My obsession with the Manson Family began during my early teenage years. In 2000, the year of its publication, I purchased "Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders" by Greg King from my local Waldenbooks.
Apart from some moving passages in Roman Polanski's autobiography, other writers covering the murders portrayed Tate only as THE VICTIM. King brought Sharon back to life, restored her humanity, and made the actress' story all the more tragic.
Quentin Tarantino attempts to do something similar with his newest film, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Though I don't usually include spoilers in my reviews, it seems almost impossible to discuss this film without revealing its ending. As with the conclusion of Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino again rewrites history. He imagines a world where Sharon Tate lived through that August night in 1969 and presumably went on to have a healthy baby and movie career.
Tarantino creates an alternate timeline where Sharon Tate becomes a star, and reduces Charles Manson to a footnote in her life, instead of the other way around.
Manson appears only briefly in one scene: an accurate recreation of the encounter he had with Tate and Jay Seabring months before the murders.
Even so, we feel Manson's presence throughout the movie. By the point in time when we meet his followers, they're entirely under his spell. It's his warped message that spews from their mouths; his dark soul lurks behind their obsidian and LSD dilated pupils. Several innocuous scenes are filled with suspense because we know what horrible crimes these people committed.
I loved Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, but that may be because I've gorged myself on so many books and movies about Manson over the last 19 years. I knew the name of each family member portrayed in the film and felt an overwhelming sense of dread when Tarantino cut to a street sign on Cielo Dr.
Brad Pitt's visit to Spahn Ranch seems inspired by the sequence in Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre when the initial victims explore the Sawyer house. The Spahn Ranch scenes work better than anything in Tarantino's pseudo-horror film Death Proof.
I don't know how someone without prior knowledge of the murders could truly appreciate this movie. I've heard many critics call this QT's most accessible film yet. I disagree. For a maximum filmgoing experience, you need to do a lot of homework before you step into the theater.
Sharon Tate is not the star of this movie, nor should she be, not if Tarantino's goal is recasting her as a human being. Tate is not a crime statistic, a cautionary tale, or allegory. Most of Tate's scenes take place over a single typical day: she listens to records, goes shopping, and talks with her friends. Margot Robbie does an excellent job as Sharon and in her best scene, visits a theater playing one of her movies and eavesdrops on the audience response. Sharon smiles as she watches herself onscreen and dreams about the successful career she's sure to have.
I watched several Sharon Tate movies when I was younger (though she died before she could star in anything significant.) Polanski wanted her as the lead for Rosemary's Baby, but the studio made him cast Mia Farrow. Tate was talented, and just one role away from super-stardom.
The fictional leads of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood are Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), a washed-up actor, and his stuntman/chauffeur/handyman/shoulder-to-cry-on.
DiCaprio and Pitt do some of the best work of their lengthy careers.
Leo brings the same manic energy from The Wolf of Wall Street. He's a hilarious performer trapped by this persona of "the serious actor" and rarely gets a chance to cut loose and show off his considerable comedic chops. Cliff is Pitt's best role since Inglorious Basterds ... maybe even since Fight Club. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood will be nominated for a score of Academy Awards (as most Tarantino movies are), but Pitt stands the best chance of winning an Oscar.
Even the smallest characters are perfectly cast. Emile Hirsch is nearly unrecognizable, but terrific as celebrity hairdresser Jay Seabring: Sharon's BFF. Al Pacino has his best role in years as a Hollywood producer. Bruce Dern is hilarious as the blind George Spahn, as is Dakota Fanning in her scene as Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme.
Even Lena Dunham, famous for playing the representation of many millennial women, seems born to play a hippie.
Despite dealing with the Manson Murders, it's best to go into OUATIH knowing the film is a comedy. Tarantino has crafted some funny scenes before, but this is his only movie that plays as an all-out comedy.
Since we're listening to Tarantino-written dialogue, there are many quotable lines throughout the movie, but the ending may be the best sequence Tarantino ever filmed. The audience reaction in my theater was uproarious as if DiCaprio stepping out of his garage with a flamethrower was the funniest moment in the history of film.
Yes, in the end, DiCaprio and Pitt stop the Manson Murders. Ultimately, I believe the movie is a fairytale. That's why the film's title begins with the words Once Upon A Time ...
What if someone stopped the Manson Murders?
What if Hollywood retained some of its innocence?
What if the counterculture movement continued into the 70s? (and Dalton thereby gives greater strength to the hippie generation he so often rails against.)
I can imagine that some film-obsessed parent might tell this bedtime story to his children. OUATIH plays like a fable originally based on darker material, sanitized by Hollywood, and made palatable to a broader audience. The Little Mermaid didn't die - she got her prince! Tex Watson didn't kill several innocent people - his penis was bitten off by an attack dog. Susan Atkins didn't stab a pregnant woman sixteen times - Rick Dalton burned that crazy cult member to death with a flamethrower and saved the day!
