Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, based on stories by Tarantino and Roger Avary. Built from interwoven episodes rather than a straight chronological plot, the film follows hitmen Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield, boxer Butch Coolidge, mob boss Marsellus Wallace, Mia Wallace, and several other characters moving through a world of violence, chance, pop culture and deadpan conversation. Its fractured structure, sharp dialogue, soundtrack choices and mixture of humour and brutality made it one of the defining films of the 1990s and a major turning point in independent American cinema. It also won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and became the film that firmly established Tarantino as one of the decade’s most influential directors.

The film was shot around Los Angeles County, and its locations are central to its low-rent, sun-baked urban atmosphere. The diner scenes with Pumpkin, Honey Bunny, Jules and Vincent were filmed at the now-demolished Hawthorne Grill in Hawthorne, while Jack Rabbit Slim’s was created through a mix of studio interiors and the exterior of a former bowling alley in Glendale. Other important locations include Lance’s house in the Silver Lake area, Butch’s apartment in North Hollywood, the Raymond Theatre in Pasadena for the boxing venue exterior, and streets around Inglewood, Atwater Village, Studio City and Sun Valley. Rather than presenting a glamorous version of Los Angeles, Pulp Fiction builds its world from diners, apartment blocks, pawn shops, suburban houses, anonymous streets and retro commercial spaces, giving the film a very specific Southern California identity that feels both mundane and mythic.