1.1960s America and the End of Hippie Culture
At the start of the 1960s, America was brimming with optimism. In 1961, John F. Kennedy—a beacon of hope for a generation coming of age as well as African-Americans and other minorities—became the first person born in the 20th century to become president. The civil rights movement was in full swing, as were myriad student protests that were anti-Vietnam War, anti-nuclear, feminist, environmentalist, and more. People believed that they could influence politics and bring about social change for the better. Hippies and various other subcultures championing alternative lifestyles did their thing, all under the larger umbrella of the counterculture movement.
However, as the 60s wore on, the ideals espoused by the counterculture movement would begin to crumble. A string of assassinations—JFK in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, and Robert Kennedy just a few months later—rocked the nation. Meanwhile, the Vietnam War was rapidly devolving into a quagmire. Many members of the hippie youth, disillusioned with protests, decided to drop out of politics and society all together, choosing instead to live on hippie communes.
By the time 1969 rolled around, there were signs that the movement was on its last legs. Woodstock and the Altamont Speedway Free Festival, two massive outdoor music concerts, symbolized the movement at its peak and at its nadir, respectively. Culturally conservative anti-hippie movements were picking up steam across the country.
Woodstock - 3 days of peace and music
Music From Original Soundtrack & More: Woodstock
The Rolling Stones - Shine a Light
The Rolling Stones - Forty Licks
The spell of psychedelic rock was also quickly wearing off. Between 1970 and 1971, guitarist Jimi Hendrix, singer Janis Joplin, and The Doors vocalist Jim Morrison died of drug overdoses. The idealism of 1960s youth burned out in a haze of drugs, and over the next decade rock music would come of age. (The sentiment was immortalized in the following lyrics from Hotel California by the Eagles: We haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine)
Curious readers should also check out Murakami Ryu’s 1987 novel 69. Set in 1969 in the city of Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture, this book is the coming of age tale of a group of high schoolers who aspire to the counterculture movement and attempt to organize a school festival.
Quentin Tarantino’s 9th film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is a fairy tale that pays tribute to the Hollywood—both the industry and the town—of the 60s. (Tarantino was born in 1963.) At the same time, it is a semi-autobiographical trip through Tarantino’s own childhood memories, a work that he has called his “most personal film". The movie has a number of themes that intersect in complex and interesting ways, and in this review I hope to shine a light on how that makes it one of the director’s best.
2.Hollywood and Sharon Tate
The period after the end of World War I, between the 1920s and the 1960s, is known as the Golden Age of Hollywood. It was during this time that the film industry shifted from the silent era to the era of talkies. Major Hollywood film studios cultivated creative teams—directors, producers, actors, screenwriters, and other production staff—and were in fierce competition with one another. More and more money was being poured into the production of a large number of films at a rapid pace, and the Hollywood star system gave birth to many iconic actors.
1969 would prove to be the year that the Golden Age of Hollywood came to an end. The film that is most emblematic of that transition is Easy Rider. It stars the late Peter Fonda (who died on August 6th, 2019) and the late Dennis Hopper, who play two hippies who sit astride their motorcycles as if they were cowboys riding off into the sunset. The pair is depicted as tragic heroes who go up against the Establishment. Easy Rider would mark the beginning of New Hollywood.
The incident that well and truly marked the loss of innocence that defined the end of the era was the Tate murders. Sharon Tate was an actress of rare beauty from Dallas, Texas, whose promising Hollywood career was tragically cut short when she and three of her friends were brutally murdered by fanatical cult members on August 9th. At the time, Tate was married to French-Polish movie director Roman Polanski and was pregnant with their child. The murders were perpetrated by members of the Manson family, a hippie commune headed by failed musician Charles Manson.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood tackles the Tate murders, which have long been one of Hollywood’s greatest tragedies. Instead of depicting Tate as just another caricature or film character, Tarantino presents her as beyond even his control, a ray of sunshine that lights up the lives of the people around her. She is portrayed as unlike a movie character as I’ve ever seen, and at certain parts during the film you get the feeling you could be watching a documentary of her life rather than a fictionalized drama. Especially poignant is the fact that Tate is mostly remembered for the way she died rather than the way she lived. By presenting her as enjoying life to the fullest, Tarantino attempts to rewrite not only his own memories, but Hollywood history.
