Quentin Tarantino

 Quentin Tarantino




Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (2019)



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1. Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (2019)


With his 2019 film "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood," Quentin Tarantino plays on typical tropes and themes found in the Western genre and recontextualizes them for a story about Hollywood actors in 1969. It centers on Rick Dalton and his best friend and stunt double, Cliff Booth, as they attempt to revitalize Rick's career as the 'Golden Age' fades. The typical themes of a Western deal with the finality of the West and it paving over in favor of modernity. Similarly with "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood," Tarantino muses on the endings of many things - Rick's career, the Golden Age, the Swingin' 60s, and even the beautiful life of Sharon Tate. However, because Tarantino is such a revisionist, he uses the film medium to keep these things alive forever. To Tarantino, the Old West still exists on film. To Tarantino, Rick Dalton's career doesn't have to fade, the Golden Age of Hollywood doesn't have to end, the idealism of the 60s can continue on, and Sharon Tate doesn't have to meet her tragic fate. With "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood," Tarantino uses the magic of film to demand a happy ending in a world full of bitter finality.

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