Reading activity:10 Surprising Facts About Pulp Fiction

Introduction: On October 14, 1994, Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction was released in
theaters in America and a new Hollywood renowned movie was born. In addition to
teaching Americans what a Quarter Pounder with Cheese is called in Europe, the film
reignited the career of John Travolta (who received a Best Actor Oscar nomination
for his work) and showed audiences a different side of Bruce Willis. Here are 10
things you might not have known about Pulp Fiction.
 1. THE FILM WAS RELEASED IN SOUTH KOREA, JAPAN, AND EVEN
SLOVAKIA BEFORE IT ARRIVED IN AMERICA.
Tarantino’s film first played the Cannes Film Festival in May 1994. It was shown at
other festivals around the world, from Munich to Locarno, before hitting American
shores on September 23, 1994, at the New York Film Festival. The film was released
in South Korea, Japan, and Slovakia before it officially opened in the U.S. on October
14, 1994. The feature rolled out across Asia and Europe throughout 1994 and 1995.

2. HONEY BUNNY WAS NAMED AFTER AN ACTUAL RABBIT.

Honey Bunny belonged to Linda Chen, who typed up Tarantino's handwritten script
for Pulp Fiction. In lieu of payment, she asked Tarantino to watch her rabbit when
she went on location; Tarantino wouldn't do it, and when the rabbit later died, he
named Amanda Plummer's character after Chen's pet.

3. YOU CAN WATCH THE FILM CHRONOLOGICALLY ... KIND OF.

The narrative structure of the film plays out of sequence, but it’s easy enough to
break it down into seven distinct sections (a prologue, an epilogue, two preludes, and
three large segments) that can then be re-ordered into a chronological narrative.
1. "Prologue – The Diner" (I)
2. Prelude to "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
3. "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"
4. Prelude to "The Gold Watch" (a – flashback, b – present)
5. "The Gold Watch"
6. "The Bonnie Situation"
7. "Epilogue – The Diner" (II)
If the seven sequences were ordered chronologically, they would run: 4a, 2, 6, 1, 7,
3, 4b, 5.
4. THE FILM CONTAINS 265 “F WORDS.”
Even that big number isn’t Tarantino’s highest (1992’s Reservoir Dogs used it 269
times). Still, the film was the big “f word” winner of 1994, as no other film released
that year even came close to that amount of profanity.
 5. VINCENT VEGA’S 1964 CHEVELLE MALIBU WAS STOLEN AFTER
THE SHOOT.
John Travolta’s character in the film had a sweet ride—which, in real life, belonged
to Tarantino—and it was such a hot rod that it was stolen soon after the film’s
release. It wasn’t found for nearly two decades, when two cops happened on a pair
of kids stripping an older car. After running the Vehicle Identification Number, they
found it shared the number with a car in Oakland, which turned out to be
Tarantino’s car.

6. THE MOVIE COST ONLY $8.5 MILLION TO MAKE.

Five million went to the actors’ salaries. It made that all back in its first week at
the U.S. box office (the film pulled in $9.3 million the first weekend of release).

7. EVEN THOUGH THE FILM MADE OVER $100 MILLION, IT TOOK A

LONG TIME TO GET THERE.
Even though Tarantino’s film ended up being a tremendous hit—especially
considering that slim budget—it took some time to get there. The film was in
release for 178 days before it finally pulled in 100 million domestic dollars. A little
comparison? It took Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 only two days.

8. VINCENT VEGA WAS WRITTEN FOR MICHAEL

MADSEN…
Tarantino specifically wrote a number of roles in the film for
chosen actors (including Samuel L. Jackson, Harvey Keitel, Tim
Roth, and Amanda Plummer), but nothing compared to his
dedication to having Michael Madsen play Vince. Madsen, who
knew of Tarantino’s plans and said he wanted to do the part,
gave up two weeks before the script was finished to star in
Wyatt Earp (a western movie). John Travolta and Michael Madsen
10. ... WHICH COULD HAVE MADE HIM MR. BLONDE’S TWIN.
Tarantino has a long tradition of connecting characters in his various films—
basically, the filmmaker is working with a number of sprawling family trees, and it’s
always a treat to see how characters intersect—which would have made Madsen’s
casting of Vince come with a surprising twist: it might have made him Mr. Blonde’s
(Madsen’s character from Reservoir Dogs) twin, as it’s long been known that Vince
and Blonde are brothers.

From left to right: Michael Madsen as Vic Vega, aka Mr. Blonde; Steve Buscemi as
Mr. Pink; Harvey Keitel Larry Dimmick, aka Mr. White; Tim Roth as Freddy
Newandyke, aka Mr. Orange