HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD

MOVIE
Once Upon A Time ... In Hollywood
Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt
Director Quentin Tarantino
Review Ray Chan

Most of Tarantino’s films are like exaggerated Jerry Seinfeld sitcoms on a grand scale: random observations of the madness of life's idiosyncrasies within various settings, but grittier and in the end connecting with each other even if you have to work a little to discover how.
    His latest offering follows the same groove, and is certainly aptly named, recounting as it does the days in the life of a fading TV star in the flower power era of 1969, half a century ago.
    But while some have chosen the occasion to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing or commemorate Woodstock, Tarantino chooses to spend the summer of 2019 revisiting the Charles Manson killings, a crime that shook the show business community in Los Angeles.
    Indeed, the theme of violence recurs throughout, with many of the sundry characters glorifying bloodshed and brutality, and allying it to the culture in which they were brought up to “love that stuff—y’know, the killing” on TV (a line Al Pacino, as promoter Marvin Schwartz, says in a great nod to Scarface); or in the case of actors, reciting the lines written for them in these productions. When a scripted gunslinger in a Western reminisces at one point that “people died that day,” for example, his cowpoke companion replies, “but we had a good time”.
    And it’s this American affection for ammunition which also provides the spark for the movie’s climax, with the Manson clan planning the mass murder of the cinematic stars who taught them how to kill.
    For Rick Dalton, the fallen idol played by Leonardo DiCaprio, the assumption that viewers enjoy witnessing sudden, painful death is the foundation on which he based his career, gaining fame as he did in cancelled TV series Bounty Law, in which the manhunter he portrayed preferred “dead” to “alive”, and encouraged the audience’s agreement with a cheeky wink to the camera.
    The irony here is that that while Tarantino reflects on a general American desire to be entertained by slaughter, it also shows up his own role in satisfying that appetite in all his movies to date.
    In Once Upon a Time, the director gradually ratchets up impending carnage and then releases the tension in a gorefest of stabbing, shooting, gnashing, bashing, and even charbroiling, in the best tradition of a slap-up Machete-esque massacre.
    Sharing the spotlight with Rick is his stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), who’s anything but a double though: he’s an easy-going gofer, chauffeur, handy jack-of-all-trades, confident and confidant in one, and as rough and tough as Rick is soft, emotional and an alcoholic, his weaknesses evinced in a slight stammer, a hacking cough, forgetfulness about his lines, and an aptitude for furniture-smashing bouts of self-pity.
    Cliff doesn’t give a damn about pleasing anybody, and even upstages an arrogant Bruce Lee on the set of the Green Hornet.
    He eventually ends up visiting the Manson family at the abandoned movie and television ranch they’ve taken over, some of whom, in the Tarantino world of cosmic coincidences, end up intruding Rick’s house several months later.
    Rick’s next-door neighbour is the sweet and innocent Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), who resides in the abode with director Roman Polanski and celebrity hair stylist Jay Sebring.
    Both Tate and Sebring were real-life victims of the Manson atrocity, and Tarantino keeps the suspense up as he leaves viewers on tenterhooks wondering if and when the killings will start.
    Tate’s murder was widely seen as signifying the USA’s death of innocence and the end of the peaceful swinging ‘60s, and in the movie, Tarantino fully embraces her iconography and cultural importance, while amplifying her generosity, talent, joy, and integrity; and ultimately, her shining unfulfilled promise.
    Make no mistake, the moviemaker’s rep and pulling power remain stellar, attested to by the number of name actors in the cast.
    What’s not so certain is the reason for an apparent foot fetish which pervades the film, bare-soled, shoe-coutured, or otherwise.
    Is there attempted symbolism here? Bare feet have come to represent innocence, while footwear was considered a sign of power: both themes which are featured to the fore.
    Or maybe Tarantino’s just being Tarantino, and saying that when you see all those shots of feet, think of who’s being stepped on.
    All in all, as the film’s title implies, the movie functions as a fairy tale, and a compelling, entertaining one that ranks among his best; it's a wistful tribute to a bygone era and a loving testament to a period in which men like Rick and Cliff are about to be swept aside by a future they can’t comprehend.
    As Mick Jagger sings as the final act begins, “baby, baby, baby, you’re out of time”.

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