Christopher Nolan had the opportunity to experience Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction way before the audience did, but as exciting as that sounds, it ruined the movie for him. Christopher Nolan has earned the respect of critics and general audiences with his movies, which have covered different genres – from sci-fi to superhero to thriller and even war. One of Nolan’s most celebrated trademarks is the themes he addresses in his movies, such as memory, idenтιтy, and time, and there’s always a lot of anticipation and talk around his future projects.

At the time of writing, and following the success of Oppenheimer, Nolan is working on The Odyssey, an adaptation of Homer’s Ancient Greek epic poem Odyssey. Nolan has put together an all-star cast that has only set the bar even higher for The Odyssey, and the project has now begun filming. Fans of Nolan’s work will surely want to know every detail about The Odyssey, but Nolan is known for being discreet with his movies, and with good reason, as he got to experience Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction before the movie was released, and it completely ruined the movie for him.

Christopher Nolan Read The Script For Pulp Fiction Before It Came Out

Christopher Nolan Saw The Chance & Took It

Christopher Nolan made his feature directorial debut in 1998 with the neo-noir crime thriller Following, but before that, he worked different jobs within the film industry. Speaking to The New York Times in 2010, Nolan shared that, in the 1990s, he was an intern at a film company, where he had the chance to read the script for Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Nolan explained that he’s a huge fan of Tarantino’s first movie, Reservoir Dogs, so he was excited to see what he would do next.

However, reading the script for Pulp Fiction wasn’t a good idea, after all. Nolan shared that reading it wasn’t the same as seeing the actual movie, but at the same time, watching the movie wasn’t the same as reading the script. Nolan compared the experience to opening presents before Christmas and regretting doing it, and it ended up impacting his way of making his own movies. As interesting as it must have been to read the script for Pulp Fiction before the movie came out, Nolan’s reaction is understandable, especially with this movie.

While the script itself surely must be interesting, more so due to Tarantino’s unique way of writing, a key part of the charm of Pulp Fiction are the details, the production, the angles, and pretty much everything about its visual narrative. Reading the script won’t be the same as watching the final product, and it can impact the viewing experience, as well. Surely, Nolan didn’t do the same with another movie after that.

Nolan’s Experience With Pulp Fiction Illustrates Why He’s So Secretive With His Movies

Christopher Nolan Learned From His Bad Pulp Fiction Experience

Another characteristic of Nolan as a filmmaker is that he’s very secretive about his projects. Whenever a new Nolan project is announced, there’s very little information about it, and while casting updates are always important, he keeps plot details a secret for as long as he can. Even the trailers of his movies usually don’t show much about the story and can even be a bit misleading. It’s possible, then, that Nolan’s experience with Pulp Fiction influenced why he’s so secretive about his movies.

In that same interview with The New York Times, Nolan said he shares the mindset of some people about wanting to know more or the entire movie before watching it, but that he has learned over the years that he always ends up wishing he didn’t know anything. It’s possible that Nolan wants to keep the experience of watching his movies as new as possible for the audience, hence why he doesn’t reveal much about them before they’re released. Christopher Nolan understands the audience, and he already went through the experience of a movie being ruined for him by knowing everything about it.

Source: The New York Times.