I just rewatched Pulp Fiction (on video) and it’s still as good as when I first saw it in the theater.
Spoilers if you still haven’t seen it.
Any ideas on what was in the attache case?
Why did Jules and Vincent take Marvin with them? They apparently were sent to the apartment to kill everyone. If they were supposed to take Marvin alive for some reason, why weren’t they concerned when Vincent accidently killed him?
Does anyone with a medical (or drug abuse) background know if the whole adrenaline thing was realistic?
Why was Kathy Griffin credited as Herself in the end credits? Was Tarantino saying that the woman who helped Marcellus after the accident was supposed to actually be Kathy Griffin the actress and not just some anonymous woman?
Tarantino has said that there is no definitive answer to what’s in the attache case, but one theory is that it’s Marsalles’ soul. Don’t ask me.
Marvin was an informant who helped them find the case by selling out the other three. When Jules and Vinnie are taking the guns out of the trunk, they are wondering how many of them there are, and one of them asks “including our guy?” in reference to Marvin. I guess they were just giving him a ride, or just getting him out of there so the cops wouldn’t pick him up, but they just didn’t care that much about him when he got shot. Maybe they were going to shoot him later anyway so he wouldn’t sell them out. And notice that Marvin is there to open the door at the prescribed time.
I’ve heard of the adrenalin shot happening, but I don’t have any Official Medical Documents handy to back it up. The most high profile case I’ve heard of was Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx being revived by paramedics this way.
I never noticed the Kathy Griffin credit. It was most likely done on a whim when they were putting together the titles, like the Emil Sitka credit (“Hold hands you lovebirds”). That’s from a 3 Stooges episode BTW.
One of the most common interpretations is that the attache case held Marcellus’ soul. Remember the scene filmed from behind (no, not THAT scene) that showed the bandaid on his neck? Supposedly, that was the place the soul was sucked out.
[qoute]Why did Jules and Vincent take Marvin with them? They apparently were
sent to the apartment to kill everyone. If they were supposed to take
Marvin alive for some reason, why weren’t they concerned when Vincent
accidently killed him?
[/quote]
I always thought that the only reason they didn’t kill Marvin was that Jules believed that divine intervention saved both him and Vincent from being shot and (as we find out later) he felt that it was a sign from God to get out of the Killing Business.
Maybe they were driving around with him until they could figure out a way to take care of him (as a witness) without killing him.
My feelings however, is that there is no answer. In true Taratino form, he knew that Marvin would be killed anyway, so he didn’t worry about an explanation of something that wasn’t going to happen.
Don’t know for sure but I have heard this long before Pulp Fiction.
My guess is that it is Tarantino just being Tarantino - doing the little off the wall things for no other reason other than causing viewers to try to determine deeper meanings.
As all Taratino fans know, there are always open ended situations in his films that don’t have explanations or answers.
I once read that part of what makes him successful is that his audiences spend so much time becoming involved in the logic of his films when there really isn’t any logic to be found.
>^,^<
KITTEN
He who walk through airport door sideways going to Bangkok. - Confucius
My interpretation has always been that Marvin was a plant. He worked for Marcellus same as Travolta and Jackson, and was in the apartment posing as a buddy of Brad and the other guys in order to keep an eye on them. This seems particularly true because at one point either Travolta or Jackson asked Marvin “Why didn’t you tell us there was another guy in the bathrooom?”
I once wrote an entire exam essay claiming that the Holy Grail was in the briefcase. (It was a lit theory class – it didn’t have to make sense.) Unfortunately, that was almost four years ago and I can’t remember what my arguments were. BTW, did any culture ever REALLY believe that souls could be sucked out of the back of the neck, or did the folks who made up that theory just think it sounded good?
I’ve read that the adrenaline shot thing probably wouldn’t work in real life – the Washington Post ran an article on this shortly after the movie came out. Then again, they might have just been trying to discourage people from trying this at home …
I’d heard the Reservoir Dogs theory also, but like Harvey claims, Tarantino said in an interview that he intended the briefcase to be open to the audience’s interpretation, that even he had no real answer to what was inside.
