The 1995 Academy Awards are still among the most controversial in history. When it was not “Pulp Fiction” but “Forrest Gump” that won the top category “Best Film”, the decision met with incomprehension in large parts of the film world: while Gump was regarded as an undeserved success of the old guard, young film buffs in particular saw it Tarantino’s strip something revolutionary.
Box office result makes Hanks a “diabolical genius” in his own words
Now Tom Hanks has turned into one Interview with the “New York Times” commented on the ongoing debate about two of the most popular films of all time. “The thing about ‘Forrest Gump’ is that it made a billion dollars. If only we had made a successful film, (director Robert Zemeckis) and I would have been geniuses. But because we made a hugely successful film, we were devilish geniuses. Is this a bad problem? No, but there are books that have the best movies of all time, and Forrest Gump doesn’t appear in them because, ‘Oh he’s such a cheesy nostalgia feast,'” said the performer.
“Pulp Fiction is undoubtedly a masterpiece”
He is aware that at every Oscar there is an article that says, “The film that should have won Best Picture” – and that always goes to “Pulp Fiction”. “‘Pulp Fiction’ is undoubtedly a masterpiece,” he said, but so is ‘Forrest Gump’: “There’s a moment of undeniable, heartbreaking humanity in ‘Forrest Gump’ when Gary Sinise – he plays Lieutenant Dan – and his Asian wife come to our house on the day that Forrest and Jenny get married… Then I look at him and I say, ‘Lieutenant Dan.’ When I think about it now, tears come to my eyes. Forrest and Lieutenant Dan understand in these four words – ‘magic legs’; ‘Lieutenant Dan’ – everything they’ve been through and feel grateful for every ounce of pain and tragedy they survived,” said the 65-year-old.