Moreover, Tarantino—who is known for his attention to detail—brings the time and place to life not through CGI, but by bringing in vintage cars and store signs and other physical props designed to evoke the era. The film is a love-filled homage to the Golden Age of Hollywood, but it is also a revisionist history film that depicts not so much an outlandish fairy tale, but a tale that could have actually happened.
3.The Sunset Years
The two protagonists of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood are a moderately successful actor who has failed to make the transition from TV to movies, and his longtime stunt double. The pair realizes on some level that they are being left behind by the times, but continue to struggle in search the break that will salvage their careers.
In one sequence, Rick Dalton, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is preparing for a villain-of-the-week role on a television western when the director asks him to wear a long-haired wig that makes him resemble a hippie. Dalton arrives on set looking almost exactly like Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider. In another scene, an extremely drunk Dalton runs into members of the Manson Family, and insults the group leader by calling him “Dennis Hopper". In the end, Dalton discards his pride and decides to remain part of the film industry by appearing in a series of Italian “macaroni" westerns.
Brad Pitt’s character Cliff Booth, on the other hand, is a World War II veteran that is skilled enough at martial arts to be able to go toe-to-toe with world-class fighters. He is taciturn and damn near indestructible. That being said, he seems to realize that even he doesn’t stand a chance against the tides of change, and there is an air of resignation about him. At the same time, he lives in the shadow and on the coattails of Dalton, and appears to depend on their friendship and the latter’s success as an actor in order to make a living.
As for Tarantino himself, the director has stated numerous times his intention to retire from directing after 10 films. It’s likely no coincidence that his 9th film is about the end of an era, and feels in many ways like the culmination of his work thus far. It’s hard to imagine that Tarantino would truly leave the film industry and the entertainment industry behind after he retires from directing, but it’s clear that at this stage he feels a sense of having fully realized his calling as a director. He’s mined his obsessions to his heart’s content—almost.
In Hagakure, sometimes called The Book of the Samurai, Yamamoto Tsunetomo says, “the way of the samurai is found in death". For someone like Tarantino, who has an appreciation for Japanese aesthetics and has dedicated his career to cool characters, cool dialogue, and cool stories, a cool exit is something that’s likely always been at the back of his mind.
4.The Tides of Change and Universality
It bears mentioning that 2019 marks 50 years since 1969.
For one thing, much as in 1969, the movie and entertainment landscape as a whole is in the middle of a massive shift. As the number of movie screens and moviegoers continues to decline, online streaming services like Netflix and Hulu continue to pour feature-length budgets into prestige TV dramas. For actors today, there is arguably more prestige in appearing on such TV shows than in film. Meanwhile, Google, Amazon, and Disney are pushing or preparing their own streaming services. In terms of content, we’re in the middle of the Golden Age of the Superhero Flick.
The concept of the movie star is changing, too. Long gone are the days when a single big-name actor could open a movie on star power alone. The Hollywood star is a dying breed, and actors like DiCaprio and Pitt are two of the last stalwarts. It’s also poignant that counterculture icon Peter Fonda recently passed away on August 16th, 2019.
Meanwhile, the stars of today are YouTube stars and social media influencers. The entertainment industry and pop culture are in a period of transition.
In the digital age, Tarantino is a maverick who continues to shoot on film. He’s not everybody’s cup of tea—many of his works depict violent male fantasies, and his style has been criticized as being sadistic and juvenile. While he has diehard supporters, he also has detractors who hate him.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, whose title evokes the opening lines of a fairy tale, reflects the fact that we often turn to movies for nostalgia more than we do for the excitement of something new. The moral of this story is that even the biggest Hollywood stars and famous movie directors are no match for the tides of change. And finally, by staring down the tragedy of Sharon Tate’s murder, Tarantino reminds us that movies have the power to heal, and the power of catharsis.
Ironically, the most personal film of this movie industry maverick is also his most universal work.