Something very precious, that’s it. The radiant glow it gave off I think was just a cinematic affectation.
My favorite part of that movie will always be Walken’s monologue … love that guy.
Everybody’s already said what I’m going to say, but I can’t help putting in my two cents. Marvin was obviously working with Marsellus Wallace…he’s the guy who let Jules and Vincent into the apartment at the appointed time and he should have told them that there was a guy hiding in the bathroom, but forgot to in the heat of the moment. Part of the fun is the question of whether Marvin was originally part of Brad’s gang and then sold them out or whether he was planted by Marsellus. Tarantino said that what was in the attache case was supposed to be left up to the imagination of the viewer. My imagination says that I like the idea of the loot from Reservoir Dogs. There are connections between the two movies…Vic Vega in Reservoir Dogs (the Michael Madsen character) was Vincent Vega’s brother. Being realistic, Mr. Pink, the Steve Buscemi character in Reservoir Dogs, got busted by the cops as he tried to flee with the loot from the warehouse after the final shootout, so we should assume that the diamonds were taken as evidence by the police. However, as any reader of James Ellroy novels knows, the LAPD is notoriously corrupt…
I’ve heard the theories about the Holy Grail and Marcellus’ soul before. Personally, I’m going with Tarantino’s statement that the contents of the case is unknown.
I always thought the “Including our guy?” remark was referring to Brett (the apparent leader of the group). But the Marvin-as-turncoat theory certainly makes a lot more sense.
As for Kathy Griffin, I believe she and Tarantino were in a relationship at the time Pulp Fiction was made. This might explain why Tarantino singled her out in the credits but doesn’t really tell us why he chose this method to do so.
This is on a tangent, but…
If you read the orignal script, the death of Marcus is a lot more disturbing, and funny, if you’re sick.
Marcus gets shot in the neck, and doesn’t quite die, but it’s obvious he’s gonna die soon. So he’s in the back moaning, and bleeding, and Jules and Vinnie are trying to figure out what to do. Vinnie wants to shoot him again just to put him out of his misery, but Jules doesn’t want him to, since it’s daylight and the suburbs. Marcusis still moaning, and it freaks Vinnie out a little. So they decide to count to 3, and then Jules will honk the horn, and Vinnie shoots. After some discussion as to whether they’re counting up or down, it works out, and Marcus’s head explodes just like in the theatrical release.
And the whole dancing contest was added after Travolta was cast.
Tarantino also cut out the entire introductory conversation between Vinnie and Mia where she asks him various questions. There is a reference to this conversation later, when Mia calls Vinnie “an Elvis man”.
[quote]
I’ve read that the adrenaline shot thing probably wouldn’t work in real life – the Washington Post ran an article on this shortly after the movie came out. Then again, they might have just been trying to discourage people from trying this at home …{/quote]
It’s not actually adrenaline, it’s Narcan, an opiate antagonist that works exactly as shown; nearly instant reversal of depressant effect.
Though I doubt most people would suddenly leap up off their deathbeds in that manner.
(If you freeze frame part of that scene, you can read the label on the bottle.)
The drug of choice for opiate overdose is indeed narcan, but it can go into any vein, and in fact would work faster in the carotid artery than the heart, personally I would have aimed for the jugular vein. I haven’t seen the movie lately but I remember it being adrenalin, a general stimulant used in cardiovascular resusitation that has no effect on heroin, but would would be better than nothing. Again, there’s no need to place it in the heart,
Larry, RN
Alright! Maybe someone can settle a disagreement between my wife and me.
I said that Butch’s watch was first his great-grandfather’s (WWI), then his grandfather’s (WWII), then his father’s (Vietnam), then kept by Capt. Koons until he could deliver it to Butch.
My wife said it was his great-great-grandfather’s, etc.
Considering that my wife didn’t care much for the movie, she doesn’t want to re-watch it to settle it. This kills me when I’m right, but she won’t admit it nor prove it. sigh
Now I am going to have to rent the video, again. Y’all got me thinking about the car Jules, Vincent, and Marvin left in. It didn’t seem like Jules’ car. Could have been stated in the movie, but I don’t remember. I’m guessing it was a company car to do jobs in.