Clint Eastwood has long since earned his stripes as a cinematic force. His impressive output landed the Oscar-winning director the opportunity to sit on the jury for the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. While screening submissions, Eastwood stumbled upon a little film called Pulp Fiction.
The Dirty Harry actor recalled his first impressions of the film in an interview with AFI, saying:
“It sort of drew everyone in and then I was amazed it was the European guys on the jury that really started jumping. A couple of them turned around and said, ‘That’s the best picture. That’s the picture of this festival.’ I didn’t jump on it. I was still kind of weighing things in my mind. But it was definitely interesting, and it was exciting, and it came at a time when we needed a little excitement because it came right after a couple that were lulling. So, it was, uh, it was refreshing. And then everybody started talking about it and we went back and looked at a couple more films and when they got into the jury everyone was, uh, kind of unanimous that would be the, uh, the picture.”
Eastwood and company ultimately awarded the film the 1994 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or. The picture also went on to win the Oscar for ‘best screenplay’ at the Academy Awards. If you’re keen to pay the film a repeat visit, you can find it streaming on Max as of the publication of this post.
In case you’re unfamiliar, the setup goes like this: Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) are hitmen with a penchant for philosophical discussions. In this ultra-hip, multi-strand crime movie, their storyline is interwoven with those of their boss, gangster Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) ; his actress wife, Mia (Uma Thurman) ; struggling boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) ; master fixer Winston Wolfe (Harvey Keitel) and a nervous pair of armed robbers, “Pumpkin” (Tim Roth) and “Honey Bunny” (Amanda Plummer).
That’s all we have at present. Stay tuned for more commentary from cinematic luminaries like Eastwood shortly. Also, follow @DreadCentral on Twitter so you never miss an update.