The average person innately fears the unknown. The familiar offers results we understand and know how to navigate in order to experience minimal pain and/or inconvenience. Change involves risk and uncertainty, not knowing where we may end up is frightening, particularly if our current circumstances are comfortable. However, change is inevitable, and no time moreso than when we age. Physically and professionally, what we knew about ourselves may end as we embark upon unknown territory. Such is the situation we find the protagonist in in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, famed director Quentin Tarantino’s latest film. But delving deeper into the film’s story, we find that the journey of the film’s character may hit closer to home for his creator.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood finds us in Los Angeles in 1969 during a period of great change, both in the movie business and the country at large. Emblematic of the transitory period is aging TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) as Rick struggles to find his groove in an industry that is quickly considering him to be old hat.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a portrait of a man in a time of transition, during a period of great transition for the country and its culture as a whole. Rick finds himself at a crossroads in his career, a former star of the western, a dying genre in the burgeoning era of the auteur director, like his neighbor Roman Polanski. The label of old-timer encroached upon him quickly and he’s unable to cope with uncertainty of what comes next for him, as evidenced by a conversation he has with his young co-star Trudi (Julia Butters) about a novel he’s reading featuring a character facing the same dilemma. The film juxtaposes this nicely with the status of Sharon Tate’s career, as she is in the process of making a name for herself and establishing her acting bonafides. In back-to-back scenes, we see Rick, beating himself up in his trailer after flubbing his lines contrasted against Sharon in a theater, watching her latest movie appearance amongst a crowd, reveling in the adoration shown to her performance. Two shooting stars passing each other in the night sky on opposite trajectories; one ascending, one descending.
Rick’s face-off with his professional mortality is one we will all face one day, a lifetime of working switching toward a question of “what now?” Time catching up to and passing us is an inevitability, but how we respond is ultimately up to us. The luckiest among us will have accomplished enough in our primes to land softly in our third acts, the capital we’ll have accumulated being enough to see us through. Despite his worry throughout the film, following the climactic end to the film’s third act, we find that Rick’s reputation from his previous work brings him to a place where he can carve a place for himself within a changing industry. In a callback to an earlier conversation between he and Cliff where he stated he was one party invite from scoring a role in a Polanski film, Rick is invited into the Polanski abode for a drink by an eager Sharon after his harrowing ordeal, literally crossing the barrier to his progression in the form of the Polanskis’ front gate opening and inviting the older actor inside. The excitement and respect both she and her friend Jay Sebring (Emile Hirsch) toward Rick is a testament to the goodwill and capital he built through his prior work. Through his arc, we see that one’s twilight is not necessarily a death knell, but a chance for a new beginning and the opportunity for different experiences that aren’t necessarily inferior.
One wonders if this theme in Once Upon a Time… is analogous to the current experience of its director, once the young darling rebel of Hollywood who now at 56 is nearing the end of his career in a changing film landscape that may not be as amenable to his edgy style as it once was. While watching the film devoid of the usually witty and snappy trademark Tarantino dialogue and lacking much of the charm and freshness of his landmark past work, I couldn’t help but feel like Tarantino has lost some on his fastball. But as I contemplated the film some more, the parallel between Rick and Tarantino elevated the film itself. While Once Upon a Time… May not be the paradigm shifter Pulp Fiction, possess the heart of Jackie Brown, or the action thrills of Kill Bill, but the shift to a quieter, more contemplative film may signal a transition to a third act that while different, may be successful all the same for the great director, much like Rick seemed to be headed toward in the film’s final scene. To continue my earlier baseball analogy, he may not be an overwhelming power pitcher any longer, but utilizing changeup and curveballs can make him just as deadly, albeit different from what we’re used to. When viewed in this context, my view of the film shifted slightly from mild disappointment to seeing it as the sweet contemplation of where to go next for one of cinema’s best directors to ever lead a set.
