In 'Pulp Fiction'...

...what was actually in the briefcase??

Only I was told that I was an idiot for not knowing this by a young lady this evening and I'd never even thought about it before...

I think it was marcella;s(spelling fucked up) lost soul

[Edited on Oct 10, 2003 by Poser]

A lot of people think it was Marcellus' soul, mostly because of a) the golden glow that came from the briefcase and b) the Band-Aid on the back of Marcellus' head.

yeah i agree with poser and sorcha, it was meant to be his soul but it did look like a sack full of gold. anyone seen kill bill yet, we get it next week, i am kinda looking forward to it...

Cheers folks, it looks like I really was the only one that didn't realise this!

i think it was the loot from reservoir dogs. it never showed what happend to mr. pink.

He got away and hid out as Buddy Holly at Jack Rabbit Slims

[Edited on Oct 10, 2003 by Maxx]

The whole point of the briefcase was you weren't supposed to know what was in it. It was a McGuffin, or a red herring- something for the audience to ponder over, as is being done here right now.

i heard that it was a copy of the Decleration of Independance

actually a Thesaurus

Its Marcellus' soul..hence the band-aid on the back of the head

Mr. Tarantino said it was "what ever you most desire".

exactly. i dunno how the marcellus wallace's soul thing got started, but paulnikon quoth the man himself.

WTF does a band-aid have to do with one's soul? I was not aware souls could be placed in briefcases, or that they emitted golden glows.

The briefcase itself was something Tarantino ripped off from another movie, like an Italian gangster film or something. There's a video clip on the internet of all the stuff Tarantino cribbed (or "was influenced by", if you want a kinder description) from other movies and put in Pulp Fiction. The adrenaline shot to the heart, the Isiaiah 25:7 scripture, none of that was original.

Dont get me wrong, I loved that movie but Tarantino's not quite the original genius you might think he is. Most likely, Tarantino put it in the movie because he had seen it before and thought it was cool, just like the adrenaline shot scene or Jules reciting Isiaiah 25:7.

[Edited on Oct 10, 2003 by stockula]

there is some belief (I think it's native american?) that you can take someone's soul through the back of their neck at the top of the spine (exactly where Marcellus Wallace had the band-aid) hence that interpretation. as for the glow...well don't souls glow? (mine does )

Totally on. Contents=Marcellus' soul.
Band-aid on head because there are certain tribes or cultures that believe a soul can actually be removed through a head wound on the rear of head or neck.
Also, when he gets in the car crash later the dude yells: Holy shit man, no way anyone alive could have lived through that, you should be dead..or something like that.

Keep on rockin' and go see Kill Bill
-J

"soul glow" was from coming to america

ving rhames had the band-aid on the back of his neck because he cut himself shaving or had a blemish or something, again according to a tarantino interview. they decided it was better to have the bandage than a nasty-looking sore in the close-up shot of the back of marcellus' head.

"when you scamps get together, you're worse than a sewing circle."

from imdb

"Speculation abounds as to the nature of the mysterious glowing contents of the case:


Could it be Elvis' gold suit, seen worn by Val Kilmer (as Elvis) in True Romance (1993)?


The most persistent theory (most usually attributed to a friend of a friend who saw it posted on a message board by someone whose brother had read a report of a radio interview with Tarantino himself) is that it is Marcellus Wallace's soul. It is an ancient belief that when the Devil takes a person's soul, it is removed through the back of the head. When we see the back of Marcellus' head he has a Band-Aid covering the precise spot indicated by tradition for soul removal. Perhaps Marcellus sold his soul to the devil which would also explain why the combination to open the briefcase is 666.


Or could it be simply a 20-watt light bulb?"

*edit*
"The band-aid on Marcellus Wallace's neck was there because actor Ving Rhames had a scar there that the makeup people felt wound be too distracting during that scene."

but for the closest reference i can find that says it aint necessarily marcellus' soul can be found at
the straight dope. enjoy! i will try to find the tarantino interview(edit- shit, its right there in the straight dope article posted at the link above- i cant read, sorry.)


i will concede that since there's really nothing in the case and it is open to spec, that there really is no wrong or right answer to the question.

if you want it to be wallace's soul, cool. art is subject to interpretation.





[Edited on Oct 10, 2003 by onesecondmore]

there are no creative geniuses and it can be argued that all stories are variations of 8 basic plots.
i think it was picasso who said," the only difference between genius and plagerism is how well you hide your influences."
...or something to that effect.

Here's the video

null

And it was Ezekiel 25:17, not Isaiah. My mistake.

Hollandaise sauce

It contained Fractal and Maggie's next sets? Sweet.

tim roth said it was a battery and a light bulb

tarantino never meant it to be anything specific, and certainly never meant it to be marcellus' soul.

go find that young lady and tell her she shouldn't believe everything she reads on the internet, just 'cause geeks propogate a story doesn't make it fact.
(and yes i am a geek, so you may want to disregard my answer to this question)

Chicken nuggets