Deborah Ross

Age of innocence?

But what does it all add up to?

issue 17 August 2019

Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is a sprawling tale set in Hollywood in 1969, against the backdrop of the Manson murders, so it’s not a meditative, rural parable, just to be clear. No changing seasons, autumnal leaves, frosty mornings or any of that. Instead, he’s trying his hand at combining retro pop culture, violence and revenge fantasy… OK, it’s business as usual and, as usual, it has been hailed as ‘a masterpiece’ in some quarters and yet another ‘woman-hating’ travesty in others. The truth, as ever, lies somewhere in between. Violence-wise, you only have to brace yourself for the last 15 minutes, when all hell lets loose. (The film is two hours and 45 minutes so you get a good run before having to brace yourself.)

It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton, former star of a western TV series, now teetering on the edge of has-been status.

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