By Joseph Romano
Abundant Spoilers Ahead.
The last semblances of a bygone industry- seemingly dictated by sequels and streaming services- stood in silence and once more came together to collectively embrace an authentically classic blockbuster in a modern context. However, this film not only was set in the late sixties, surrounded by all of the imagery of the sixties, the music of the sixties, and the events of this iconic era, it was a film that felt as if it was produced in that period as well.
This film was distinctly Quentin Tarantino, yet it lacked the repetitive nature that his fans adore and would allow even the most casual viewer to identify it as his work. Brutality, long portions of narration, and an extensive run time- some of the most obvious of his trademarks- are all present. Yet, these factors cannot be labelled as excessive in QT’s most recent entry, unlike some of his previous works.
The passion of the filmmaker will always seep through his or her work, therefore to label something as a passion project is a folly. Such a thought process would suggest that any other work undertaken by this filmmaker would ultimately be meaningless in his or her eyes. That being said, a specific film can hold a higher meaning for the creator, the exact reason depending on the project.
Tarantino clearly has a special connection to this period of time, perhaps it is when he became enchanted by film and its industry. Whatever the truth may be, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood asserts his feelings towards this era and those who drove it. This film hits at the essence of cinema for Tarantino, it is chiefly a genuine and thoughtful exploration of the fleeting nature of his profession and possibly provides a solution for coping with it in such a chaotic context.
The dual leads of this film do no less than steal the show. Washed-up actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his best friend and stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) wander throughout the setting of late sixties Hollywood and encounter a diverse cast of characters- both real and fictional.
This film does not lack any of the typical strange Tarantino imagery- Brad Pitt facing off against Bruce Lee, Leonardo DiCaprio erupting at a car full of would-be-murders while wielding a blender full of frozen margaritas, and the probable perpetrators of unspeakable crimes being violently killed with a can of rat-flavored dog food. Despite all of the flash and style that this film so clearly has, below the surface there is a tale of tragedy with a heartfelt resolution.
Devoid of all of its mythology, this film is a rather personal one. Dalton is famous for his role on a hit cowboy show titled “Bounty Law,” where he played the star of the show Jake Cahill. About eight years removed from the peak of his career, Dalton is resigned to rely upon TV pilots and spaghetti westerns. He feels that his career has slipped away right from under him, it has stagnated into a paralysis that is unlikely to improve.
Meanwhile, Booth barely gets work anymore, as he is essentially Dalton’s driver and housekeeper. The two friends’ careers perfectly coincide- they are reliant on one another. The biggest disparity between the two is evident though, Dalton is unable to keep his composure, utterly defeated by the status of his career. On the contrary, Booth is the embodiment of cool, everything he does is with style and he knows it.
The bond of these two, frankly polar opposite, friends is above all else their everlasting friendship. Cliff never once begrudges Rick for not insisting on his best friend’s inclusion as a stunt double. He shrugs it off harmlessly and merrily goes about adjusting the antenna on Dalton’s home in the Hollywood Hills, as sixties pop cascades out of the neighboring window of Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie).
Booth is content with his life, driving about town to all of the various era-appropriate tunes that Tarantino could conjure up and returning home to his jovial pit bull Brandy and his macaroni and cheese dinners. Dalton stashes away his sorrows by dousing himself in a variety of alcoholic beverages while rehearsing lines prone in his pool float. They could not be more drastically different in terms of personality, yet they are inseparable.
The two leads rarely share the screen, as they each explore and undertake their problems by themselves. Dalton rekindles his former glory as the antagonist of a brand new, Timothy Olyphant lead Western show. Meanwhile, Booth nonchalantly takes on a sizable portion of the Manson family, in a proverbial stand down at the storied Spahn Ranch.
This movie is littered with old Western references, whether it be the types of shows that Dalton stars in or Booth’s striking resemblance to the unwavering, charismatic leads that were a trademark of such shows.
The same goes for the ever-present bohemian culture of the late sixties- one that still resonates with many today- and the horrifyingly vicious murders that earmarked the public’s fascination with brutal crimes and those that perpetrate them- the Manson murders. The film slowly builds up the presence of the Manson Family, as Cliff Booth repeatedly encounters them. The underlying tension becomes readily apparent in an Old Western-style standoff at the Spahn Ranch, which was the location where the hit show of the late 50’s that Rick Dalton starred in was shot.
This film runs into a dangerous area of storytelling when real people- especially ones that were gruesomely murdered- enter the equation. Inglorious Bastards can savagely obliterate Adolf Hitler’s face with a cacophony of bullets and no one would even blink. Yet, those innocent residents of the Tate-Polanski household on that infamous night need to be handled much more carefully, as they were tragic figures.
They are shown enough to paint an image of their characters, yet are not nearly developed as the film’s two standout leads. Thus when the night comes and nearly every member of the audience is aware of what is about to ensue, tensions are boiling over to bubbling anxiety.
The film makes its way slowly along, providing a diverse and intricate number of scenes along the way that meld together better than they should be expected to. Each different segment is filled with either emotion or tension, slowly edging closer and closer to the all-important finale. A film such as this is reliant- potentially to a fault- on its conclusion and it can only work if the finale is both satisfying and compelling. This is certainly a tough task and Tarantino was proven to be more than up to it.
The ensuing dread that continues to linger above the head of the collective audience is quickly assuaged with the simple whistle and toss of a can of dog food. Each of the three would-be murderers are seen as bumbling morons, as they are abandoned, savagely attacked by a pit bull, beaten senselessly, and torched to a crisp.
Many a time will a Tarantino murder sequence be spat upon as boring and repetitive and while that is rather unfair there is a point in there. His work often has an excess of violence, sometimes it works perfectly- Inglorious Bastards- sometimes it seems over the top and unnecessary- Django Unchained.
The violent spurt that punctuates Once Upon a Time in Hollywood may be the most fitting inclusion of violence in one of his films. It is rewarding to the audience because it soothes their trepidations and savagely punishes those who would have been inflicting this harm.
The title of this film evokes a sentiment of the cinema of old as well as a fantastical element. It would suggest that the location of Hollywood in its Golden Age is an illustrious location filled with mythological figures- both powerful and tragic. Thus Tarantino’s tale of struggle amongst these figures is a fairy tale akin to a story plucked straight out of the Brothers Grimm.
Despite such an air of majesty and myth, the film is grounded in true struggles of real people. This struggle is reflected in each of the two leads and grows as they go on their separate journeys throughout this mystical landscape. These journeys reveal and form the essence of both characters, distinct individuals held together through their unrelenting bond of friendship.
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