Is Pulp Fiction illogical?
DOes Pulp Fiction make sense, logically? Forget that it is a fictitious film etc, is there a loop in the film?
I'm referring to the part where Butch (Bruce Willis) returns to his apartment to collect his fathers watch and meets Vincent (John Travolta) whom he guns down. At this point in the movie, Vincent is wearing a Tuxedo.
However, the last time that Vncent wears a Tuxedo is before he accidentally shoots the head of one of the boys in his car. At this point, Samuel L Jackson calls The Wolfman, who orders the two to get changed into some ordinary clothes.
These "ordinary clothes" that both Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta get changed into are the same clothes that they wear when they meet Marcellus in his bar, earlier on in the film. And it is here, in this bar, that Bruce Willis sees Travolta for the first time, in his ordinary clothes.
So the last time Travolta wore his Tux was before he met Willis for the first time in the bar. So Willis killed Travolta then later met him in the bar?
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they are flashing back to what happened. just like in the 1st scene, they are showing the end in the beginning.
Is Pulp Fiction illogical?
* Not presented in chronological order of events. The movie is divided in "chapters" which are shown jumping from the future to the past, back to a different point in the future, and then back to the past again.
"So Willis killed Travolta then later met him in the bar?"
No. Pulp Fiction is not shown from start to end following a chronological order of events, that is a style that his director Quentin Tarantino like to use.
Just thinking at the events related to Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Butch (Bruce Willis) this is the correct sequence in time line (regardless in what order they are shown in the movie):
a. They meet at the bar,
*** Vincent is dressed with T-Shirt and shorts and arrives to deliver the suitcase to his boss. This is then after killing the guy at the car, after following instructions of the Wolfman, and after the mexican stand off at the diner with Tim roth's character and his girlfriend.
*** Butch was at the bar to receive instructions by Vincent's boss about losing his next fight, which the boss has fixed in order to win a big bet.
b. Butch's fight
*** In a future night (not necesarily the same night after the meeting at the bar), the boxing match ocurrs, Butch does not follow the instructions and wins the fight. So he has to escape from the gym before the hitmen working for the boss arrive. He jumps from a window of the gym, takes a taxi, and hides at a motel with his girlfriend. He get some rest and sleeps for the night.
c. Butch's apartment
*** On the next morning, Butch awakes at the motel , finds out his girlfirend forgot to pack his father's watch and becomes very angry. He decides to go to his apartment to pick up the watch knowing that it is risky because the hitmen will be looking for him. Arriving to the apartment he finds the watch, put it on, and just before leaving founds Vincent's weapons and hears the toilet flushing. He realizes a hitman is in the bathroom who then we are shown that it is Vincent. When Vincent opens the batchroom's door, Butch kills him with his own gun.
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From the time they meet on the bar, to the time they meet again in Butch apartment there are at least one full day (maybe more), which is enough time for Vincent go to his apartment to change clothes.
I'm sure Vincent have enough money from working as a hitman and for his drug selling business to have more than one black suit / tux. Or he just went to a mall and purchased a new one.
The sequence of events is as follows:
1. Captain Koons gives Butch the watch
2. Jules and Vince go to collect Wallace's case
3. Vince shoots Marv in the head and they go to Jimmie's
4. The Wolf takes care of it and dresses the boys as idiots
5. The boys go to a coffee shop
5. Honey Bunny and Pumpkin decide to rock the place, but the boys don't let them
6. The boys (Vince and Jules) go to Wallace's
6. Wallace is talking to Butch about his fight
7. Wallus wins the fight and flees
8. Vince and Wallace go to his apartment and wait for him - what if he's back (Jules is not there, coz he "retired" because of the miracle)
9. Butch is back to pick up his watch, while Wallace is out to get some coffee.
10. Butch kills Vince
11. Butch and Wallace meet ZED
12. Butch leaves L.A. forever
I guess you can put Mia's scene there yourself - you asked only about Vince-Wallace-Butch sequence. (Vince goes out with her the day he shot Marv in the head (say Tuesday), Butch's fight is the next day (say Wednesday), Butch kills Vince (Thursday, remember Zed says in the basement it's Thursday?).
I'm sure vega owned more than one suit. it was like a hitman's uniform. when he was waiting in the apartment, it was several days after the wolfman incident. so he'd had plenty of time to change