“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ (2019)

WARNING: SPOILERS

It may be best to wait until you’ve seen the movie before you read this essay. Be warned.

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“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” is Tarantino at the top of his game, but his game has slightly changed, which is appropriate given the fact that he is an older and hopefully wiser filmmaker. My first encounter with him was Pulp Fiction (1994) in which a set of fascinating criminals wound in and out of each other’s lives, fracturing story structure and even time. What boggled my mind was the contrast of elevated dialogue and gutter talk, wrenching violence and genuinely engaging philosophical discussions. The moment he twisted the time line to create a plot point (Bruce Willis on the motorcycle talking to his girlfriend. We expected Sam Jackson’s hit man to jump out and kill him, not knowing that Jackson had already retired from the profession. THAT little piece of information was given later) I knew I was in the presence of genius.

THAT I’d never seen. THAT is mastery of form. Most of us struggle to construct an elegant form. This man was juggling with the building blocks. I was entranced. Also by the racial aspect. I couldn’t believe that I wasn’t reacting viscerally to the language. Or the violence, even sexual violence, viewed through a racial lens. I felt like I should have…but didn’t. And that reaction, or lack thereof, also fascinated me. How the hell did he DO that? My conclusion, based on interviews and articles and conversations with people who know…