Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival May 21, 2019
Quentin Tarantino’s 9th film
Plot(Spoiler Alert)
A faded television actor, Rick Dalton, and his stunt double, Cliff Booth, strive to achieve fame and success in the film industry during the final years of Hollywood's Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles. Rick Dalton’s next door neighbor is rising star Sharon Tate.
Blaine: “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” has been described as Quentin Tarantino’s love letter to cinema. How it got started was with the characters, Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth, that came to Quentin’s mind in 1999. Quentin had met an actor and his stunt double, who were buddies and they are what inspired the characters in the first place. Quentin spent a lot of time thinking about who these guys are and what their backstories should be. Quentin also wanted to make a movie that would take place in Hollywood and show the film business.
Quentin had “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” in his mind for years, but he didn’t start developing the script until after he was done with “The Hateful Eight”. Quentin had no idea who would play Rick and Cliff as he was developing the script. It all depended on who would be a perfect match together and that was Leonardo DiCaprio, who worked with Quentin on “Django Unchained”, and Brad Pitt, who did “Inglorious Basterds” with Quentin. Brad and Leo had never worked with each other before and Quentin was the first one to bring them together. Quentin said Brad and Leo were the best duo since Paul Newman and Robert Redford. What Leonardo DiCaprio loves most about Quentin Tarantino is the way he can rewrite history and with Brad Pitt it’s saying the clever dialog Quentin has written.
All the details on who Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth are was written in the script because “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is about getting to know them.
It was interesting for Leonardo DiCaprio to be playing an actor who has reached his expiration date and has trouble adapting to the 60s era.
Brad Pitt had a lot of respect for his character, Cliff Booth, because of the person he is. I think of Cliff as the older brother to Rick because he’s always there and looking after him. Cliff does more than just stunt work. Cliff is Rick’s errand and chore boy while Rick is at work. Cliff has trouble getting work as a stunt double, so Rick gives him a job to help him with stuff. Cliff is also Rick’s driver. Cliff is not upset with the way life has been treating him, he’s a very strong and wise person.
Quentin Tarantino had a childhood crush on Sharon Tate when he was a kid and she came to mind when he created the characters, Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth. Quentin thought she should be involved with this story he was trying to think up. Quentin had met the late Sharon Tate’s husband, filmmaker Roman Polanski, a couple times and when Quentin was developing “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” he never once consulted with Polanski about adding his late wife, Sharon Tate, and himself, but mainly Sharon, in the story for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”. Losing Sharon was a tragic moment in Polanski’s life. Quentin did however discuss the project with Sharon Tate’s sister, Deborah, and she approved of it.
Margot Robbie is a huge fan of Quentin Tarantino and she wrote him a letter saying she wanted to work with him. Shortly after, Quentin contacted Margot saying they should meet. Quentin asked Margot if she knew who Sharon Tate was and Margot didn’t know all the details on Sharon’s life, except for the Manson murders. But other than that, Margot knew who Sharon was. Quentin felt positive Margot Robbie was his Sharon Tate and he would discuss who Sharon Tate was going to be in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and what her purpose is. Margot Robbie’s Sharon Tate hardly has any dialog in the film. It’s like she is this silent actress. The real Sharon Tate did movies in her short career where she didn’t talk much, like “The Fearless Vampire Hunters”, the movie directed by her future husband, Roman Polanski.
Margot’s Sharon is so full of life. Margot got to meet Sharon’s sister, Deborah, and she would explain to Margot how wonderful and generous Sharon was. Sharon was just getting started in her career after acting for eight years and then sadly her life was taken away by the Manson Family. Sharon was also really looking forward to becoming a mother. Margot wanted Sharon to feel hopeful and excited. Margot did so much research on Sharon Tate and Quentin had described his version of Sharon in the script.
Margot was really happy to be apart of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” because it was so original. Margot had to pinch herself everyday because it was hard to believe she was working with Quentin Tarantino.
Sergio Leone was an Italian filmmaker who made films like “Once Upon a Time in the West” and “Once Upon a Time in America” and he’s one of Quentin’s favorites, so the title for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” was inspired by Leone. Sergio Leone is best known for making a lot of spaghetti westerns like “A Fistful of Dollars”, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, “For a Few Dollars More” and others. Quentin added a bit of a reference to Sergio Leone in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”. Rick Dalton gets a job doing an spaghetti western directed by an Italian director.
