Viva Vince Vega
Why it’s always worth bringing out the gimp... 1994 OUT NOW DVD, BD
PULPFICTION: 20th ANIVERSARY COLLECTOR’S EDITION 18
How best to celebrate 20 years of bad mother fuckers, gimps and tasty beverages? For those averse to Harvey Keitel’s insurance-ad reprise of Winston Wolf, this bumper Blu-ray set offers a handy alternative, featuring a Jack Rabbit Slim’s menu, Zed’s keyring, Big Kahuna Burger bag, branded bank note and the most iconic movie of the 1990s. Such collector mania, while entirely befitting Quentin Tarantino’s groundbreaker, makes for a curious throwback to the days before downloads. Which begs the question: 20 years on, what is Pulp Fiction’s legacy?
On release in 1994, it felt like the stakes had changed. This was a formally complex, Palme d’Or winner that was also a $100m box-office smash, breaking all known rules of Hollywood art and commerce. Inevitably, QT’s trademarks of pop-culture yakking, scrambled narratives and flippant violence were splattered across screens. Amid myriad wannabes, a new generation of mavericks (led by Andersons P.T. and Wes) arrived via Miramax-style mini-majors, raising hopes of an indie-flavoured revolution.
Then came The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, Harry Potter and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it might seem today as if Pulp Fiction was a dead end. But Tarantino’s influence extended beyond tone and subject. While the film’s loop-the-loop plotting isn’t as copied these days, flashforwards and rewinds are common even in superhero storytelling. Marvel’s interconnectedness, meanwhile, reflects the migration of fictional brands and families across Tarantino’s films.
All of these things are united by surprising castings choices: another Tarantino coup. John Travolta felt like the masterstroke until he hit the career self-destruct button (again), while Uma Thurman needed a leg-up from Kill Bill to sustain the post- Fiction buzz. Today, the undeniable star is Samuel L. Jackson, even if (after Mace Windu and Nick Fury) we’ve lost some of the joy of watching him turn supernova. The director himself has matured into one of Hollywood’s most recognised auteurs, still able to set his own trends, and his purchase of a cinema to run old prints is a reminder that PF was one of the last great film films, before digital changed the medium.
The movie’s continuing freshness astounds, given you can probably recite the whole thing. Just admire the unruffled calm of Butch and Fabienne’s gutter-poetic romance, the sick wit that reaches its peak in that pawn shop basement and the balls to kill off stars en route. And that’s just one of Pulp Fiction’s stories. The tales continue on several new extras, including cast interviews and a critics’ conversation. The process of canonisation can age even the most innovative movie, yet Pulp Fiction still jolts like an adrenaline shot to the heart.
Simon Kinnear
Extras › Memorabilia › Featurettes › Interviews