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I know we have probably heard them all but just in case there are some that I don't know I've started this thread.

One theory that I heard only recently was that the glowing inside the briefcase that Jules and Vincent take from Frank Whally was in fact the loot from the Reservoir Dogs heist. Although I prefer the religious theory behind it all.

The briefcase actually contains the soul of Marcellus Wallace, (which could explain the plaster on the back of his neck) the glowing is his soul, that's why we see a glowing light when they shoot Frank Whalley, that is his soul leaving his body.

The combination for the briefcase is 666, the same as Wallace's burglar alarm. This might mean that he is the devil but I heard that Mr Wolf is the devil, which would make Butch's cabbie the devil also.(Mr Wolf's license plate is the same as the number on Butch's cab drivers taxi license.

And don't forget the Red Apples. Anyone know any more theories?

Hmm food for thought!

It really doesn't do any good to hypothosize about the subject. There is no right answer, and never will be. Tarantino himself doesn't even know what was in the briefcase..........he just wrote it to be something valuable. Money, gold, drugs,......whatever you want to be in the briefcase, whatever you think makes the story better.....that is what is in it.

I think QT does know, and he's keeping quiet for now.

He's stated a million times over the past 10 years "Nothing specific was in the briefcase, I used a golden light to represent that whatever was inside was something valuable"..............

samhain>The briefcase actually contains the soul of Marcellus Wallace, (which could explain the plaster on the back of his neck) the glowing is his soul, that's why we see a glowing light when they shoot Frank Whalley, that is his soul leaving his body.

the plaster was there because ving rhames had a big spot or scar on his neck which would distract the viewers. it was decided a plaster would cover it up.

Also it is a theory that Wallace was born with the numbers 666 on the back of his head and that is why he wears the band-aid.

thats not true tho.
he has a plaster to cover up a scar/spot.
it has no deep meaning to the plot or character.

if they just wanted to cover a scar then why focus in on it the first time we see wallace?

Mook -
I know he had a scar and that was the reason for it. Its just like the briefcase where it doesn't show inside. However, it is still used to create the idea that its hiding something for the movie. There is no real reason to hide the scar and if it was important, they would use make-up.

Doesn't it mention somewhere in the bible that the soul is removed from the back of the neck?

Yeah, thats one of the other theories. The soul was taken from his neck and put in the briefcase.

But does it say that in the bible?

no...........it does not. This is all ridiculous. The movie was written by Quentin Tarantino. Quentin Tarantino has said, "nothing specific was in the briefcase. It was something valuable....but nothing specific"..........why speculate that a soul is in the case, when the man who wrote the story has already said that is wrong? Furthermore.....why quote idiotic theories on the internet which claim something is written in the bible that is not in the bible?

i agree.

i think people are looking for things that arent there.

if it does say that thing about the soul lets see the verse numbers etc and the quote

I was actually asking IF it was in the bible. Not saying that it was .
And the whole reason I started the thread was to see if there were any other theories knocking around.

no offense meant samhain..............that theory has been kicking around the internet since atleast '96. It is just so ridiculous. The person who originally made up the theory used to say there was some place in the bible that said a person's soul is removed from the back of the neck. I just figured you had read and believed that nonsense somewhere on the web. Ofcourse it is false........nowhere in the bible does it speak of any place on the human body a "soul is removed" from....be it neck, head, big toe, or right arm.

No offense taken. The reason I didn't include the bible/soul-removal thing in my first post was because I was dubious about it being true myself. However I do think that QT has at least a little idea about what may be in the case, I don't think he could write the script without having something in his mind.

He did..........

It's a plot device. It's not important what was in the briefcase so he didn't write anything to be in it. All that was important is that they wanted it......which meant it was valuable. The only reason the briefcase is in the film is to carry the Jules/Vincent story from one scene to the next. It has no importance.

He probably did have something in his mind before he wrote the movie..........just never wrote it down. He probably figured it would take away from the actual plot of the film (the characters moving from one situation to the next) if he actually included what the valuable item in the briefcase was.

Okay, but why do we see a similar bright light to the one in the case when they shoot Frank Whalley? Do you think the two are connected in some way?