Quentin put together an ensemble of well known actors with small supporting roles. Some of which have worked with Quentin in the past, Kurt Russell, Michael Madsen, Zoe Bell and Tim Roth, although Tim’s part got cut. Michael Madsen was only around for a few seconds and that’s at the beginning when it shows Rick Dalton’s TV show. Zoe Bell has been working as a stunt woman all her life and she was Uma Thurman’s stunt double on Quentin’s “Kill Bill” movies. Quentin then gave Zoe her first acting job in “Death Proof”, even though acting wasn’t something that she thought she wanted to do. Zoe also had small parts in “Django Unchained” and “The Hateful Eight”. Zoe’s character in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is a stunt coordinator. Her character is married to Kurt Russell’s character, Randy. Randy is also a stunt coordinator.
Some of Quentin’s films will have narration in them to give whatever information there is to know and Kurt Russell is also the narrator of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”.
Quentin Tarantino has been lucky to work with a lot of Hollywood icons and role models of his through his career and Burt Reynolds was going to make that list, but unfortunately Burt died of a heart attack before he had a chance to shoot his scene. Burt was looking forward to working with Quentin before he passed away. Bruce Dern, who had been in Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” and “The Hateful Eight”, took Burt’s place after his passing. Burt was supposed to play George Spahn, the guy who owned Spahn Ranch where the Manson Family stayed at. What Bruce loves about working with Quentin Tarantino is that there is always going to be a surprise in his movie.
Quentin was around in the 60s as a child. He was born in Los Angeles in 1963 and he remembers how everything looked back then. Quentin wanted the environment and surroundings in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” to have a real 60s feel to it. Everything had to be real instead of being digital. Quentin loved the 60s and it excited him to show up every day on a set that represented the 60s. Quentin remembers being in the car with his step father and mother driving around Los Angeles while listening to the radio and there is a lot of scenes of Cliff Booth driving around Los Angeles while music is playing on the car radio and it’s nice to see all these sights. I felt like I was in the car taking a nice drive with these characters and I think you are supposed to feel that. What’s nice about it is there is no rush hour traffic. Quentin said you are seeing his view of things in 1960s Los Angeles. Quentin remembers all the billboards with advertisement or movie posters he saw while being in the car with his parents. They shut down highways and all that just to get those shots for scenes where the characters are driving around. They had to work fast to get those shots and they only did a couple of takes of each side and that was it because they were causing too much traffic.
Shooting “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” became a challenge for cinematographer Robert Richardson because of the car material. This was Robert’s sixth movie working with Quentin Tarantino and never before had they done crane work together.
One of the places they closed down was Hollywood Boulevard in order to recreate it 60s self. Quentin was very specific on how he wanted the surroundings to look to his production designer Barbara Ling. Quentin remembers every detail of how those streets looked back in the 60s, like the billboards, the clubs and the psychedelic art. It was like being in a historic landmark for a lot of people outside the project.
I love the choices of music Quentin has used for this film. Music is one of the important elements to a Quentin Tarantino film because he’s not only a movie lover, but a music lover as well and all the best creative people love music.
For “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, Quentin chose a lot of 60s music that were popular in Los Angeles, but not the rest of the country. Quentin would have 60s music play on the bus while scouting for locations. He would play 60s music between takes.
The songs in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” are going to be very popular now thanks to the film.
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” has a few Easter Eggs from some of Quentin’s past films.
Like one of Rick Dalton’s movies is him playing a one eyed soldier who burns Nazis alive and I was feeling “Inglorious Basterds” for that one. The western TV shows Rick does is “Django Unchained” and “The Hateful Eight”. And then you see women’s bare feet sticking up just like in Quentin’s slasher film “Death Proof”.
Quentin did a lot of research on the Manson Family once he knew they would be in the story. Quentin found it fascinating that a lunatic like Charles Manson would be able to brain wash young girls and boys to do as he commanded and believe his bullshit stories. Quentin learned about the Manson Family through books and documentaries.
Damon Herriman was hired to play the nut job, Charles Manson, not just for Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, but also for a series called “Mindhunter”. People were telling Damon that he looks like Charles Manson after he got both jobs, which he didn’t like to hear because no one wants to know if they look like someone as evil or weird as Charles Manson. Damon did “Mindhunter” first and then did “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” two weeks later. Damon had a fun time doing “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, although his part as Charles Manson isn’t that big. The only time Charles Manson shows his face in “Once Upon Time in Hollywood” is to check out Sharon Tate’s house thinking it still belonged to Terry Melcher, a music producer who worked with The Beach Boys and The Birds. Manson wanted to be a musician in life. Terry was nice enough to listen to Charles play, but Charlie didn’t have what it took and he got turned down.
