Delightful, in a very Tarantino Way

Rating: 9/10 (22 August 2019)

Well, I'm probably one of those people, and there were certainly quite a lot of them, that simply went to see this movie because it was directed by Tarantino. Then again, his films seem to have that sort of drawing power - people go and see them simply because of the director, and that probably has a lot to do with the fact that despite this being his 9th film, he still pretty much bucks the trend. Yet, a part of me can't help but think that this might be a film that signals a turning point.
Okay, we do know that he has basically indicated that he only wants to do ten films, namely because he works on the principle that, well, you only have so much imagination inside of you, and if you don't stop at a certainly point in time, then, well, you are just going to end up churning out rubbish. Mind you, Tarantino is an artist, and he certainly has a name for producing films that are quite out of the ordinary, yet a part of me felt as if this one, well, may just well be his magnus opus.
I probably don't need to say all that much about the plot because people are probably quite familiar with it anyway. You see, it is about an actor, Rick Dalton (who apparently is based upon Burt Reynolds, who actually appears in the film), and his stunt double, who are trying to make sense of Hollywood of the late sixties. They talk about them coming to Hollywood, but a part of me feels that they have always been here. Anyway, he happens to own the house next to Roman Polanski, and Sharon Tate. Yeah, I guess we all know where that it going to end up - well, a part of us expects it to be the case.
The interesting thing is that this is as much Sharon's film as it is Rick's (and of course his stunt double's). It is interesting how we seem to spend a lot of time following Sharon around. I guess a lot has to do with the fact that it was a life that was cut tragically short, and in fact from her performance in 'The Wrecking Crew' there have been suggestions that she was literally on the cusp of superstardom. Yet it seems as if Polanski (who doesn't even seem to have a speaking part, though I could be wrong) and Manson, are only playing bit parts. Then again, Manson probably has much more celebrity status that he deserves, and this who affair is probably the reason that he is so famous.
Yet Tarantino is so meticulous - even though we are living through Tarantino world, he is still very careful to make sure everything is in its right spot, and the reasons for what happen are laid out. Mind you, this is like fifty years down the track, and many of us might have heard about the murder of Sharon Tate, but it is really only certain people would happen to know more than just what is common knowledge, and that doesn't seem to be all that much either.
However, as some have suggested, it is still a movie about a world that is on the cusp of change, and a part of us feel that this is something that Tarantino understands. Here we are, fifty years from the events in the movies, and we are once again seeing a monumental shift the world of entertainment. Back then we were watching a movement from the big screen to the small screen (though I would argue otherwise, on the grounds that there had been televisions in people's houses for at least twenty years prior - Rick Dalton was originally a television star. However, television by this time had become ubiquitous. Yet we see a similar thing today, with the death of television, and the rise of live streaming. Further, screens have become ever bigger, meaning that, in part, it feels as if the cinema is, well, fading away.