The levels of performance by the actors in Once Upon a Time… rise to meet the gravitas of the material with headliners Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt offering what will likely be considered career best efforts. DiCaprio’s turn as Rick incredibly captures the complex emotions churning within an older person at a crossroads in their life. His depiction of the ensuing confusion, fear, anger, and trepidation are subtle when needed but also full of fury and passion when circumstances within the plot call for it, adding to the realism of the portrayal. Brad Pitt also shines in his supporting role with a charisma and charm that perfectly balance the existential crisis exhibited by Rick. But Cliff’s story also holds weight in terms of its meaning as the older stuntman who suffers from a damaged reputation involving his wife embarks on a story arc that offers some chance at redemption when he gets the opportunity to save the wife of another. It’s a little iffy due to the nature of his backstory with his wife; while I understood it, I don’t think Cliff’s later heroism makes up for his past transgressions. The talk of the theater at the end of the film may very well be young actress Julia Butters who knocks her cameo appearance as child actor Trudi out of the park. In a film featuring career best performances from two legendary screen actors, the youngster still manages to stand out, holding her own during once of DiCaprio’s best ever scenes during the filming of his guest appearance on her show
“Lancer.”
In addition to the thematic depth and virtuoso performances offered by Once Upon a Time…, the film also provides the pleasure of being simply gorgeous to look at. Legendary director of photography Robert Richardson is on top of his game in the film, treating us to an array of sharply angled camera work and picturesque recreations of 1960s Hollywood Boulevard and Los Angeles in general. The amount of care and attention to detail involved in the recreation of the 60s television shows is also one of the highlights of the film’s cinematography. The various old-time styles of the genres depicted are all flawless copied and seamlessly integrated into the film. One specific example of the top tier cinematography in the film is a shot of Rick alone in his pool overlooking Hollywood, his headphones on practicing his lines for an upcoming guest appearance, when the camera begins to pan over his house and down to street level, to the Polanskis’ the next house over as they leave to go out on the town, all in one single take. The transition was expertly executed, gorgeous, and inventive, the highlight of overall exemplary cinematography.
If you head into Once Upon a Time in Hollywood expecting your typical, frenetic Tarantino romp, you’ll probably walk away disappointed, as I was initially. The lively, dynamic dialogue is absent, even the trademark gore is mostly gone and when it does appear, it’s not as gnarly as we’re used to. The film is very funny at times however, which helps an at times slow film from moving at an unbearable pace. But what Tarantino takes away in bombast he replaces with a contemplative reflection on aging and ultimately his own mortality and professional fate. The director also succeeds in restoring the humanity of Sharon Tate through her depiction by Margot Robbie. In the film, we see her upward trajectory as an actress, as well as her infectious personality. By showing what could have been and reminding the audience who she was and who she was becoming, Tarantino elevates her above the Manson Family murder victim she has been cemented as in American folklore. Much will be made about him flexing his filmmaker muscle through his referencing of obscure Hollywood history and figures and while impressive, what impressed me the most was his inclusion of other genre styles within the film. During a scene where Cliff goes to check on his old buddy George Spahn (Bruce Dern), much to the chagrin of Manson Family member Squeaky Fromme (Dakota Fanning). As Cliff persists and forces his way into the house to check on George despite Squeaky’s ominious protestations, the sense of tension and dread over how Cliff’s aggression will cause the murderous family to react rivals that of any horror film in recent memory. The ability to display a mastery of one genre within another is an exceptional display of skill. Leonard DiCaprio and Brad Pitt give incredible performances that rank with their career bests. DiCaprio shines as an actor going through a crisis of transition while Pitt’s turn as the confident, loyal friend really sticks to the ribs. Julia Butters is transcendent in her small, supporting role as precocious child actor Trudi, managing to standout alongside screen legends at just ten years old. Remember her name. Robert Richardson provides stunning cinematography, full of eye-catching camera work and angles, capturing a period of time on Hollywood recounted in legend and bringing it to life. All in all, the film denotes a departure for its famed director but the change of pace is a breath of fresh air for a legend finding his footing in a new landscape. We should all be appreciative to be able to share in the journey.
Image: Columbia Pictures
