Written by Quentin Tarantino & Roger Avary · 1994
Tarantino's non-linear masterpiece — three interlocking stories about LA hitmen, a boxer's bad bet, and a date gone wrong. Won the Palme d'Or and the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The screenplay revolutionized 90s indie cinema and remains the most-imitated dialogue style of the past 30 years.
Tarantino's screenplay is studied for one thing above all: how he writes dialogue that does nothing — and yet does everything. The 'Royale with Cheese' conversation between Vincent and Jules carries no plot. It tells us about character, about the world, about the rhythm of two men who do violence for a living and have to fill the silence between jobs. Notice how scenes start late and end early. Notice how the structure loops back on itself, how a character we watched die in act one is alive in act three. This is screenwriting as architecture.
INT. COFFEE SHOP - MORNING
A normal Denny's, Spires-like coffee shop in Los Angeles. It's about 9:00 in the morning. While the place isn't jammed, there's a healthy number of people drinking coffee, munching on bacon and eating eggs. Two of these people are a YOUNG MAN and a YOUNG WOMAN. The Young Man has a slight British accent and, like his fellow countryman, smokes cigarettes like they're going out of style. It is impossible to tell what the Young Woman's accent is or where she's from; her dialogue should clue us in. The Young Man is talking to the Young Woman, and we just catch the tail end of their conversation. YOUNG MAN No, forget it, it's too risky. I'm through doin' that shit. YOUNG WOMAN You always say that, the same thing every time: never again, I'm through, too dangerous.
INT. '74 CHEVY (MOVING) - MORNING
An old gas guzzling, dirty white 1974 Chevy Nova BARRELS down a Hollywood side street. In the front seat are two young fellas — one white, one black — both wearing cheap black suits with thin black ties under long green dusters. Their names are VINCENT VEGA (white) and JULES WINNFIELD (black). Jules is behind the wheel. VINCENT Okay so tell me again about the hash bars? JULES What you want to know? VINCENT Well, hash is legal there, right? JULES Yeah, it's legal, but it ain't a hundred percent legal. I mean you can't walk into a restaurant, roll a joint, and start puffin' away. They want you to smoke in your home or certain designated places. VINCENT Those are hash bars? JULES Yeah, it breaks down like this: it's legal to buy it, it's legal to own it, and, if you're the proprietor of a hash bar, it's legal to sell it. It's still illegal to carry it around, but — but that doesn't really matter, 'cause — get a load of this — if you get stopped by the cops in Amsterdam, it's illegal for them to search you. VINCENT That did it, man — I'm fuckin' goin', that's all there is to it. JULES You'll dig it the most. But you know what the funniest thing about Europe is? VINCENT What? JULES It's the little differences. I mean, they got the same shit over there that they got here, but it's just — it's just there it's a little different. VINCENT Example. JULES Alright, when you went into a McDonald's in Amsterdam, you can buy a beer. And not just like in no paper cup either. They give you a glass of beer, like in a bar. In Paris, you can buy a beer at McDonald's. And, you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris? VINCENT They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese? JULES No, they got the metric system there, they wouldn't know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is. VINCENT What do they call it? JULES They call it a Royale with Cheese. VINCENT Royale with Cheese. What do they call a Big Mac? JULES Well, a Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac.