Once Upon a Time...sets a high bar for Oscar

Whether or not Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood is Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece will have to wait until he calls time on his career. However it is, by some considerable distance, the finest film of his career to date. More important than that, even separated from his own body of work, this is a stunning piece of cinema that left me gasping with astonishment by the end.

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood shows what can be done by a director who has finally hit a career sweet spot. My biggest criticism of Tarantino is that he is a writer of great scenes – even in his worst movies – but is not a teller of great stories. This one is different. This shows what can be done with masterly storytelling combined with superb craft skills – of which more later – and marvellous performances.  

It is, without doubt, the first serious Oscar contender of the year and sets a very high bar in the process. The only thing holding it back for me is his continued sophomoric treatment of women which in the era of #metoo and given his own personal history is hard to fathom.

Tarantino is famous for his movie geekery but this is the first time it has been put to good use; his overwhelming knowledge of the period informs almost every frame of the film. It is steeped in nostalgia for the good old days of the studio system but in a very constructive way.

The story is set across three separate days in 1969 in the last knockings of the studio system. By the start of the film New Hollywood has already announced itself with cutting edge work such as Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and The Graduate (1967) while the studios are still churning out loss-making overstuffed turkeys such as Hello Dolly (1969), one of many films referenced in the production design of this one.

Although set in Hollywood, the focus of this story is on the small screen. Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a fading television star whose life is on a downward spiral. His declining career path is outlined in a brutal scene with small-time producer Al Pacino. Rick’s only friend is his constant companion Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), a former stuntman who harbours a dark but open secret. It’s rumoured he murdered his wife and, while not a key plot point, is referenced often enough to make him the most interesting character in the movie.

The other central figure in the story is Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie); 1969 was infamously the year of the Manson Family massacres and those of us old enough to remember it spend much of the picture wondering how this fits into the story. That it does, and seamlessly, is a tribute to Tarantino and his skills. As I said, the writer of great scenes is now the teller of a great story.

In its own way this film is a tribute to Sharon Tate who was a huge star in the making and apparently much-loved. She is presented here as a blithe spirit, a force of nature, and a breath of fresh air amid the stale corruption of Hollywood.

Tarantino has been criticised for her lack of dialogue, and it’s true she doesn’t say much but neither does Pitt. For me, her lack of lines need not include her among Tarantino’s other infamously silent women. I’m not sure what else we needed to know about Tate, in story or historical terms, other than what we see here. She is an idealised character but, for me, that was the point.

Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood is a very mature film. His usual dazzling dialogue and flashy camera work is substituted here by classic Hollywood filmmaking; this is a film that looks like it could have been made when it was set. Robert Richardson’s sublime cinematography allows for one ostentatious camera movement, but even that is revealed to be in service of the story.

The film feels substantial and everything about it seems right; the production posters in the background, the film titles on cinema marquees, the news stories and songs on the radio. The art direction and sound design are magnificent and the film would be much less immersive without their efforts.

DiCaprio gives another faultless performance but he is perhaps just shaded by Pitt who has that rare quality in this picture of making you wonder where he is every time he’s off screen. The supporting cast is excellent too and again Tarantino’s inner geek comes to the fore. The film is set in the world of TV so the cast comes from a motley crew of current and former TV stars. If you’re quick you can spot the likes of Nicholas Hammond, Clu Gulager, Martin Klove, Brenda Vaccaro and the late Luke Perry among the cast.

The look and sound of the film is perfect and Tarantino’s handling of the mood is faultless. The key scene for me is when Brad Pitt accidentally finds himself at the home of the Manson family. It suddenly seems like we might be in Rob Zombie territory and there is genuine, uncomfortable tension throughout. It’s a transgressive moment that shifts the tone of the film.

From here on the mood is darker, but still substantial, until we come to that glorious bait and switch ending. I had a number of minor issues throughout the film – the Bruce Lee sequence for example – but the ending is like a lightbulb moment where you suddenly realise where the film has been leading you. The clue is in the title.

Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood is a stunning piece of work and two weeks later I am still thinking about it and can’t wait to see it again. I have no interest in Tarantino’s indecision about how many more films he makes. If he never makes another it wouldn’t bother me. I’m just glad he made this one.

Bend it Like Springsteen

In many ways Blinded by the Light is a male version of the same director’s breakthrough hit Bend it Like Beckham (2002). I don’t mean to suggest that Gurinder Chadha is repeating herself, only that she is revisiting a previous topic through a different prism.

Both films deal with transgressive activity. In Bend it Like Beckham, Parminder Nagrah is a young Sikh woman who rebels against a traditional family by playing football. In Blinded by the Light, Viveik Kalra’s rebellion comes in the form of the music of Bruce Springsteen.

