Christopher Nolan is one of the most renowned directors of all time. With movies like Inception or Oppenheimer, he is among the best in his craft. Even before he made his first major film, he was keen to see Pulp Fiction. However, he spoiled it for himself before watching it.
How did Nolan ruin the film for himself? Pulp Fiction was released in 1994, before his first well-known film Memento came out in 2000. Before that, he made Following, but it remains relatively unknown to this day.
In an interview with the New York Times from 2010, Nolan shares that before watching Pulp Fiction, he worked as an intern at a film company. There, he read the screenplay of the film before he had seen the actual movie.
It’s like wanting to unwrap your gifts before Christmas
What was the problem? In the interview, Nolan explains that he regrets reading the screenplay before seeing the film:
I read the script for “Pulp Fiction” before I saw the film, and I’ve always regretted it. I am a huge fan of “Reservoir Dogs”; I was very excited about [Quentin Tarantino’s] next film. Reading the script was not the same as seeing the movie. And then seeing the film after reading the script was not the same as watching the film. It’s like wanting to unwrap your gifts before Christmas, and when you do it, you regret it.
Christopher Nolan on his experience with Pulp Fiction
He further elaborates that Pulp Fiction is an unusual film and that it’s also challenging to describe it even with a trailer. It’s an original concept that didn’t exist before. By reading the screenplay, he could no longer experience the film anew.
What does the screenplay show? Screenplays often do not just show the dialogues and story of a film. They also contain technical aspects like lighting or shots that can indeed take some of the magic
away from certain scenes.
Especially in a film like Pulp Fiction, where the actors bring so much energy and personality into their characters, reading the screenplay can spoil or even ruin a lot.
After Memento, Christopher Nolan celebrated many more successes, including Interstellar, The Dark Knight, and most recently Oppenheimer. His next project is The Odyssey, which is an adaptation of the Greek myth by Homer. When the film will be released is still unclear. As a director, Christopher Nolan also has favorite actors: Christopher Nolan especially admires 3 actors: However, his Batman, Christian Bale, is not among them
