Thoughts on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Last week I watched Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film titled as “Once upon a time in Hollywood”, starring Leonardo-Di-Caprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino and many more. I already read about the movie getting six minutes-long standing ovation by the audience at the Cannes, so being a movie buff and a fan of Tarantino, I was excited and waiting for the movie to hit the theatres. Here are my thoughts on this movie-

In late 2017, Tarantino announced that his next film will be focused on Hollywood in the 1960s and will be revolved around the famous Manson murder case ( if you aren’t familiar, I will highly recommend doing some homework before watching the film). In the past, we have witnessed Hollywood in movies through different lenses, in the form of lyrical (La La Land, Singing in the rain), mysterious (Mullholand Drive), etc. Once upon a time, as the name suggests is more of a fairy tale to the director and give you a nostalgic overview of the golden era of Hollywood. It’s also the only film that will take you to the journey where you can learn and witness history, especially if you are an outsider like me and didn’t grow up watching a lot of Hollywood.

The movie tells us a story about a struggling actor Rick Dalton (Leo) who used to be a famous TV-actor in a show called “Bounty Law” and now only gets either guest appearances and small villain roles. His only friend in this world is his stunt double Cliff (Brad), whom he describes as more than a friend and less than a wife. Rick is suggested by a bigwig(Al Pacino) that Hollywood is changing and he might wanna consider the move to Italian movies. Being highly insecure these days, he has developed drinking issues and most likely is suffering from bipolar disorder. Rick, although a fictional character is a representation of lots of Hollywood actors in the past as mentioned by Tarantino himself in his interview. On the other hand, Cliff is a classic blue-collar American who isn’t concerned about this change. He lives in a troller with his dog Randy. On an alternate storyline, we see a young actress Sharon Tate, who just started her career and enjoying her life from partying at playboy mansion to spending time with Roman Polanski, her future husband. Coincidentally, Roman and Sharon have bought a house next to Rick Dalton’s in 10050 Cielo Drive, which Rick has mentioned might be an opportunity for him to work with Polanski. More than the character, it seems young Tate is the face of a new Hollywood. On the other hand, the hippy culture is getting popular in LA, Cliff explored a new area which used to be a movie set is now occupied by a bunch of hippies, dipping their cigarettes in acid ( don’t try this at home!) happen to be the members of the Mansion family.

The movie revolves around their lives for 2 hours and then the climax comes, it was Aug 1969 and we see Sharon Tate is pregnant and we all know hat happens next, we see 4 people are coming with guns and knives in front of the house. But this is still a Tarantino movie and so the climax changes everything. Over the years we have seen that Tarantino likes to alter history and in other words, correct things in his cinematic universe which he thought was wrong. We have seen in Inglorious Bastards, Hitler and his other Nazi officers get killed by a Jew, we get a reference for this as well, there was a scene wherein one of his movie rolls Rick is killing some Nazi soldier with a flame of fire. This also is an example of how Tarantino’s movies are interconnected with each other. I am not going to spoil what happens, that’s for you to experience and enjoy.

This 2 hr 45 hrs long movie isn’t like any of his earlier hardcore ones like Pulp Fiction or Reservoir dogs etc. This rather takes you to the journey, it seems that more than us it’s Tarantino’s journey to the 60s Hollywood, the long shots of car rides, music, movie sets, it’s like he is revisiting and reliving in that era. This movie is an example of his love of cinema and Hollywood as in his own words,” When people ask me if I went to film school I tell them, ‘no, I went to films.” He manages to connect one end of an era of Hollywood with a beginning of a new one, we have seen a child actress teaching Rick the meaning of acting and what’s the role of actors, introduction of the method acting in modern cinema. According to Shakespeare, the world is a stage and we all are actors people, we noticed that a lot, Cliff fighting Bruce Lee (Mike Moh) off the set, taking off his shirt while fixing an antenna at the terrace, Rick’s overdramatic expressions about how he forgot his lines, etc.

There are so many aspects of references and features throughout the film that you might get overwhelmed with. It may seem far fetched due to its length and according to some people, there’s no particular storyline or twists in the plots. But if you are one of those who enjoys and celebrates cinema as a form of art, this is truly a masterpiece. This is one of those movies, which will be in discussion a lot in years to come. I personally can’t wait to watch it again.

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