Based on the memoir by Sarfraz Mansoor, Javed (Kalra) is a young man in Luton in 1987 who is keen to make his mark on the world. He wants to be a writer but in Thatcher’s Britain there aren’t many opportunities of any sort for young Asian men. In addition there is the need to provide financially for the family and to fulfil the expectations of his traditionalist father Malik (Kulvinder Ghir).

Javed’s salvation comes when he discovers The Boss. Interestingly at this point in his career Springsteen had become unfashionable for a generation of synth fans, which makes Javed’s decision doubly transgressive. But he is moved and inspired by Springsteen's lyrics and despite all opposition, with the support of an enlightened lecturer (Hayley Atwell), he finds a path to a brighter future.

The USP of Blinded by the Light is that it has Springsteen’s benediction which means they can use the music. They do tend to stick to the best known songs – it’s a bit like a short playlist on shuffle – but they are used very effectively.

Chadha’s technique of, in some cases, presenting the lyrics on screen or in the physical confines of the set is very effective and gives the audience the chance to appreciate the undoubted power of the words. In other areas she treads a fine line between a conventional jukebox musical and Bollywood but the overall combination is bright and fun.

The politics of Thatcher’s Britain form a backdrop for much of the story but for me, there wasn’t the threat that there might have been. The National Front is presented almost as an afterthought and scenes of small boys urinating through the letter boxes of Asian families seemed a little distant and formulaic. The economic hardship of Javed’s family and the working classes in general might have been explored a bit more for me.

Fundamentally though this is a Gurinder Chadha movie not a Ken Loach film. It aims to entertain first and foremost and it does that very well. The energy of the film is infectious, Kalra is a likable hero, Kulvinder Ghir gives a terrific performance as his conflicted father, and it would take a heart of stone not to be moved by the ending.

The music of course is great and if Blinded by the Light is the sort of film that we don’t make too often in this country, we should be grateful to have someone who can make them as well as Gurinder Chadha.

Hobbs and Shaw is fast and furious fun

This film’s Sunday name is Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw which is a cumbersome and slightly obvious way of tying it into a 5 billion dollar franchise. The notion that a film starring two of the biggest action stars in the business needs a bit of superfluous branding to guarantee box office success is just silly.

The reviews will be sniffy but the men and women behind Hobbs and Shaw – because, be honest, that’s what everyone is calling it will be laughing all the way to the bank. This is a film that promises exactly what it delivers and exactly what the audience wants, and that is a sure-fire recipe for success.

Apart from the fact that Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) are key characters in the Fast and Furious franchise – in fact they gave it a much-needed shot in the arm when they turned up- there’s not much to connect this to the source material. This is more along the lines of vintage Eighties buddy action cinema. Tango and Cash (1989) comes to mind and that’s fine by me.

The plot, such as it is, concerns a deadly super-virus which threatens all mankind. Our polar opposite heroes form a mismatched team to prevent the bug from falling into the hands of genetically-enhanced supervillain Brixton (Idris Elba). The bigger issue is that the virus is currently in the blood stream of Vanessa Kirby, playing Shaw’s sister Hattie, and they have only 72 hours to extract it and contain it safely.

It’s all so much nonsense, as most of these plots are. What matters here is the execution and this is a first class example of 21^st century action cinema. The heroes are oversized, the script is appropriately bantery, the stunts are spectacular, and the craft skills involved are highly impressive. A shout out too for the Glasgow locations which look impressive and seamlessly integrate with the other footage.

This is a film that does exactly what it says on the tin and that’s exactly what I want to see at this time of year.

Johnson and Statham are very good at doing what they do. They each exude their own particular brand of macho without too much difficulty. The real issue with the film for me is Idris Elba who is something of an empty suit as the bad guy. While Johnson and Statham provide a casual sort of stardust, Elba is just trying too hard.

The bad guy is a plum part in an action movie – think Alan Rickman or Jeremy Irons in the Die Hard franchise for example. Here Elba stands around spouting some heavy handed exposition and the film passes him by; it’s a role anyone could play.

The one standout performance for me – apart from two knock-out surprise cameos – comes from Vanessa Kirby as Shaw’s sister. Just as in last year’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout she is the buffer zone for all this testosterone and again does it very well.  Her character has agency in her own outcome, doesn’t need any rescuing, and contributes on the same level as the others – we could do with more of that.

The one thing that did strike me about Hobbs and Shaw and Mission: Impossible for that matter is how irrelevant they appear to have made the Bond franchise. The current James Bond movie is beset by all sorts of unfortunate problems but to be honest if it was never released, I don’t think I would miss it.

The Bourne series along with Fast and Furious and Mission: Impossible have reinvented themselves for contemporary audiences. Bond still seems mired in the 20^th century so perhaps it’s time to hang up his shoulder holster and make way for the inevitable Hobbs and Shaw franchise.