National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress · Inducted 2013
“By turns utterly derivative and audaciously original, Quentin Tarantino's mordantly wicked Möbius strip of a movie influenced a generation of filmmakers and stands as a milestone in the evolution of independent cinema in the United States, making it one of the few films on the National Film Registry as notable for its lasting impact on the film industry as its considerable artistic merits.”
Independent Spirit Awards — 3 wins, 4 nominationsLos Angeles Film Critics Association — 3 winsNational Board of Review — 3 winsBritish Academy Film Awards — 2 wins, 8 nominationsAll 23 wins · 45 nominations on record
Independent Spirit Awards: Best Director
Independent Spirit Awards: Best Male Lead
Independent Spirit Awards: Best Screenplay
Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Actor
Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Director
Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Best Film
National Board of Review: Best Director
National Board of Review: National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
National Board of Review: Best Film
British Academy Film Awards: Best Actor in a Supporting Role
British Academy Film Awards: Best Original Screenplay
Academy Awards: Best Writing, Original Screenplay
Golden Globe Awards: Best Screenplay
David di Donatello: Best Foreign Actor
Cannes Film Festival: Palme d'Or
New York Film Critics Circle: Best Director
National Society of Film Critics Award: Best Screenplay
National Society of Film Critics Award: Best Director
National Society of Film Critics Award: Best Film
MTV Movie Award: Best Dance Sequence
MTV Movie Award: Best Movie
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award: Best Film
London Film Critics Circle Award: Actor of the Year
Scholarship
Named in the title of 25 peer-reviewed works
Examples
Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
FILM NOTES
Pulp Fiction arrived from Miramax in 1994, riding the wave of independent cinema's push into the mainstream. Quentin Tarantino's second feature reshuffled crime narrative into overlapping vignettes, restored John Travolta to leading man status, and won the Palme d'Or at Cannes before taking the Academy Award for Original Screenplay. Its dialogue, soundtrack, and structure became reference points across the industry, and the film is widely credited with changing what studios believed an audience would sit through. For collectors of nineties American cinema, it stands as one of the defining releases of the decade, a hinge point between grindhouse influence and prestige filmmaking.
This cell carries the name Jules Winnfield, the hitman played by Samuel L. Jackson, whose scripture-quoting presence anchors much of the film's tone and structure. He is among the most quoted characters in modern film, making any 35mm piece tied to his name a natural target for collectors focused on character-driven cinema. Without further description beyond the name itself, this cell represents a single frame's worth of that presence, a physical fragment connecting directly to the character's screen record.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Pulp Fiction (1994).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs along the bottom edge beside the perforations; two tracks are visible, consistent with a stereo or Dolby SR optical format.
Edge print
Partial text readable along the top edge reads, mirrored: T R E V A G E A G — likely a Kodak edge-code sequence; full key number not fully legible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base shows a warm amber-gold tint typical of processed colour print stock; dye image appears intact with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light horizontal scratching visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the subject matter is consistent with a scene from Pulp Fiction (1994).
Era check
The dual variable-area optical soundtrack, Kodak colour print stock with amber base, and perforation layout are all consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000062986
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
