Tarantino's back with 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'
Jochen Kürten ss
July 26, 2019
Quentin Tarantino's latest masterpiece is bound to be a crowd-pleaser. The cult director takes audiences back to Hollywood in 1969, culminating in a famous bloodbath — but with a twist.
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Quentin Tarantino turns 60
The cult director of "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and "Pulp Fiction" turns 60. Here's a selection of Quentin Tarantino's most celebrated films.
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Last film on the horizon?
According to the "Hollywood Reporter," Quentin Tarantino might just be working on his 10th and final film. The filmmaker has been quoted as saying he wanted to direct 10 films — or retire by the time he was 60. On March 27, 2023, he celebrates his 60th birthday. "Directors don’t get better as they get older," he told "Playboy" magazine back in 2012. He has already made movie history.
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"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"
"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" is a film-in-a-film story starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the role of a faded TV actor, and Brad Pitt, his stunt double. The two set out to achieve fame in Hollywood during the Charles Manson murders in 1969. Tarantino has often claimed that he would retire after 10 films, so this ninth work is seen as his penultimate.
Image: Imago Images/Zuma Press/Columbia Pictures
"Pulp Fiction"
in 1994, Tarantino grabbed the world's attention with his groundbreaking hit, starring Uma Thurman and John Travolta. References to pop culture and music, unexpected violence and chaotic plot twists: "Pulp Fiction" embodied what became known as the "Tarantino style" that would influence countless directors afterwards.
Image: United Archives/picture alliance
"Reservoir Dogs"
But "Pulp Fiction" was not the director's debut movie. After his very first film, "My Best Friend's Birthday," was partially destroyed and lost in a fire in 1987, Tarantino directed his official first feature, "Reservoir Dogs." Upon its release in 1992, the film already showed signs of Tarantino's essence: plenty of dialogue, shot through with witty humor, alongside violent scenes.
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"Jackie Brown"
Three years after his worldwide hit "Pulp Fiction," Tarantino came back with "Jackie Brown" in 1997. The story revolves around a flight attendant (Pam Grier) who gets involved in criminal activities to make ends meet. The movie gave the impression that the director was heading into a calmer and mellower period: "Jackie Brown" is a portrait of a grown-up woman.
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"Kill Bill Vol.1 &2"
Tarantino's next film, the action and violence-filled "Kill Bill," was quick to change that perception. The movie was split in two volumes, released in 2003 and 2004, due to its length of more than four hours. The film featured Uma Thurman as its main protagonist, a decade after she starred in "Pulp Fiction." Tarantino has often referred to the blonde US actress as his cinematic muse.
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"Death Proof"
Tarantino's next feature film was an homage to the US cult exploitation films of the 1970s. The main protagonist, a stuntman played by Kurt Russell, cruises the American countryside in his tricked-out Chevrolet, killing people in staged car accidents. This continues until he crosses paths with a gang of girls who end up being even more brutal than he imagined.
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"Inglourious Basterds"
Tarantino surprised his fans with "Inglourious Basterds" in 2009, taking on a historical topic for the first time. But it still had all of Tarantino's trademarks, blending violence and humor. Set in Europe during World War II, it offers an alternate version of history with its plots to assassinate Nazi leaders. Christoph Waltz shot to stardom after his role as SS Colonel Hans Landa.
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"Django Unchained"
Here, Tarantino paid tribute to another cult cinematic genre: the Spaghetti Western. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx, "Django Unchained" offered another classic story of vengeance through revisionist history. As with his previous Tarantino role, Christoph Waltz won a second Oscar for his portrayal of bounty hunter King Schultz.
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"The Hateful Eight"
Tarantino's second Western after "Django Unchained" is set in the snowy mountains and forests of the US state of Wyoming. "The Hateful Eight" unfolds in full traditional Tarantino fashion: quickly paced, with extensive dialogue and a soundtrack written by Italian composer Ennio Morricone, which earned the influential Italian composer his first Academy Award.
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Since the dawn of the age of television, people have grown up being exposed to a lot of murder, declares one character in Quentin Tarantino's latest movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It's a key statement in the film, but also one that reveals a lot about the director's work, which has always been filled with black humor and violence.
Rick Dalton (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) has seen better days as an actorImage: picture-alliance/A. Cooper
Hilarious bloodbath
True to Tarantino's signature style, the new movie tells several stories, which increasingly interact with each other. There's the storyline about an aging and increasingly unsuccessful 1960s Western actor named Rick Dalton (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), whose career and life both appear to be hitting rock bottom, as he continues to party Hollywood-style.
But the only thing that this fictional character actually has left to look forward to is his close friendship with Cliff Booth (played by Brad Pitt), who is not only his personal assistant but also his stunt double. The two, after initial hesitation, follow an invitation by producer Marvin Schwarz (Al Pacino) to feature in Italy's Spaghetti Western films in a last-ditch effort to save Dalton's career.
And then there are two additional storylines, based on real events. Dalton's next-door neighbor is Sharon Tate (Margot Robie), whose career — in stark contrast to his — is just taking off at that time. And the third storyline focuses on the drug-fueled life of hippie cult-leader Charles Manson, whose followers — in real life — would later go on to murder the then heavily pregnant Tate.
But Tarantino, predictably or not, keeps a plot twist ready at the end, when Dalton and Booth return from Italy, changing the way the gruesome Manson murders unfold. They're still ruthless but also highly entertaining, bearing Tarantino's penchant for rewriting history in mind — especially if you're accustomed to Tarantino's typically inflationary use of fake blood and brutal butchery.
And from the choice of soundtrack to cinematography, editing and direction, everything screams his name from beginning to end. Tarantino is on top of his game, with his rich abundance of Hollywood and pop-culture references, quotable lines performed with dead-pan deliveries and so many more details that make Once Upon a Time in Hollywood one of his best films yet.
The movie invokes a certain sense of nostalgia about Hollywood in its heydayImage: Imago Images/Zuma Press/Columbia Pictures
Lucky number 9
But Tarantino also knows how to market his works. He's often seen at festivals, playing the part of an annoying celebrity, parading his antics in front of the press. It's all part of the Tarantino brand.
The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in MayImage: Imago Images/ Italy Photo Press
As is the fact that his movies are always presented as part of a numerical order. All the publicity surrounding Once Upon a Time in Hollywood belabors the point that this is the acclaimed director's ninth movie. He's regularly claimed he'd stop directing movies after having done 10, but that statement should be taken with a grain of salt.
After all, he knows as much as his fans that it would be a real shame if he were to retire so early in his career. For Once Upon a Time in Hollywood truly is Tarantino at the peak of his talent. Not only is the movie visually stunning, but it also features such a compelling plot elements that even his sternest critics have chosen to withhold judgment.
"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" hits US theaters on July 26, and will be released in Germany on August 14.
