By Tabitha Topping
Tarantino returns to center stage with the long-awaited Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The film embodies Tarantino’s obsession with the disturbing yet decadent world that is Hollywood. A blend of vivacious 1960s music and illuminating colour schemes of a Wes Anderson tone ensures for a sensational viewing.
The pairing of world-class actors Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio renders this film unforgettable. DiCaprio’s characterisation of Rick Dalton potently humanises the fall of the forgotten celebrity. His performance powerfully evokes sympathy for the reality many actors face in a society where we are all disposable. I found Pitt’s portrayal of Dalton’s stuntman Cliff to perfectly emote a rugged all-American man, softened through undeniable care for his best friend. Margot Robbie infuses the film with a lightness in her sensitive portrayal of the beloved Sharon Tate – a performance that Tate’s family has since praised.
The film follows a true Tarantino arc wherein much of the action occurs in the unmissable, violently visceral final act. Overall, Tarantino provides a window into a world wherein history is rewritten. That is surely the aim of Hollywood cinema: to provide an escape from the reality and harshness of this world we endure.
