A strangerthanPulp FictionOscars tale confirmed.
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But Harvey wanted to break out of the art-house ghetto.
And there were grungy, provocative American movies like Kevin SmithsClerksand Quentin TarantinosReservoir Dogs.
Tarantino shot back, I dont know about you, but I love violent movies.
What I find offensive is that Merchant Ivory shit.
Reservoir Dogsleft Sundance without a distributor, but Miramaxs acquisitions team implored Weinstein to take a look.
Tarantino objected, I didnt make it for your wife!
After a standoff, Weinstein blinked.
He opened the movie in October 1992, ear-slicing included.
It grossed some $2.5 million hardlyCrying Gamemoney.
After three months, he emerged withPulp Fiction.
Within three hours, he called Gladstein and said, The first scene isfucking brilliant.
Does it stay this good?
An hour later, he called again: Are you guys crazy?
You just killed off the main character in the middle of the movie.
Keep reading, Gladstein urged him.
Start negotiating, Weinstein said.
He called back a third time.
Are you closed yet?
Were making this movie.
At Cannes, the Weinstein brothers newly flush after selling Miramax to Disney showed up with thePulpgang.
The movie hit Cannes like dynamite.
Crowds chanted Tarantinos name.
On Tarantinos way up to accept the Palme dOr, a woman shouted, Pulp Fictionis shit!
He flipped her off and said, I dont make movies that bring people together.
I make movies that split people apart.
A diabetic man had fainted.
Miramax sent the guy home in a limo, and the film resumed.
The incident made headlines, but not everyone was convinced.
Either that or Harvey made the most of an opportunity that arose organically.
Many people in the industry thought that it was a fake.
The hero aint the hero.
The villain aint the villain.
And the outcome of the story might happen an hour before the end.
Its defying everything, Weinstein told the press.
He was the face not only of the exploding indie movement but also of Miramax.
Im their Mickey Mouse, hed say.
Pulp Fictionwas nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, among twenty-two total nominations for Miramax.
Im drinking sweet vintage champagne through the faucets of Miramax, Weinstein told theL.A.
(The press knew he was good copy.)
Are you groovy or not?
Although Weinstein had about half ofGumps campaigning budget, he used his resources shrewdly.
The tactic, like others for which Miramax became notorious, wasnt new, but Weinstein was relentless.
You have Bob Zemeckis and Tom Hanks, who could both be mayor of Beverly Hills.
Now she was in direct competition with him.
It was heated, she recalls.
Pulp Fictionwas the darling of the New York press, which didnt make life easy by any means.
AlthoughGumpgot thirteen nominations, Boone Isaacs wasnt taking anything for granted.
We had already known he was good at this, she says of Weinstein.
But I didnt think he was any smarter than I was, to be honest.
(Two decades later, she became the Academys first Black president.)
(In anotherCitizen Kaneecho, the two had squabbled over Avarys credit.)
Onstage, they looked like crashers from a skateboarding contest.
Avary, a long-haired art school dropout, announced, I really have to take a pee right now.
Miramax had taken over Chasens, the storied West Hollywood eatery that was about to shut its doors.
The party was a kind of Irish wake, both for the restaurant and forPulps Oscar chances.
The guests reveled in being the cool-kid losers even Madonna, who watched the telecast from the party.
By 12:30 a.m., the party was packed, the atmosphere unhinged.
Were taking them back.
And if they dont give them up, were going to getmedievalon them.
He enjoyed playing troublemaker, but he knew what to keep hidden.
He tried to shove himself on me.
He tried to expose himself.
He did all kinds of unpleasant things.
But he didnt actually put his back into it and force me.
Youre like an animal wriggling away, like a lizard.
Copyright 2023 by Michael Schulman.
Reprinted by permission of Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
