Director
Quentin Tarantino
Leading Actors/Actresses
John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Uma Thurman
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Bruce Willis, Harvey Keitel, and Tim Roth
Genre
Black Comedy, Neo-Noir, Thriller
Language
English
Awards
Palme d'Or at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival; Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
Date of Release
October 14, 1994
Producer
Lawrence Bender
Setting and Context
Los Angeles, present day
Narrator and Point of View
Pumpkin and Honey Bunny; Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield; Butch Coolidge
Tone and Mood
Darkly comedic; violent; thrilling; action-packed; cynical; self-aware.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonists: Vincent, Jules, and Butch; Antagonists: Zed and Maynard, Pumpkin and Honey Bunny
Major Conflict
The major conflict of the film is between Butch and Marsellus.
Climax
The climax of the film is at the diner where Honey and Bunny take everyone hostage, and Jules announces in the middle of a Mexican standoff that he finally understands Ezekiel 25:17.
Foreshadowing
When Butch and Vincent first meet, they share a brief but loaded exchange of glances, which foreshadows the fact that the men will later meet again under life-and-death circumstances.
Understatement
Jules shoots a man dead before casually telling another man, "Oh I'm sorry, did I break your concentration?"
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
The film uses a non-linear chronological structure: beginning at the end, flashing back in time, and showing events in no systematic order.
Allusions
Butch and Marsellus being captured and raped by Zed and Maynard is an allusion to John Boorman's 1972 film Deliverance. Butch seeing Marsellus in the crosswalk is an allusion to Alfred Hitchock's 1960 film Psycho.
Paradox
Jules reciting a passage from the Bible before committing cold-blooded murder is a moral paradox, one that he attempts to resolve at the end of the film by renouncing his career as a criminal.
Parallelism
Quentin Tarantino employs parallel shots of Vincent and Mia in the car going to Jackrabbit Slim's, and then back from Lance's house. The identical shots emphasize the differences in their facial expressions.
