For ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ it seems that the director might be taking a break from his love of cinematic violence to travel back in time to LA in the late sixties, where “everything is changing”.
The Golden Age of Hollywood paved the way for thousands of great movies, actors, movements, and theories. It brought us many well-known films; Rebel Without a Cause, Hitchcock’s Psycho, and the first A Star Is Born, to name a select few. Movies weren’t the only inherently golden part of this age, though; the city of Los Angeles met an era that birthed a new lifestyle, ways of dressing, a more open sense of liberality, ever-changing trends and obsessions… The guts and glory of this bygone epoch was captured in the recently released teaser trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s latest and ninth feature-length film, and despite the plot remaining relatively vague for now, it’s certain that the upcoming Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is going to be a nostalgic (and most likely dramatic) ride down memory lane.
Image via Sony Pictures.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Rick Dalton is a faded television star struggling to transition to movies and is constantly accompanied by his stunt double Cliff Booth, portrayed by Brad Pitt. The two have worked with Tarantino before, DiCaprio in Django Unchainedand Pitt in Inglorious Basterds, but it is the first time for Suicide Squad’s Margot Robbie, who takes on the role of actress Sharon Tate, the focal victim of the 1969 Manson Family Murders. Contrary to how the media is making the film out to be an apparent retelling of the infamous cult crime, though, Sharon Tate’s sister Debra Tate has confirmed via tweet that Tarantino explained his vision to her and even let her read the script, promising that Sharon’s memory “won’t be exploited”. Although that one horrible night in August was a significant event, and was arguably the real turning point of this particular age, it won’t be what the film revolves around. Instead, it seems that Tarantino will be spotlighting not just 1969 but the years prior to it as well.
After venturing into the martial arts in Kill Bill, assassinating Nazis in Inglorious Basterds, venturing into the Old West in The Hateful Eight, and the murky criminals of Pulp Fiction, Tarantino will be paying tribute to some of the final moments within the yielding film industry, nearing the end of Hollywood’s era of classical cinema.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywoodwill be released in the United States on 26 July, 2019.