![]() So, let’s break Pulp Fiction down into its basic parts to see how a film, trademarked as Tarantino’s mish-mash-masterpiece and defined as ‘pulp’, can still fit seamlessly into the 5 Plot Point Structure. The fact that the stories of Vince, Butch & Jules revolve around one another like the spokes of a wheel around a center (with Marsellus Wallace being the hub of the Pulp Fiction wheel) is what makes the movie endlessly endearing to watch and allows all those multiple viewings of to be so rewarding, time and time again. ![]() Tarantino quotes the dictionary to tell you how pulpy his fiction will be, but another quote could be borrowed from Aristotle who coined the phrase, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Pulp Fiction is made better than it would have been if Tarantino had made any one of the three stories within it into its own solo feature-length film. The trick is finding where they go and how they fit together. If you’re keeping score at home, that’s 15 total Plot Points to go around. Sounds a little contradictory to the American Heritage Dictionary’s thoughts on ‘pulp’, doesn’t it?ĭespite the definition Tarantino throws at us, the proof is in the pudding: Pulp Fiction, for all its supposed ‘softness’ or ‘shapelessness’, stands as a shining gold testament to the validity of the 5 Plot Points because of how stridently it adheres to the 5 Plot Point structure and because it uses the 5 Plot Points to tell each of the three major stories. It’s a film that does exactly the right things at precisely the right times. Jackson), Vincent Vega (John Travolta) & Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis). It has a clearly defined beginning, middle and end for each of the three major characters: Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. It meticulously balances each violent act of depravity with positive and admirable virtues (the depraved sexual fetishes of Zed & Maynard balanced by Butch’s bravery in rescuing Marsellus). The structure of Pulp Fiction is nothing short of complex. The dialogue is as humorous as the violence is venomous, making ‘pulp’ the last thing on our minds. We’re swept away by Tarantino’s methodical building of tension, shown scenes of abrupt violence impeccably accented by the application of Tarantino’s jazzy breed of iambic pentameter. Yet even as the definition of pulp fades, it won’t take long before we forget the significance of pulp’s meaning. ![]() By Tarantino’s admission, he compares it to ‘soft, moist, shapeless masses of matter’ names it ‘Pulp’, thus calling it a film ‘containing lurid subject matter’ crediting its acclaim to the ‘rough’, ‘unfinished’ veneer. This is how Quentin Tarantino opens his second and greatest film, Pulp Fiction (1994) telling us upfront, in plain English (do you speak it?) courtesy of the American Heritage Dictionary, what to expect. Don’t worry you don’t need any more than that to start with. That’s all the pre-requisite information you’re allowed to bring in with you before the movie begins. A magazine or book containing lurid subject matter and being characteristically printed on rough, unfinished paper.”
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