Whenever some crazy person does some
horrible thing in the world, deranged manifestos from the extremes of society
are festooned upon us by a media exploiting our collective morbid curiosity. The
dead are victimized twice. First they are robbed of their live, then their
lives are forever connected and largely overshadowed by the attention spent on
the perpetrators. Sharon Tate is a perfect example. This utterly blameless
young woman was horrifically murdered by the Manson cult. Once Upon a Time
in Hollywood uses this real event from 1969 Hollywood as its reason for
being. However, upon exiting the theater, you may notice that during the course
of the movie, you have learned far more about Sharon Tate then Charles Manson.
Writer/Director Quentin Tarantino to his great credit has flipped the murders on
their head. He showers attention on the victims and treats the perpetrator
dismissively. This is too my great relief. I was very worried coming into this
movie about what Tarantino would do with the material given that Roman Polanski
was still alive. Coming out of the movie theater, I can marvel at the deft way
Tarantino handled it all.
Reappearing in Once Upon a Time
in Hollywood from Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained are
Leonardo Dicaprio and Brad Pitt respectively. Tarantino writes them some tailor-made
roles. Leonardo Dicarprio plays Rick Dalton, former star of Bounty Law, on the
downward trajectory of his show business career (in an early scene, he gets
presented the ‘opportunity’ to move to Italy and star in westerns over there).
Brad Pitt plays Rick Dalton’s former stunt double, Cliff Booth. Cliff may or
may not have been involved in the tragic death of his wife in the style of
Natalie Wood’s mysterious fate. Nobody can prove whether or not Cliff did what
and Tarantino makes it purposefully ambiguous. Enough people think Cliff might
have to the point where he no longer is a working man (he also got into a fist
fight with Bruce Lee). He spends his days doing odd jobs for Rick and feeding
his bulldog.
Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth are
completely fictional. It is a testament to the movie that we become highly
invested in them while waiting for the real occurrences to occur in the last half
hour of an almost three hour movie. It must be noted that Brad Pitt at 55 years
old still has a six-pack of abs. It’s absurd. While Leo plays worn and tragic,
a type of role he has become very good at.
As a very present character is
Hollywood itself. The 1969 production value, the neon details, the cars, the
Playboy mansion, the year round sun. Most of all, that feel of innocence before
those dirty hippies ruined the party and gave the sixties their hangover.
I very much don’t want to ruin
this movie for you. If you don’t know anything about it, I think you should do
some historical homework and then listen to nothing else. You should know
something about the Manson murdes. Read the Wikipedia article. Then watch this
movie. You will not be disappointed.
Would you believe me if I told you
that this is Tarantino least vulgar and arguably least violent movie. It is on
the same violence level of pre-Kill Bill. As far as cursing is concerning, not
that much at all really. It’s kind of refreshing. Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood is top-tier Tarantino. Put it up there with Pulp Fiction and
Django Unchained. Highly recommended.
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