The other ‘Pulp Fiction’ secret that will never be revealed: “I’ll leave you guessing on that one”
Some directors have no intention of giving away their secrets, with David Lynch famously refusing to explain what any of his movies were about. Quentin Tarantino loves talking about his work more than most filmmakers, but there are still two major Pulp Fiction secrets he’ll never share.
The most obvious is what’s in the briefcase. For the last 30 years, countless theories have pondered what lurks inside the luggage that drives the plot forward, and it’s a question Tarantino has never shown the slightest inclination to answer, which was the right call because sometimes it’s better not knowing.
Tim Roth claimed that he knows, but since he didn’t elaborate any further, maybe he doesn’t. Is it Marsellus Wallace’s soul? A stack of cash? A hefty haul of drugs? A stash of diamonds? None of the above? As Tarantino explained, “It’s whatever the viewer wants it to be,” which is the best answer.
In reality, it’s a few lights, which isn’t very exciting. However, there’s another mystery that’s gone unanswered since 1994, and it’s one that probably went over the heads of most viewers. If there’s one lingering thought anyone who’s seen Pulp Fiction has burned into their brain by the time the harrowing pawnshop sequence is over, though, it almost certainly isn’t, ‘Who the fuck is Russell?’
Tarantino would disagree, and since he’s the writer and director, he’s allowed to. “It’s funny where a throwaway line can lead you,” he mused in a 2003 interview with Playboy. “You know what my favourite line is in the pawnshop scene in Pulp Fiction? Holly Hunter noticed it.”
It didn’t escape an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Primetime Emmy-winning actor, but it passed almost everyone else by. “It comes when they’re deciding who they’re going to fuck first,” Tarantino explained. “They choose Marsellus, and it’s, ‘You want to do it here?’ The other guy says, ‘No, let’s take him into Russell’s old room.'”
A fairly innocuous exchange, relative to everything else that goes on during Marsellus’ and Butch Coolidge’s harrowing ideal, but for Tarantino, it was dangling a carrot in front of an audience who may not have even noticed it was being dangled in front of them to begin with: “You’re left thinking, ‘Who the fuck is Russell, and how did it become his old room?’ I’ll leave you guessing on that one, too.”
Even the gimp got a backstory eventually, but Russell? He remains an enigma. Admittedly, it’s hardly on the same level as the ongoing mystery surrounding the briefcase, and it’s hard to imagine too many diehard Tarantino aficionados disappearing down a rabbit hole, connecting dots that might not exist, and dedicating their lives to finding out who Russell is, how he ended up in Zed’s company, and why his old quarters were designated as the ideal place to terrorise his captives.
In the grand scheme of things, does anyone really care about Russell? Some people probably do, but the fact remains that it’s the second major Pulp Fiction mystery that won’t be getting an answer.
