Tarantino’s ‘’Once upon a time in Hollywood’’ was released in 2019. It is his ninth feature and a star-studded film.
Tarantino, who did not learn from any film school, has always been keen on the history of cinema and its preservation. The skill and care he has used in this film clearly show that this is a personal film. It’s a movie about movies, made as only Tarantino can.
The film is a historical drama, and Tarantino has often worked in historical mode. His movies, like Reservoir Dogs, Inglorious Bastards, were aimed at cinematic-ally rewriting history as an act of revenge.
Tarantino and his films
He borrows visual and thematic elements from his favorite genres. But he is always successful in making them aggressive, confronted westerns, war films, and vengeance epics.
The film partly involves the tragic story of 1969’s summer, and probably a sad end to an era. The Mansion family killings which resulted in the death of actress Sharon Tate and four others at a house she shared with her husband, Roman Polanski.
This is the story of Rick Dalton, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Rick was a famous actor in the ’50s, but his star is slowly fading. Rick has a stunt double, Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt. Cliff is his driver, friend and fulfills his duties as a pep talk provider.
In the film, two stories run on parallel tracks. One concerns Sharen Tate, who is innocent, carefree, and eager to please. The other concerns Rick and cliff, which is also split into stories of their own. Rich, who is trying to be an actor, in the changing environment of the industry.
Mansion family and the 60’s
Cliff meets a bunch of girls and guys, and they live on an abandoned ranch, which used to be a film set. That group turns out to be the Mansion family.
Tarantino’s film is about that past which is meant to speak to the present, both eras of changing cinema. He has a history of planting racial slurs in his characters, and this is no different from others. This is the second film of the year that shows racial slurs prominently. The slurs display the devastating real-world oppressions that Mexicans had to face as a result of white Americans’ racist attitudes.
Many films and TV series came out in recent and past years, which replayed the story of the murderers of the Mansion family. Tarantino is not interested in the murderers, but the world around them at that time. The impact this threat had on the community and the shift happening in the Californian culture. Rick and Cliff both belong to the working class and counter-balance the rise of hippie culture.
Actors
DiCaprio gave the best performance of his career in the film and did justice to the character. He nailed the insecurities that plague talent and tapping on-screen presence.
Brad Pitt also gave a brilliant performance, playing a contemporary playboy. Who surveys the changing atmosphere of LA turns over to hippies and flower children.
This must be Tarantino’s most comprehensive, contemplative, mature and introspective film. The loping camera techniques, music, and lights bring the bygone moment with such accuracy, and also perfect storytelling techniques like those of Alfred Hitchcock.
Tarantino is, without a doubt, the most celebrated directors of contemporary cinema, who have also inspired generations of new filmmakers because of his new style and approach to film-making.
Like his other films, it has razor-sharp dialogues, stylized graphic violence, and use on non-linear narrative structure. The scenes of the film are there to stay with you for days.
