Quentin Tarantino's eagerly-awaited film "Pulp Fiction" made its nationwide collegiate debut last night at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts.

More than 600 movie-goers waited for up to three and a half hours to see the film, which debuts nationally on October 14.

"This is the first showing on a college campus and the first showing in New England," said Robin T. Jonas, the New England representative of Miramax.

Miramax distributed the film, which garnered the Palme d'Or award for best film at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

But the award was only one of the reasons for the high turnout yesterday, audience members said.

"It received the Palme d'Or, and I watched Quentin Tarantino on David Letterman last night, so I was curious to see what it was about," said Seda Yalcinkaya '95, one of the few Harvard students in attendance.

Dave M. Jarvis, a student at the Graduate School of Design, said, "I'm interested in seeing if it really reflects violence in America."

Jarvis watched the movie with Willett W. Moss, also a design student, who wanted to see its "references to contemporary pop culture."

But Priya R. Aiyar '96 gave the most common response: "Because I'm a Quentin Tarantino buff."

It took only 27 minutes for all 235 available tickets to be sold--roughly 400 were left ticketless, according to Jonas.

The lucky few laughed and cheered throughout the two-and-a-half-hour-plus movie. The crowd applauded the appearance of favorite actors' names in the opening credits, and roared when Tarantino himself appeared late in the film.

Reactions to the movie were over-whelmingly positive.

Sam F. Fricke, a senior at Emerson College, said, "It's a fantastic story. It's amazing."

Rachel E. Silverman '96 applauded the on-screen performances. "Samuel L. Jackson and Harvey Keitel are the best actors around," he said.

One moviegoer went so far as to call "Pulp Fiction" the best movie she had ever seen.

This is the second Tarantino film to be shown on campus in one week.