Pulp Fiction
Summary
Pulp Fictionis full of intentional slack ends and whodunit , with the biggest talking stage being what was in the briefcase . The briefcase functions as a " MacGuffin , " a plot equipment used to push the story forth . But for those who know their movie history , it ’s clear that Tarantino references a film noir classic with the briefcase . When Jules ( Samuel L. Jackson ) and Vincent ( John Travolta ) first recover the briefcase , a glowing light can be take in , with everyone who looks inside the briefcase becoming mesmerized , though the camera never evidence the subject , even by theend ofPulp Fiction .
Pulp Fictioncharacterslike Vincent appear to have a spiritual experience at the ken of the briefcase ’s message , and the MacGuffin has the same issue on Pumpkin ( Tim Roth ) , who describes the glowing content as“beautiful . ”The account in Tarantino’sPulp Fictionfamously jump back and forth in time to produce a cinematic puzzle , and the briefcase interpret one of the most strangely shaped pieces in that puzzle . While Tarantino left the briefcase a mystery , it has n’t stopped decades of speculating about its contents , and some theories have far more evidence than others .
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What’s In The Pulp Fiction Briefcase – Best Theories
Pulp Fiction Theories Range From Drugs To The Human Soul
Online , among the most popularPulp Fictiontheoriesabout what was in thePulp Fictionbriefcaseis thatit contains Marsellus Wallace ’s individual . This would mean the gangster deal said soul to the devil and decided that he want it back . But ( according to the hypothesis ) it comes with a price — evidenced by the battue that isPulp Fiction . Many citizenry have noted that the briefcase ’s lock codification is 666 , a number associated with the Devil .
The theory is further supported by the bandage on the back of Wallace ’s head , which correlates with a biblical text that reveal how the Devil acquire one ’s soul . Considering Jules ’ soliloquy about“divine intervention”after miraculously pull through a shoot - out , the “ soul ” theory is indeed intriguing . Even without adding an explicitly supernatural element to the mankind ofPulp Fiction , thePulp Fictionbriefcase could still symbolically represent the opening of Marsellus ’s redemption .
Others have suggested thatthePulp Fictionbriefcase holds the diamonds fromReservoir Dogs . There ’s not much grounds to support this argument away from the mobster aspects and fictional character connections . InReservoir Dogs , Mr. Blonde , a.k.a . Vic Vega , go on a killing rampage after a cautiously contrive rhombus heist , thus upset Mr. Pink , who later take to the woods with the shekels . However , Pulp Fictionco - author Roger Avary once revealed that thePulp Fictionbriefcase originally contained diamonds but that the concept was ultimately deemed“too boring and predictable . ”
it could be a sport on the phrase " sunshine in a bag , " which refer to drug , most often heroin .
A less theatrical possibility aboutwhat was in the briefcase inPulp Fictionis drug . A number of characters in the movie can be seen consider drugs . Mia also snorts heroin opine it ’s cocaine , which leads to her overdose . Wallace is clearly a gangster who ’s postulate in a mass of dissimilar condemnable activity outside of fixing fisticuffs matches , and it ’s likely that he operates some kind of drug trafficking . drug might not explicate the incandescence inside thePulp Fictionbriefcase , but it could be a play on the phrase " sunshine in a cup of tea , " which refers to drugs , most often heroin .
One clever but prosperous - to - miss detail further link up Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs , and it ’s made better by another connection and one theory .
Quentin Tarantino’s classic tale of violence and redemption follows the intertwining tales of three protagonists: hitman Vincent Vega, prizefighter Butch Coolidge, and Vincent’s business partner Jules Winnfield.
The Pulp Fiction Briefcase Scene Was Possibly Inspired By A 1955 Film Noir
Tarantino Is Known For His Many Homages To Old Movies
Most likely , the shine spark is simply an homage to the 1955 film noir classicKiss Me Deadly , which includes a sequence featuring a deep box — one that ’s relate to“the gates of hell”and glows upon being opened . This plausibleexplanation feeds into Quentin Tarantino ’s well - know dearest of moviesand also bestow the film an air of mystery that has kept its fan guessing for decades about what was in the Pulp Fiction briefcase . The homage has run to the idle hypothesis thatthePulp Fictionbriefcase carry God .
Perhaps the real purpose of thePulp Fictionbriefcase is just to fire speculation amongPulp Fictionfans . Tarantino has not made a secret of his own possibility and subtle ideologies behind his own films ( he even take on that he considers some of his films movies - within - movies as part of a broaderQuentin Tarantino shared universe ) , so perhaps it was just Tarantino ’s agency of giving fans the scope to fill in the blanks on their own . Either direction , the interrogative sentence of what was in the case in thebriefcase inPulp Fictionremains one of the most interesting moving picture mysteries of all time .
Quentin Tarantino Still Hasn’t Revealed What’s In The Pulp Fiction Briefcase
Quentin Tarantino Won’t Be Answering The Question
It ’s been almost three decades sincePulp Fictionwas released , and thePulp Fictionbriefcase mystery still lives on . Quentin Tarantino has kept the content of the briefcase hush - hush , and it does n’t take care like he ’ll be spill the bonce anytime soon . In the past , Tarantino has discussed the moving picture , and the only light he ’s cast on the closed book is that he enjoys keeping sealed thing a secret to make his movies more engaging .
in the end , what ’s authoritative about the briefcase is not its mental object but that the criminals in the story will do anything to get it . At this breaker point , revealing a concrete answer to what was in the briefcase inPulp Fictionwould put on the line the horse sense of anticlimaxor over - literalism . Knowing the notoriously obstinate Tarantino , it ’s likely that there will never be an reply to what ’s in thePulp Fictionbriefcase , and its content will have to rest up to the imagination .
Why Pulp Fiction Doesn’t Reveal What Was In The Briefcase
Tarantino Wants Audiences To Interpret The Mystery Own Their Own
Pulp Fictionnot providing the contents of the briefcase is n’t just a joke to frustrate its audience . In fact , it ’s quite the antonym , and the idea ties to one of Quentin Tarantino ’s foundational filmmaking philosophies . In an audience ( viaYouTube ) , Tarantino utilize thePulp Fictionbriefcase and Aldo Raine ’s neck trauma fromInglourious Basterdsas two case of putting this philosophy to work . take his full quote below :
“ I like the idea that you open up up the briefcase inPulp Fiction and I do n’t tell you what ’s in there . But it ’s up to you to figure out what ’s in there , and now that ’s your picture show . And you ’ll make that decision somewhere down the line . Now , if I say you at this table what it is , you ’ll thrust that away . And I do n’t require you to throw it off . That ’s your movie . ”
fundamentally , Tarantino is saying thatby giving audiences the chance to decide whattheythink is in the briefcase , he ’s allowing their creativity to interact with his pic , form their own interpretation . By telling the audience straight off what to think , he would disembarrass them of the chance to continue pondering about the movie after it ’s over . rather , he exit the briefcase a closed book , so different witness will have different ideas about his moving picture and what it ’s about . It ’s not too dissimilar from interpreting a painting , as it allows consultation to engage the art with their own thoughts and feeling .
Pulp Fiction’s Briefcase Mystery Has Become Part Of Movie History
The Briefcase Mystery Is One Of Cinema’s Ongoing Debates
Nearly three decade later , Pulp Fictionis still one of the most influential moving picture in the history of cinema . It ’s arguably still Quentin Tarantino ’s adept moving picture , and so many aspect of it have become part of the wide motion picture vulgar . The on-going debate regarding the briefcase mystery is one such aspect , continuously captivating audiences old and new for decades . Seeing as Tarantino has no intention of answer this question , Pulp Fiction’sbiggest question should be around for many more decades to make out .
Quentin Tarantino ’s classic taradiddle of wildness and redemption follows the intertwining story of three booster : hitman Vincent Vega , prizefighter Butch Coolidge , and Vincent ’s business cooperator Jules Winnfield .
