimmie's role because he wanted to be behind the camera in Mia's overdose scene.

- Tarantino originally wrote the role of Jules specifically for Samuel L. Jackson, however it was almost given to 'Paul Calderon' after a great audition. When Jackson heard this, he flew to LA and re-auditioned, getting back the part he was supposed to play. Calderon ended up with a cameo as Paul, the bartender.

marv · 28.04.2007 - 04:30 Post subject:

thx. some of this are pretty interesting things i didnt know before (:

gold watch · moderator Joined: 11 Apr 2007 Posts: 34

Le Big Mac · the gimp Gender: Joined: 24 Apr 2008 Posts: 1

Hi there

Sorry to question someone with my first post! But........

ref part 3 of the trivia - I read somewhere fairly recently - it may have been in Empire magazine- abrief interview with Samuel L., in which he says he almost lost the part to Lawrence Fishburne, and that one of the producers actually thought he WAS Lawrence Fishbourne!

Doesn't necessarily mean the info in part 3 above is wrong, maybe just adds to it.

I'm sure we're all thankfull that it turned out the way it did!