No.9

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2019)

1996: I'm 7 years old. Almost every day I take the "Pulp Fiction" VHS from my father's movie collection, fast-forward to the "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's wife" sequence and press play. I'm hypnotized, as if it's my first time watching it. Then I rewind and watch it again, and again, and again... The magic of cinema, they call it. I guess that's how I got enchanted.
"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" is the new height in Quentin Tarantino's career. Compared with his early works, this one's rhythm is as slow as a hot summer day in LA. For about three hours, you travel back in time to absorb the atmosphere of late-'60s Hollywood. It is crafted with such professionalism that you completely lose yourself in that world and become one with it. What an experience.
Despite its slow pace, it is probably the most multilayered Tarantino movie. In addition to the main historical plotline, it beautifully explores such topics as the life of an American actor, the clash of old and new, true friendship and much more.
Tarantino is the most famous cinema geek. And, as always with his films, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" is a collage. You'll see many references to old movies and TV shows, but this time not only stylistically but also up front. He's definitely got lots of cinema critics puzzled and not exactly knowing where he dug this stuff out from. The good thing is, you don't really need to know. But you will hear distant cinematic echoes from your childhood, another magical part of the experience.
Tarantino is one of the few artists whose movies can't be cheapened by rating them. When his new work is out, you just go and enjoy it. There are no bad Tarantino movies, just as there are no bad seas or bad clouds-his works are an integral part of our cultural existence. After "Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction," "Kill Bill," and the original script for "Natural Born Killers," he has secured a firm spot in the pantheon of the greatest.
It's important to see it. Not because I'm a fan trying to support one of my favourite directors. Not because I am trying to sound like a movie connoisseur. You gotta see it because Tarantino deserves it. Way more than the "Avengers" movies do. And, even more important, we all deserve it. We deserve great movies, at least once in a while, as they become a rare luxury.