Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino’s ode to late-60’s Hollywood is loaded with stars

Quentin Tarantino is on the verge of releasing his ninth movie, “Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood”.  In a slight departure from his stark early 70s styled crime dramas, this time Tarantino will pay homage to the late- 60’s genre and his love for his hometown, Los Angeles.

The film takes place in 1969 Hollywood, amidst the chaotic events of that year, including the infamous Manson Murders. Much like The Altamont Free Concert, as chronicled in the film Gimme Shelter (with it’s high profile murder during the show), the gruesome, violent Manson murders are often cited as an historical moment marking the end of the free love 60’s and a pivot towards the darker times in the me decade of the 70’s.

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton, as an actor on a Western television series alongside Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth, Dalton’s stuntman. The two work and live closely together as they carry out their urban cinematic adventures. The characters and their friendship are said to be based on 70’s icon Burt Reynolds and his stuntman Hal Needham. 

Dalton and Booth live next door to Sharon Tate, played by Golden Globe winner Margot Robbie. Other sixties icons help flesh out the milieu of the film including Bruce Lee, Steve McQueen, and celebrity hair stylist, Jay Sebring

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Familiar faces from the past

Tarantino meticulously redressed Hollywood Boulevard, and other LA landmarks to thrust us back into sixties Hollywood. Los Angeles natives visiting the location sets got to experience a blast from the past, witnessing recreated historical exteriors as well as authentic movie posters, displays of old advertisements and vintage logos.

Tarantino recreated vintage storefronts including The Pussycat Theater, Vogue Theater, Peaches Records & Tapes, Larry Edmunds Cinema, and Theatre Bookshop.

Additional Tarantino alums in the cast include; Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern and Kurt Russell. By no accident, in a movie celebrating multiple Hollywood generations, he includes children of past costars, Maya Hawke (Uma Thurman’s daughter) and Rumer Willis (Bruce Willis’ daughter).

Academy Award winning cinematographer Robert Richardson also returns, after working alongside Tarantino in all his films since Kill Bill.

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“You’re really thinking about quitting?”

In 2016, Tarantino made news at the Jerusalem Cinematheque when inferred that he was considering retirement stating: “I’m planning on stopping at 10”. The chatty director made this proclamation while presenting a retrospective screening of his second film “Pulp Fiction”. The film that made Samuel L. Jackson a star and revived the career of John Travolta and also won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994, the legendary film festival’s top award. 

The film is slated to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May.  

“Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood” is scheduled for commercial release on July 26th.

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