The Manson girls would go through dumpsters looking for expired foods they could take home and eat. One of the Manson girls, Pussycat, played by Margaret Qualley (The Nice Guys and The Leftovers), really grabs Cliff Booth’s attention, just as much as he grabs her attention. Pussycat is based on a real Manson girl named Kathryn Lutesinger, nickname “Kittycat”. Cliff and Pussycat manage to bump into each other a few times on the road and the third time they meet, he gives her a ride back to Spawn Ranch. Pussycat puts her bare feet up on the dash of the car, which is part of the “Death Proof” Easter Egg.
Margaret Qualley almost didn’t get to be in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”. Margaret auditioned and then was told she didn’t get a part, so she went away and visited her dad in Panama. All of sudden Margaret gets a call saying she got a part and she couldn’t believe it. Apparently they changed their minds and it wasn’t easy to contact Margaret because the cel service where she was wasn’t that good. This was huge for Margaret to be apart of a project that was directed by her favorite filmmaker, Quentin Tarantino, and doing scenes with Brad Pitt. Quentin gave Margaret information on the Manson Family through documentaries on DVD. Margaret Qualley is also a dancer and she got to do some dancing for when Cliff meets Pussycat for the third time. Margaret is leaning into the interior of the car while her butt is sticking out on the other side wearing these really short shorts. Half of the shot focusses on her butt and the other half focusses on Brad Pitt.
Spawn Ranch doesn’t exist anymore because it burned down one year after the Manson Murders. It’s nothing but a mountainside now. There was a spot a couple miles away from that area and it had a similar look to what Spawn Ranch was. It took a long time for the production designers to recreate Spawn Ranch in this area. Quentin wanted Spawn Ranch to feel creepy when Cliff Booth enters it. The audience knows it’s a dangerous place to be because the Manson Family lives there. Cliff has no idea what’s going on there, but he senses somethings not right about the place. Cliff’s not worried though because he has a lot of fighting skills in him.
And after Cliff leaves, him and Pussycat don’t show any interest in each other anymore. They go their separate ways fast.
There was a lot more women in the Manson Family than men. Quentin would test members of the Manson Family in groups during the casting process to see how they worked together. One of the Manson girls is Lena Dunham, the creator and star of the HBO series, “Girls”. And then another Manson girl, who is more of a background character, Harley Quinn Smith, the daughter of Kevin Smith, the creator of “Jay and Silent Bob”. And then you have Sydney Sweeney from TV shows like “The Handmaid’s Tale”, “Sharp Objects” and “Euphoria”.
The first member of the Manson Family was Squeaky Fromme and she helped Manson gather up teenagers off the streets to join what is now called a cult. One of the things Quentin learned while doing his research on the Manson Family was that whenever Charlie wasn’t around, the kids would watch television because he didn’t like it so much. Squeaky would also be like George Spahn’s sex doll. Dakota Fanning plays Squeaky in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and her take on Squeaky is showing a girl with a serious attitude and acts like she is the boss whenever Charlie isn’t around.
Tex Watson was the one who taught the members of the Manson Family how to kill under Charles Manson’s orders. Tex is riding a horse when Cliff shows up at the ranch. Both Tex and Leslie Van Houten, who went by the name Lulu when she was in the Manson Family, give horse back lessons, then he hears Cliff is causing trouble and he rides his horse through hills to get back to the ranch. I like how that was shot. You see Tex riding through curves at a fast pace and the camera stays with the horse. Then it shows a distant shot from a high angle and it focusses on the horse as it is riding through.
Quentin wrote in a lot of famous Hollywood icons, who everyone has grown up watching in this clever story.
Sharon Tate for one. Damian Lewis plays Steve McQueen, but Steve is only shown at the Playboy Mansion when Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski show up as guests. Steve only gives a background on Sharon Tate, how she was engaged to Jay Sebring, but called it off after meeting Roman Polanski and married him instead. Jay and Sharon stayed friends though. Steve is also mentioned on set of Rick’s new western show. Rick was in competition with Steve for the part of Hilts ‘the Cooler King’ in the classic film, “The Great Escape”. Rick imagines what it would have been like if he was in that film.
The late Luke Perry shows up being apart of Rick’s new western TV show and his character is a real life television actor named Wayne Maunder. There was a few different characters Quentin had in mind for Luke and Luke wanted to be in the western show because he’s a fan of westerns and he was good on a horse. Luke’s scene starts off with Wayne Maunder heading to a saloon on his horse and Quentin was a little concerned for Luke and thought he needed help, but Luke was fine. Quentin thought of Luke as a professional at what he did.
