“Pulp Fiction hits you like a jolt of adrenaline,” Stuart Klawans wrote in his 1994 review.
Richard Kreitner and The AlmanacQuentin Tarantino at the César awards in 2014. (Wikimedia Commons)
On some dates in history, we confess, not much of excitement or lasting interest has ever occured. On those days we need to go fishing for something to plug the gap, because when you’re committed to bringing the people interesting stories from history and how The Nation covered them, every single day of the year, well, you’ve got to follow through on that commitment.
March 27 is not one of those days. Today Quentin Tarantino turns 52 years old. When Pulp Fiction was screened at Cannes in 1994, Stuart Klawans wrote the following review in The Nation:
Pulp Fiction hits you like a jolt of adrenaline; at the climax of one of its three episodes it’s literally about a jolt of adrenaline. Soon enough you come down off its high, with that druggie feeling of your bones being hollow and your skin encrusted with dirt; but you can’t deny that the movie delivers what you paid for, or that it somehow elevates craft and cleverness to the level of art.
To mark The Nation’s 150th anniversary, every morning this year The Almanac will highlight something that happened that day in history and how The Nation covered it. Get The Almanac every day (or every week) by signing up to the e-mail newsletter.
Richard KreitnerTwitterRichard Kreitner is a contributing writer and the author of Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Union. His writings are at www.richardkreitner.com.
The AlmanacToday in history—and how The Nation covered it.