A movie that practically defines the mere concept of iconography is 1994’s Pulp Fiction. Arguably the best of director Quentin Tarantino’s films, the Academy Award-winning drama – for Best Screenplay, shared between Tarantino and Roger Avary – is chock-full of endlessly quotable dialogue, memorable characters, and some of the most strikingly picturesque imagery in cinematic history. Yet, one of the most – if not the most – talked about elements of the film is a certain coveted briefcase and its contents, which, to this day, remain unknown.
The briefcase – which Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) are assigned to retrieve and deliver to their boss, Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) – plays a key role in two scenes in which it is seen emitting a captivating golden glow when opened, but what lies inside is kept off camera. If you find yourself desperately wishing to know what could have created that golden glow next time you watch Pulp Fiction – which you can now stream for free on Plex – you are certainly not alone, but that is just how Tarantino prefers it, after all. In partnership with Plex, the following is an exploration of how the esteemed filmmaker has addressed the mystery of the briefcase in the past and why the director hasn’t provided a definitive answer.
The Briefcase Is Tarantino’s Way Of Allowing The Audience To Make Their Own “Movie”
Often, the most intriguing elements about a movie are not the things that we are told, but what remains a secret, and Tarantino is quite apparently the type of storyteller who believes this wholeheartedly. Mystery is a commonality in his films – from the unseen ill-fated bank heist in his 1992 debut, Reservoir Dogs, to whether or not Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s Cliff Booth killed his wife – and the briefcase in Pulp Fiction is just one example and, just about, the most revered. In 2009, while promoting Inglourious Basterds, a conversation with Charlie Rose about the origin of Aldo Raine’s neck burn led to this explanation of Tarantino’s intentions behind the enigmatic MacGuffin:
I like the idea that you open up the briefcase in Pulp Fiction and I don’t tell you what’s in there, but it’s up to you to figure out what’s in there and now that’s your movie and you make that decision somewhere down the line. Now, if I tell you at this table what it is, then you’ll throw that away, and I don’t want you to throw [that] away. That’s your movie.
It is quite refreshing to see an auteur of Tarantino’s esteem write in such a way that offers the opportunity for a sort of collaborative effort with his fans, allowing them to add their own extra layer to the universe he created. However, as he has found, the desired effect has not always been the result.
Tarantino’s Intentions With The Briefcase Have Not Paid Off In His Experience
As we established above, the mystery of the contents of the briefcase from Pulp Fiction is intended to be solved by the viewer and the viewer alone, without there being any consequence of a wrong answer. Yet, that is a concept that appears to be lost on many fans of Tarantino, according to the filmmaker himself. When asked about the strangest briefcase theories he has heard during a 2019 interview with BBC Radio 1, he had this to say:
Well, I don’t really have a good answer for that because, unfortunately, the whole idea why I didn’t tell people what was in the suitcase is so they would come up with it on their own. But nobody wants to do that. They just want to know what I think and I don’t give a damn what I think. I want to know what other people think. I’ve had a million people ask me what’s in the suitcase, but… I don’t think I had five people tell me what they think is in the suitcase.
So, it appears that, if you were ever given the opportunity to meet Tarantino, it might be best to avoid picking his brain about the contents of the briefcase. Besides, is it not more fun to use your own imagination in lieu of having all the information placed right in front of you without any room for interpretation? However, if you do not have a theory of your own, there are plenty out there to think over already.
Some Pulp Fiction Fans Have Posited Their Own Briefcase Theories
There are people out there who have tried to crack the case on their own. In fact, there is an entire thread on Reddit on which users are invited to share their own opinions as to what the contents of the briefcase from Pulp Fiction may be. The results range from amusing and plausible to dumbfounding and bizarre, but all are worth contemplation nonetheless.
For instance, one user who goes by heelspider believes it is the loot from the tragic jewelry store heist in Reservoir Dogs, which would make a lot of sense, considering how Tarantino has confirmed that Michael Madsen’s character, Mr. Blonde, is the brother of Vincent Vega. Another Redditor on a separate thread named kerpalot believes that the contents come from a different corner of the Tarantinoverse: the Gold Suit that Val Kilmer’s “Elvis” wears in True Romance, which the filmmaker wrote. Perhaps the most inventive and mystical theory, which user Shop_Kooky favors, is that the briefcase holds the damned soul of Marcellus Wallace, which would explain why the combination is “666.”
Personally, I do not have a theory about the briefcase and I have never even attempted to formulate my own answer. I enjoy the mystery behind the MacGuffin and would not want that to be ruined by a specific explanation, even one that I would come up with myself and, for that reason, I choose not to even try to imagine what may be inside. That is one of the many reasons why Pulp Fiction still feels just as fresh and exciting as it did the first time I saw it and I hope the experience is the same for you when you stream it for free on Plex.
