Pros: Great ensemble cast; beautiful scenery and ambience of the 60s; an unusual look at a famous event; impressive cinematography; signature Tarantino dialogues; the tension is felt literally in every frame Cons: If you know nothing about the events of August 9, 1969, there is no point in watching this film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood / “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Genre drama, comedy
Director Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio (Rick Dalton), Brad Pitt (Cliff Booth), Margot Robbie (Sharon Tate), Emile Hirsch (Jay Sebring), Margaret Qualley (Pussy), Timothy Olyphant (James Stacy), Julia Butters (Trudie Fraser) , Austin Butler (Charles “Tex” Watson), Dakota Fanning (Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme), Bruce Dern (George Spahn), Mike Moe (Bruce Lee), Luke Perry (Wayne Monder), Damian Lewis (Steve McQueen), Al Pacino (Marvin Schwartz), Nicholas Hammond (Sam Wanamaker), Rafal Zawierucha (Roman Polanski), Damon Herriman (Charles Manson), etc.
Студии Columbia Pictures, Bona Film Group, Heyday Films
Year of release 2019
IMDb website
If you don’t know who Sharon Tate is and haven’t heard anything about the events of August 9, 1969, which took place at 10050 Cielo Drive in northwest Los Angeles, then there’s probably no point in going to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. You will waste your time simply not understanding who all these people are and why absolutely nothing happens during the first two hours of the film. Some strange, almost random characters are engaged in very banal everyday affairs, solving their small problems, having meaningless conversations and leisurely driving around the city in indecently huge cars that look like sailing yachts. And yes, sometimes they also act in films, in cheap, long-forgotten television series with a banal plot and weak performances. What is this all for?
If 10050 Cielo Drive is not just empty words for you, then you will see a completely different Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. A beautiful tale of the golden age of Hollywood, permeated with the depressing anticipation of a terrible ending. Pure, uncomplicated suspense, and in such a monstrous concentration that even the great Hitchcock would envy. When Sharon Tate first appears on screen eight months before the fateful events, you already know how and when it will end – so watching everyday scenes with the young actress laughing and fooling around is simply physically painful. The first time you see it, you understand who these cute hippie girls are, smiling so happily at the sun and ready to sleep with anyone who seems at all attractive to them. The name of the street where the main character of the picture lives will make you shudder. The appearance of an unprepossessing young man on the threshold of 10050 Cielo Drive, looking for his old friend, will make you groan with impotence. If you know every minute the events of that ill-fated day, then when at the beginning of the third hour of the film, damn Tarantino finally starts the timer, you will even breathe a sigh of relief.
When it’s all over, you will understand that Tarantino needed the previous two hours to lull your vigilance, to masterfully arrange the figures and hang the guns that will definitely fire in the finale. Oddly enough, there is nothing superfluous in this long film – classic Tarantino.
However, the director can afford to take his time in preparing for the finale. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is full of scenes shot simply because Tarantino absolutely loves ’60s Hollywood, loves spaghetti westerns, loves the stupid TV shows he grew up with. Loves big beautiful cars and the fantastic neon lights of Los Angeles. He loves them, knows how to shoot them and enjoys every frame. Yes, and also legs, how could I forget about legs. After Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, fans of Tarantino’s work will probably shoot another video in the style of Every Feet Scene in Filmography of Quentin Tarantino, and there is a suspicion that it will be longer than the previous one.
Almost all of the characters in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood are real people. These directors, producers, actors and stylists actually worked in Hollywood in the late 60s. last century, knew each other, participated in the same parties, starred in the same films, lived on neighboring streets. Only the two main characters of the film, Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth, are fictional personalities, however, their images are also based on real people. In particular, the friendship between Dalton and Booth is reminiscent of the relationship between Burt Reynolds and his stunt double Hal Needham.
In general, Tarantino deserves respect at least for the fact that he managed to assemble such a brilliant cast in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Despite the fact that both DiCaprio and Pitt are largely individualistic actors, Tarantino somehow managed to make them work as a duet and it is truly impressive. Margot Robbie is simply the perfect choice for the role of Sharon Tate; not only are the actresses really similar, but Robbie also copies Tate’s demeanor. But the real discovery of the film for me personally was 10-year-old Julia Butters, who played the young actress Trudy Fraser, who works with Rick Dalton on the set of the Lancer series (this, again, is a completely real television series). This girl will go far. By the way, speaking of girls, you are unlikely to recognize actress Dakota Fanning in Squeaky Fromm, who showed great promise 15 years ago, but now finds herself in the shadow of her younger sister Elle Fanning. However, there are so many good famous actors in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood that listing them all is simply pointless.
For me personally, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was a real revelation and for several days now I have not been able to get over the impression after watching it. Tarantino is undoubtedly a genius, but he is also a very talented sharper – only he could masterfully hide in the most visible place the answer to the question of what Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is really about. Bravo, maestro, thank you for these two and a half hours.
Conclusion:
Tarantino is a damn genius who made a poignant and very touching film about Hollywood in the late 60s. last century