If anyone watches old movies this device has been used in a 1950's film called "Kiss me Deadly". It stars Charlton Heston and there is a black box that shines when opening it up. You never get to see what is in the box, and that is where Tarantino got this idea. The whole Pulp Fiction Movie is paying homage to old 1950 films. Hints why it is filled with older music, Jack Rabbit Slims, and all the charectors are dressed out of date. The movie is a recylcing of many old 1950 films, just as Kill Bill Recycles 1970 kung fu style films, and along with Jackie Brown.

Thats about the best reasoning yet. Good one, makes a lot of sense.

I agree with you..this sounds right

THANK YOU ALL

Marsellus Soul does make sense but Quentin said it's nothing like that but i think it's GOLD BARS

"is that what i think it is?"

as Ringo/Pumpkin says...

the truth of the matter is we don't know and we will never know

Mook -

That makes sense because Ringo wouldn't say "is that what I think it is?" if it were somebodies soul.

this is ridiculous what if the brief case had an omniscient glowing dildo? WHO CARES?

Who is Frank Whalley

Quick note about the Wolf's character and Butch's cab driver. The Wolf is not the devil...he's someone else. But he is someone mentioned somewhere else in the movie. I'll explain later.

The numbers on Esmerelda Villalobos' cab license and Winston Wolf's license plate are NOT the same, however, the two characters are connected. Esmerelda was based on a character that cleans up after murders, The Wolf is a character that cleans up after murders. Oh, and their names are the same. Villalobos is a Spanish name which literally means "village of the Wolves" in English.

What the hell is in the briefcase?

I heard rumour is wallaces' soul, because of the plaster on the back of his head, because 'thats where the devil takes your soul from'

NOWHERE is it mentioned the devil takes your soul from the back of your head, so that cant be it.

At first i thought it was gold- hence the glow
But why would gold transfix vincent so much. Why would it totally calm a man who two seconds ago had a gun sombody face during a robbery

Its been on my mind all day, just what on earth is in there?

IT IS A SOUL....what's more beautiful a person can own...his soul. There are a lot of clues..when Jules&Vincent kill that dude after Jules did he speech,you could see the same "shinning". In other words,his soul was leaving his body. SO soul=light. Anyways i picked this up on some Tarantino trivia site..pretty cool explanations...and i believe it.

But the devil doesnt take your soul through the back of your head.
I seriously doubt its a soul

Its what you want it to be

I have read several times that Tarantino did mean for it to be Marcellus Wallace's soul. So there!

Snopes has the answer.

In fact...

Angela Jones, who played a Columbian named Esmarelda Villalobos in PF, is "much interested" in finding out "what it feels like to kill a man". Two years after "Pulp Fiction", Angela Jones starred in a film called "Curdled". In it, she plays a Columbian named Gabriela who is obsessed with violent crime. She finds a job as a "cleaner" who goes into crime scenes and cleans up the blood, etc.

Harvey Keitel, as Winston Wolfe, "cleaned up" the crime scene in PF. A year earlier, he played Victor, a "cleaner" who cleans up at a job gone wrong for superspy Bridget Fonda in "Point of No Return".

EDIT: Frank Whaley played Brett in PF (the guy who kept saying "What?".

Look at the 'note' though....It doesnt offer any real explanation as its Undetermined.

They consider it undetermined, but I'm willing to just accept what Roger Avary said in the interview; that it was originally intended to be an unknown "valuable", and that putting the light in was probably a mistake, seeing as how it's raised so much exasperating speculation.

On the other hand, maybe it helped add to the movie's mystique, like the "Three Men and a Baby" boy.

How intruiging

I like the ideas though

'the oscar tarantino was hoping to win'



Dam forrest Gump

Jules clearly says it in the the Cafe! It's Marcellus dirty laundry!

Marcus' dirty laundry glows a golden light? Who is he, Mr T?

I pity the fool!

I say gold. Bars of gold would make somebody stop in awe. Plus Tim Roth says "Is that what I think it is?" and Samuel L Jackson says it is. Now, nobody would see a soul and say "Is that what I think is?" so therefore I do not believe that theory.

mergy this thread...this topic seems to come up alot also check out My Tarantino Theories