Quentin Tarantino’s 9th film ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ (OUATIH) is no Pulp Fiction where the jumbled up storyline feels just right, nor is it a Django Unchained where we bear witness to blood splatter and an abundance of expletives, nor is it The Hateful Eight. None of the performances really shine as Christoph Waltz's turns in Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained. It could feel out of place in today’s world where we thirst for plot heavy films. OUATIH has multiple storylines which seem jumbled up, however it worked for me as it served its purpose of transporting me back to the 1960's I have become accustomed to seeing on screen or hearing about and evoking a sense of nostalgia among older viewers.
The film is Tarantino’s ode to the golden era of Hollywood which functions as the major star of the film. It is a slow fairytale of two halves where we get to see and hear about the key elements in that era such as the single screen cinema halls, westerns and the emergence of ‘Spaghetti Westerns’ and Black & White 35mm prints. We see the characters shaped by and respond to this era as they meander along the various sets of Tinseltown and all over a delightful looking, non congested freeways of L.A.
In the first half, our fictional protagonists as well as a few real life characters are established through a series of storylines which are weaved across each other at crucial points to give us a comparison between the old and the new as well as set up for that final showdown which you obviously would be aware of if you aren't living beneath a rock in today's information inundated universe.
From L-R: Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth, Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton and Al Pacino as Marvin Schwarz
Leonardo DiCaprio in his first feature film since 2015’s The Revenant, plays Rick Dalton, a fading western star who is reduced to playing bit roles. His agent Marvin Schwarz (Al Pacino) summarises this predicament by saying that he is in that phase of his career where what matters is who will beat him up next week. Dalton is a complete contrast to his on screen persona which radiates confidence. This emotional wreck is ably supported by his buddy and stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) who doesn't mind Dalton crying, but not in front of the Mexicans.
Booth is introduced right at the beginning of the film as the guy who ensures that the studios don’t go into losses if the star of the production were to suffer an injury. However we soon realise that he is more than just a stuntman. Booth is Dalton’s man friday and the only person he has for support. It is believable to see Pitt as a supporting actor to DiCaprio in this film as he does everything to elevate the lead actor and ably supports him.
They meander through the 1969 Hollywood and learn that they are part of a fading era. Dalton is desperate to score big in pilot season but is often cast against type. This element of the story is quite common and introduces the Spaghetti Westerns (westerns produced in Europe most notably Italy) where actors were quite often cast against type. Dalton has to be attired and presented in a manner where the audiences don't see the character he was in his prime. This takes me back to what I read about the film called ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ where older actor Peter Fonda was cast against type as the villain. He too looked way different from what he used to when he played the good guy.
As the duo realise their place on the ladder we are shown the infamous Cielo Drive. The camera lingers on this signboard for a tad longer than usual as Tarantino plays with the audience knowledge of the movie synopsis which is based on real life events which occurred half a century ago.
We are then introduced to our first parallel storyline as the new 'It' couple of Hollywood [Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and Roman Polanski] pull up in the adjacent driveway. Following the success of Rosemary's Baby the director is the toast of Hollywood.
The way they spend their nights lays the groundwork for the next day as Tarantino more explicitly and yet ever so subtly explores the despair of the fading star and the joy of the rising star. The scene has Sharon Tate visit a theater where she watches a film of the real Sharon Tate thus enabling us to watch Sharon Tate watching Sharon Tate. The patrons in the theater lap up scene after scene and Tate revels in the adulation she receives. Her star is on the rise. This runs parallel to Rick Dalton fighting with the notion of being a ‘has been.’ He goes through a crisis of confidence and a lengthy shot of him on set gave me the impression that I was watching a western. Dalton yelling out, "Line, Line!" is what made me realise that Dalton Western was a movie within Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
This overly long scene helps the audience share the tumultuous feeling of the character as he goes through the ups and downs. The “8 fucking whiskey sours” montage is incredible and you would wish that there was a rewind button as you just want to watch and re watch this incredible scene.
Whilst we explore the rising star and the fading star our stuntman/man friday sets off on a drive around LA. He fixes an antenna on the roof where he takes off his shirt for no one's attention whatsoever(maybe it was for the benefit of those behind the 4th wall). He is like a star in his own movie and there are scars on his body which makes his flashback fight scene believable. While Pitt is no Achilles (the character he played in the 2004 film ‘Troy’) in this film, his scene did draw a few excited murmurs from the patrons of the cinema hall I was in. Tarantino constantly teases us by having Booth cross paths with members of the Manson family on multiple occasions.
This first half which is in excess of half the run time makes the audience aware of the characters and their deepest desires. It appeals to their pathos thus enabling them to emotionally invest in the characters in the 2nd half which accepts that the golden era is on its way out. That is evident with the costumes and hairstyles sported by our fictional leads. Fans who up until this point had to be content with the overuse of "Fuck" and a solitary pussy joke are treated to an ending which finally makes them believe that this film as directed by Tarantino.
Based on our synopsis I knew what's going to happen, but then I remembered that Quentin Tarantino has directed and written this film. Tarantino decides to alter history in a manner that sticks to the one and only idea of this script which is to pay tribute to Hollywood albeit in a hotchpotch manner. If someone looks at me incredulously when I say the words, "alter history" I imagine Tarantino looking at them with a half turn and wink whilst quoting Billy Crystal from his 84th Academy Awards opening number, "You didn't think I wasn't gonna do this now did you?"
The climax which will enthrall every single Tarantino fan sees purpose of the stuntman examined word for word. This when seen in the context of this film brings Shakespeare's, “All the world’s a stage,” to my mind. OUATIH has Tarantino show us that he too is following the rules he lays out for his own characters and this is part of the beauty of this film.
It is only when I left the cinema hall that I noticed how long this film actually was and was perplexed because I did not feel it's 165 minutes. In retrospect there could be an argument calling for a few scenes to be discarded in the editing room as they stretch the film. Yet they work for me as they fit with the ‘once upon a time’ theme which exhibits the yesteryear glamour of the region.
Tarantino had initially intended OUATIH to be a novel and then decided to bring it to our cinema screens. Despite the film working for me there is still a part of me that believes that it should have made as a much longer film or a miniseries (like True Detective Season 1). The longer format would have worked wonders as the buildup to the film’s latter half seems like a disappointing reward (perhaps there is a tiny inherent bias against non plot heavy films here) to first half which is like an intricate puzzle box requiring you to take time to appreciate it and just marvel at the masterful construction.
Tarantino has mellowed and his 9th film doesn't leave the audience walking out of the cinema hall under the impression that they have seen a TRUE Tarantino film. I hope this isn't his last outing and if indeed we get number 10 which we claims will be his final offering to Hollywood I hope to see the real foul mouthed, smart talking comic book type violence in that one.
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