Quentin did his homework very well. Martial arts actor Bruce Lee had a connection to Sharon Tate. It was Sharon’s ex-boyfriend, Jay Sebring, who helped Bruce make it in Hollywood. Bruce even gave fighting lessons to actors who needed to prep up for a role, including Sharon Tate. Like Sharon Tate, Bruce Lee’s life ended too soon.
Bruce Lee was played by Mike Moh, an actor who was planning to quit acting and try out a new career, but before he moved away he auditioned for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”. After that, Mike left with his family to move to Wisconsin and open up a dojo, without checking to see if he got the part first and he won it. Mike’s background is television and to be in a Quentin Tarantino film playing a Hollywood legend was breathtaking for him. Mike also knows martial arts just like Bruce Lee did. Mike watched a lot of Bruce Lee’s movies growing up and Bruce was a role model of his. Mike could only stay for a few days while “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” was shooting because he had to get back to running a dojo. Mike had no idea who else was in this movie. Mike was in full shock to see Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Kurt Russell and others show up during the script reading. It was unbelievable for Mike and he was trying to keep it cool. My dad really liked those scenes of Cliff Booth and Sharon Tate kicking Bruce Lee’s ass.
Rick Dalton meets a little girl, Trudi, on set of the new western show he is doing and I like how she is posed when Rick first meets her. She’s a little girl, sitting on a tall chair, resting her cowboy boots on a barrel while holding a big book. Quentin has written a strong young character.
Trudi is so intelligent and a strong spirited person. Trudi is someone Rick can talk to and she knows he is depressed because she is also kind and understanding. Trudi knows she wants to be an actress in life and she knows what it takes to be an actress. She’s got a future. Julia Butters, the young actress who played Trudi, is very impressive herself. She says Quentin’s dialog very well. Julia even nailed her audition, although Quentin tested other girls just to be sure, but none of them were as good as her. Julia Butters thought Quentin Tarantino was so creative because of this fictional story he was bringing to life.
Rick is depressed thinking his career is going to come to an end, while he’s on the set of the western show. He screws up a take while they are shooting the show and he feels embarrassed about it. So Rick tells himself to man up and become that great actor he trained himself to be. My dad and I like the shot of Leo during the scene where he is in his trailer and looking at himself in the mirror telling himself to improve. When it comes time to shoot a different scene, Rick gives his performance everything he’s got and everyone is so impressed with him. Little Trudi even tells him she had never seen better acting than what he just did there and that gives Rick hope. It’s nice because Rick doesn’t give up. Things started off rough at first, but Rick makes sure it gets better. It’s like Leonardo is putting his good acting into Rick’s performance during that scene.
Sharon Tate sees her new movie, “The Wrecking Crew”, is playing at a theater and she asks if she can get in for free sense she is in the movie. That was based on a piece of Quentin Tarantino’s life. Quentin Tarantino wrote the script for a movie called “True Romance”, directed by Tony Scott, and by the time it got made and was released, Quentin had already made his first feature, “Reservoir Dogs” and showed he had talent. Quentin was on a date and “True Romance” was playing at a theater. Quentin asked if him and his date could see “True Romance” for free. The guy at the ticket booth didn’t know what to believe because Quentin wasn’t a celebrity yet. Quentin had a nice talk with the manager and he was convinced Quentin was the guy who wrote “True Romance”.
My dad said he did something like that once, except it wasn’t a movie theater. My dad was flying on TWA from Italy to the U.S. and when he checked in, he told them he worked with the TWA Ambassador inflight magazine and showed them a photo in the current issue. They upgraded him to business class. (That’d never happen today as individual employees no longer have the authority to do things like that without someone giving them the ok).
Margot Robbie’s Sharon Tate is sitting in the theater watching “The Wrecking Crew” and it shows footage of the real Sharon Tate in that movie. Sharon Tate takes off her boots and sticks her barefoot up, which is another “Death Proof” Easter Egg.
WARNING: Do not read anymore of this review if you haven’t seen “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” yet because there are huge spoiler alerts!!!
Rick Dalton is now married to an Italian woman named Francesca Cappucci and she was played Lorenza Izzo. Quentin knew Lorenza through his buddy Eli Roth. Lorenza and Eli used to be married and Quentin would get together with them a lot. Quentin had also seen Lorenza’s work and he was impressed with her. Quentin offered the role of Francesca to Lorenza. Francesca speaks in an Italian accent and doesn’t speak a lot of English. Lorenza learned how to speak Italian and she was able to speak it like a pro. Lorenza really expresses the dialog in that Italian accent. Lorenza was living the dream in being apart of a Quentin Tarantino film and sharing screen time with Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt.
