Quentin Does It Again

This is a wonderful film and firmly establishes its director, Quentin Tarantino, as the most consistently provocative of all filmmakers.  Like in Inglourious Basterds before it, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood rewrites history with a steely vengeance, this time eviscerating the collective consciousness’s memory of the atrocities of the Manson family in 1969. 

This is just part of the story though. 

What we are presented with overall is a sprawling, magnetic orchestration that weaves and snakes among a plethora of stories, sometimes going off on dizzying, wonderous tangents that seem to be totally inconsequential at the time, but are still thoroughly enjoyable to behold.   Some scenes seem to linger and just playfully meander to develop character and add an idiosyncratic element to the film as a whole. 

All of the signature Tarantino elements are there:  eccentric, pop culture-infused dialogue; postmodern riffs and references to many aspects of cinema and culture; wrenching violence; odd and dark but effective humour; a pulsating, invigorating soundtrack.   And revenge is a theme present in many of Tarantino films.  You have to wait for the final minutes of this nearly 3 hour film to see the revenge come to full fruition, but it is worth the wait and it is done in a revolutionary, unconventional way. 

The acting is phenomenal, particularly from DiCaprio and Pitt, but Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate brings life to this picture.  Tarantino is paying tribute to the late actor, and in a few scenes her character is given breadth and depth thanks to Robbie’s performance and allowing her to inhabit Tate and the mise-en-scene.  One scene in particular portrays her attending a screening of one of her own films from the time, The Wrecking Crew.  The camera lingers on Robbie’s face as she absorbs her own film and takes-in the reactions of the surrounding spectators - great acting and great filmmaking combined. 

There is a sense, thanks to QT’s skill, that the screen is alive and that one’s own viewing of the film is, in essence, establishing the film for the first time on the retina of the present.  It is an active viewing experience which challenges the spectator to work with the material, engaging with the story and characters to create meaning both intrinsically within the viewer’s head and collectively with society and the past. 

Few films recently have so moved me and made me feel breathless with its creativity and boldness.