‘Pulp Fiction’ moved the needle
After 25 years, overdose scene still chills.
One scene stands alone in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 film “Pulp Fiction” for pure heart-stopping shock – when Uma Thurman’s dying Mia is revived from a heroin overdose by her bodyguard chaperone Vincent (John Travolta) and drug-dealer Lance (Eric Stoltz). Vincent plunges a hypodermic needle of adrenaline into Mia’s heart and jolts her screaming violently back to life.
“Once you see that scene, you can never unsee it. It packs one hell of a punch and was so unprecedented,” says film historian Leonard Maltin of the game-changing crime drama released 25 years ago Monday. “‘Pulp Fiction’ is an extraordinary film that has so many memorable scenes, but that scene is one reason it’s unforgettable.’ “
The scene’s power was enhanced by casting Hollywood stars to play the complicated but impossible not to love characters. Travolta’s hitman had just returned from twisting brilliantly during a dance competition with his charge for the evening, his crime-boss’ girlfriend.
Vincent departs for the toilet and Mia finds drugs in his jacket, snorting powerful heroin and collapsing as Vincent finds her and scrambles to find help with his drug dealer. Their only option is to try the adrenaline shot. Jason Bailey writes in his book “Pulp Fiction: The Complete History of Quentin Tarantino’s Masterpiece” that Tarantino was originally going to place a fake chestplate on Thurman for the needle plunge, but wasn’t satisfied.
Instead, he filmed Travolta’s hand flying back from Thurman’s chest, and cleverly reversed the movement in editing. The tension plays out with closeups of the actors’ panicked faces as they contemplate the risky procedure and a detail shot of the dripping needle. Tarantino shows Vincent’s swinging arm, but not the actual needle entry. But it’s excruciatingly audible.
“It’s that very specific ‘thump’ that makes the scene,” says Bailey. “It’s just the perfect sound.”
Rosanna Arquette, as Jody, Lance’s wife, watches enthralled, breaking the tension as Mia shows life, uttering, “That was (expletive) trippy.”
At the movie’s New York Film Festival premiere, one viewer was so shocked by the moment that he fainted, forcing the screening to be halted. But across the nation, moviegoers experienced the hair-raising moment for themselves.
“I was just wide-eyed,” says film critic Scott Mantz. “When Vincent hit her chest and Mia freaked out, everybody in the theater gasped, like ‘Oh, my God!’ It was so wild, so shocking.”
Bailey says Tarantino, who devoured films while working at Video Archives video rental store, was likely inspired by the 1978 Martin Scorsese documentary “American Boy,” in which Steven Prince tells his street story of bringing a woman back to life with the drastic method.
“It’s unmistakable that this is the source, Steven Prince even does the same hand motion,” Bailey says. “It’s one thing to hear this guy telling the story of saving a woman from OD’ing with an adrenaline shot. It’s quite another thing to see it played out with John Travolta and Uma Thurman.”
Tara Wood, writer and director of the Tarantino documentary “QT8: Quentin Tarantino, The First Eight,” which will be released nationwide by Fathom Events on Oct. 21, says the scene is still viscerally powerful, 25 years later.
“The ‘Pulp Fiction’ syringe has been injected in our culture. People are still talking about it,” Wood says. “And it’s one of the few scenes that no other filmmaker has even tried to copy from Tarantino. And they have tried to copy them all.”
“Once you see that scene, you can never unsee it. It packs one hell of a punch and was so unprecedented.” Leonard Maltin