Like “Inglorious Basterds”, everything in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” has been leading up to the end. Six months have passed and it’s August 9,1969, the night members of the Manson Family murdered Sharon Tate and her house guests and a lot of people know that, but in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” you don’t know what to expect because this is Quentin Tarantino telling something else. If anyone can alter history it’s Quentin Tarantino. You know the Manson Family is going to show up, question is how and will they be stopped? It got me very concerned because I didn’t want the Mansion Family to succeed. Quentin wants the audience to feel a lot of things as they are watching his movie. My dad liked how it showed the evening of August 9, telling various times where everyone is. It’s giving you the impression that it’s leading to the actual murders at Polanski’s house, rather than what happens in the movie.
Members of the Manson Family show up at Cielo Drive, Los Angeles, Sharon Tate’s neighborhood, to do their second kill, (the first kill the Mansion Family did was a musician named Gary Hinman). Charles Manson was the one who drove his cult members to Sharon Tate’s house the night of her murder. The members who went were Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian and Patricia Krenwinkel. In Quentin’s movie it’s different. Charles Manson isn’t with them at all. Tex Watson, who I explained is the guy who taught all the other cult members how to kill under Charles Manson’s orders, drives three Manson girls to Rick Dalton and Sharon Tate’s neighborhood.
One of the Manson girls in the car, Flower Girl, decides to stay out of this. Flower Girl abandons the others and drives off in the car. Maya Hawke is the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, who has been apart of the Quentin Tarantino universe. Maya is following her parents’ footsteps and becoming an actress. She already has gotten attention for being in season three of “Strangers Things” and she was happy that her first movie she got to act in was done by the one and only Quentin Tarantino. Quentin’s life is all about movies and Maya said you feel his love for movies when you are in his presence.
Quentin always has things planned out for how things should be in his movie. He gives Rick a reason to hate hippies, so that when the Manson Family arrives he can tell them to get lost. Sharon Tate was supposed to be the target, but now the Manson Family wants to kill Rick instead after the way he yelled at them. Cliff Booth was walking his dog while getting high on this cigarette he bought a while back and forgot about, which got me more concerned. Again, you don’t know what was going to happen and Cliff he is already suspected of killing his wife. I was afraid Cliff might return to Rick or Sharon’s house, find dead bodies and get the blame. But Quentin wouldn’t let the bad guy win in the movie. Every bad guy in a Quentin Tarantino movie gets killed off in the end. I had a huge anticipation feeling inside me to know what was going to happen. Cliff had beat up one Manson Family member back at the Ranch and now he’s going to teach these Manson Family intruders the last lesson they’ll ever learn and that is don’t mess with Cliff Booth. Cliff is high, so he’s not worried about anything because he’s not taking things seriously except for what he is going to do to the Manson Family. Cliff has his dog attack Tex, while Cliff handles the two women. In real life the people the Manson Family killed were terrified because they were going to die. Before Cliff and his dog attack the Manson family, Francesca Cappucci comes out of her room and one of the Manson girls threatens her with a knife, but Francesca punches her while she is distracted and runs back to her room. She’s very brave.
That scene is so extreme and cool to watch. The Manson Family should know not to mess with Cliff Booth. One of the Manson girls breaks through the window and falls into the pool in the back, which is where Rick is. And Rick had no idea there were intruders because he had his head phones on. Rick finishes the job on the Manson girl in the pool by burning her alive using the flamethrower he saved from his Nazi killing movie.
Cliff has been rumored to have killed his wife, but after stopping members of the Manson Family from killing him, his buddy, Rick, and Rick’s Italian wife I believe he will be known to be a hero. And Rick is grateful to Cliff. A lot of men don’t like to see girls they like get killed in a film. Of course Sharon Tate was a real person who was stabbed multiple times while she was pregnant, but Quentin Tarantino has saved his childhood crush’s life. The Manson family was supposed to kill her, but they failed and now they’re the victims.
Sharon Tate and her guest are amazed with the story of what went on at Rick’s house. Rick gets invited into Sharon’s house and both Sharon and Rick introduce themselves for the first time. Things feel like they are going to much better for Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth.
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” has been called a lot of things like Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece for one and his most personal film for another. Quentin’s goal in life is to only make ten movies and then retire from filmmaking after that, so he can put his creative talent to other use like writing novels and doing stage plays. This is why everyone who gets to work with Quentin Tarantino is so lucky because he doesn’t plan to make movies forever, even though they are everything to him.
I would stick with making movies, but that’s just me. Quentin is positive about how he wants his life to go. Quentin has been thinking about taking an early retirement and having “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” be his final film after putting so much into it.
My rating on “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is five out of five stars
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” at the Cannes Film Festival.
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” at the Cannes Film Festival.
