Pulp Fiction Analysis - Structure, Characters & Dialogue

a lot of people love pulp fiction and for good reason - there aren't many movies that have had a cultural impact and impact on filmmaking and filmmaking techniques at least to the level of Pulp Fiction I want to look at this movie from three different perspectives the structure the characters in the dialogue but to start off with the structure part of why this movie is so beloved is that it is always going to keep you on your toes this isn't a movie that you can slack off - in fact it requires your complete attention the movie is a nonlinear timeline to help tell its story going from one crazy event to the next but when you break it down the narrative structure is actually pretty standard in real time there are three different stories that are told Jules and Vincent Vincent and Mia and Butch a fourth story of pumpkin and honey bunny is later added to the narrative of Jules and Vincent but there's going to be a little bit more on this later but the order in which the film tells the story is much more confusing we open with the restaurant robbers then go back to Jules and Vincent then jump ahead even more - later in the Jules and Vincent story then go back to me and Vincent then tell the butch story before returning to Jules and Vincent as they catch up with the restaurant robbers now undeniably seeing this for the first time can be confusing especially if you go and not knowing what to expect however the way that this film is structured is also integral to the flow the narrative and the introduction to key events let me explain at the very end of the movie we learned that this is a story about redemption about someone who has done bad things who then decides to do good things after we see this it lets us make connections it lets us reflect on what we've already seen we already know that Vincent dies in jewels lives and in hindsight we are able to realize is because Jules decided to leave his life as a gangster behind this becomes even more interesting when you look at the story of butch butch is introduced as a washed-up boxer who only has a few fights left in him Marcellus offers him the way out to fake the fight and reap the rewards this would be morally wrong so instead he chooses to stand up for himself go against the crime boss and do what he wants to do and which he knows is right which is to fight and to win I'll be discussing this a little bit later these ideas that are present early in the film have somewhat ambiguous meanings it is somewhat hard to realize they all have in common sure they definitely share a few characters but the real connection isn't a literal one but instead of thematic one which is the idea of redemption at the beginning of the movie it appears to be a soft moist shapeless mass of matter but by the end of the movie it all becomes clear come on let's give it character if you are wondering what makes pulp fiction so beloved and so classic look no further than the characters these characters look like they are completely unrelated all they are gangsters murderers and drug addicts normally a lot of people would want nothing to do with these people but we don't just see the seedy underbelly of crime we see real conversations we see real people let's take a closer look at the few of the main characters to look at morality character arcs and of course as our mentioned redemption I wanna start off by looking at jewels because despite him not being the character with the most screen time I feel like his character is most important when exploring the different themes that are present in this movie he has the biggest character arc and goes through the most development Jules is the professional criminal he takes his job seriously he is good at it and is able to succeed in what he does whereas his counterparts fail on almost all levels Jules is someone who seeks something more in life he wants to be able to try new things and isn't satisfied with where his life is going once he is shot at and somehow manages to survive he takes this as a warning he suspects religion as something to do with it regardless of what you think of this he got out at the right time he's able to move on to doing something more with his life maybe had he not left he would have taken Vincent's spot and suffered a similar fate Vincent however is the direct opposite of Jules he is someone who doesn't take his job seriously cracking jokes using drugs and not taking the situation and all seriously at the same time he is still a professional he may do things his way but he still does them he does this job where his life is at risk Marcel is trust him enough to take his wife out dinner before he dies on the job throughout the film it becomes obvious that Vincent takes things as they are when problems arise he goes to fix them he doesn't think of this incident is a magical or spiritual moment he just thinks of it as them getting lucky this of course leads to his death but it becomes clear that at least to him he would rather stick to what he believes in that upward his life and change who he really is Mia is someone who goes through life without a warrior or a care she married someone who is able to protect her and uses this freedom to play with fire so to speak using drugs and flirting with Vincent after she knows I could get both of them in trouble she faces her punishment after overdosing but the main theme of this movie is redemption and I feel like with her character it's really important to wonder if she will be redeemed well her character continued to go through life recklessly or will she take this as I warned to try and fix her life it's entirely up to interpretation worldview I'd love to hear your thoughts on this down in the comments but on the other hand is actually one of the most noble characters in the film in his life he cares about a few things above all else the most important of these would be his family's legacy he cares enough about his father to risk his own life over his father's watch he wants to fight his hardest so that his legacy isn't tarnished at the same time he is also one of the hardest characters to elate to his character keeps to himself and is hard to relate dear struggles aren't Universal and his character is primarily self driven he is defined by pushing himself to be his best no matter what risk is involved which is a direct contrast to most other characters in this film pumpkin and honey bunny are some of the most important characters in the story they opened the narrative up and closed it as well when the film opens up we see them attempting to rob a small cafe this really allows the audience to sink into the narrative you've heard stories about armed robbery before where as stories that say hidden to the public like organized crime don't seem as normal however by the end of the movie their crime seems almost normal when you compare armed robbery to all these murders that we have seen it isn't as bad the audience perspective has changed about them from the opening to the closing at the same time there is a case of dramatic irony by the end of the movie the audience knows that these characters are cold-blooded killers on any other day before this pumpkin and the honey bunny would be dead but we as the audience are able to see how lucky they are that not only did they live they also got the money but I want to end this video by saying something about dialogue because it really is the foundation and lifeblood of this entire movie the dialogue is fantastic and that is because of its purpose the dialogue isn't here to progress a story it is there to make the characters relateable the conversations are authentic it seems like something you would talk about with a friend it makes it feel like you are one of the friends this leads us to want to see what happens next from the opening scene we know that this is a dangerous movie people are killed and we need to see what happens to these characters that we have really grown fond of that is what is so great about the dialogue in this movie it places us in with the characters we are watching to see these relationships expand all the while being taken for Joyride in the crazy world of Pulp Fiction thank you so much for watching there's a lot of fun talking about pulp fiction I haven't talked about in a long time and I'm glad to finally cover in this series next week we are going to be looking at the Incredibles that video is going to be released next Saturday and is linked on the right of the screen on the left is my last video about Gangrel make sure you check that out if you haven't seen it yet and as always be sure to check out movie rehab com thanks for watching hm

Channel: Jack's Movie Reviews

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Keywords: Pulp Fiction, Analysis, Pulp Fiction Analysis, Pulp, Fiction, Movie Review, Quentin Tarantino, Breakdown, Video Essay, Film Dissection, Jack's Movie Reviews, Structure, Characters, Pulp Fiction Video Essay, what makes pulp fiction so great, quentin tarantino analysis, Miramax, Samuel L Jackson, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman, Kahuna Burger, Jules, Vincent, Oscars, Cannes Film, Film, Movies, Drama, Comedy, Horror, Action, HD

Id: tE7RM-Pymdg

Length: 7min 49sec (469 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 13 2016