by
Julien Faddoul
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood *
A faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame and success in the film industry during the final years of Hollywood’s Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles.
Thin, indulgent and dull: Certainly the most masturbatory film by its distinguished director. He is mixing together two grand themes here: 1) The end of an auspicious period of Hollywood filmmaking and west-coast optimism and the has-beens that never made it through intact, and 2) The mass murders conducted by members of the Manson Family at 10050 Cielo Dr in August of 1969. Only the former inspires slight veneration and would have been even more interesting if the latter weren't impeding. The dioramic representation of both the facts and nonfacts of the tragedy in question – bestrewed with interminable amounts of visual taunting, as the inevitable is slowly baited for well over two hours – is then undercut by the last 30 minutes, in which a revised version of history is given. Is this approach morally questionable? Perhaps but probably the filmmaker’s intention. Is it artistically lazy? I have concluded that it is. Any historical tragedy could be given the same treatment with very little impactful difference and, in the end, he wants to have his cake and eat it too, which is something he just hasn’t earned. Furthermore, a 167 minute “hang-out” movie only works if the people the audience is hanging out with are dynamic enough to warrant their time, which, as they are presented here, is sadly not the case, especially the real-life figures like Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring and Tex Watson. I recognize what Mr Tarantino is trying to do here: He is using cinema, the most majestic art form, as the salvation for anyone who feels indignant about both the gruesome tragedy and the nostalgia for a bygone era, as he did with the Holocaust in 2009 and American Slavery in 2012. On that score, I commend him for endeavouring to expand upon the art form in an age where creative timidity and receipt revenue rule, but less portentousness and more focus would have been, frankly, an even greater achievement. Pitt and DiCaprio, however, are superb.
wd – Quentin Tarantino
ph – Robert Richardson
pd – Barbara Ling
ed – Fred Raskin
cos – Arianne Phillips
p – David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh, Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Luke Perry, Margaret Qualley, Damon Herriman, Mike Moh, Emile Hirsch, Damian Lewis, Robert Rafał Zawierucha, Bruce Dern, Lena Dunham, Nicholas Hammond, Lorenza Izzo, Marco Rodríguez, Michael Madsen
