Once upon | Nicolás Prada R.

So yes. There has been a debate about this since… N64 times. Some might say that Tarantino is part of the 'Modern Auteur' movement. Others will hate this and will try to murder me in my sleep after leaving a note saying "leave that term for the old big ones" like Truffeau, Almodóvar or Kubrick. Nevertheless, in my opinion, it's just a matter of how well a Director/Writer leaves his/her print on their work. And believe me, Tarantino does it bloody perfect.

Trying to make this opinion as present-day as possible, I will talk about Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood. If you haven't seen it, please stop reading and go and watch it. Don't care if Tarantino's films aren't your taste. After watching it, you will learn something new and most important something different. Yes, Quentin said it already and several interviews. He wanted to change what its currently being watched on theatres or any VOD. And he did.

After spending one year trying to analyse again every media I watch, my brain was in this mechanic process of identifying the 3 acts of a film, 5 acts of any episodic, any hero's journey, etc. But then I bought a pop and sat to watch the latest movie with this fantastic director, and the result was terrific. First, it was a shock. I started to feel the beginning long and slow, but then, it hit me. The film is not another mainstream movie; this is art. This is not the 23rd superhero story of the year. This is a story told by a specific point of view, and hell I enjoyed it until the very ending where even in the credits roll the story was making me laugh out loud.

Tarantino put the structure that some told you to follow and sent it to another planet full of crap. What I felt (and of course, I might be wrong but who cares it's an opinion) was how he took all the time necessary to explain and develop the psyche of the main characters. I could hear Tarantino's voice telling me "this lonely man it's the kind of friend you will always need, the kind of guy who owns a dog and lives in a crappy place but will support you forever…" and so the movie continued. AND IT'S AWESOME. Furthermore, to that brilliant introduction add two of the best actors that we have right now, and the result will melt your brain. Pitt and DiCaprio just nailed it. You can feel those characters so real that when you are walking back home after the movie, you can tell everything about their lives and feelings. That character development killed me. From the subtle stutter of DiCaprio's character (which didn't need any dialogue or scene talking about it to make it real) to the fighting ability of Pitt's one.

In the end, you might wonder, what did Cliff learn through the story's arc? What was Sharon's role in the movie? And it will be a maze of thoughts, and that's the brilliance of it. At the end when Rick enters to Sharon's house after those doors opened as it was the heaven he always wanted, you might ask what happened to Cliff that ended in the same place at the beginning? Or if Sharon was just the reflection of innocence in the Hollywood industry. You can only tell and be sure that Tarantino told that story and it couldn't have been told by anyone else. It doesn't matter if it didn't have the same violence as any other movie from him, you can see his voice in every detail, every action. And that was what I learnt. A reminder to write not following a structure so the movie will make sense but to write your voice and let the characters and plot make the necessary sense of your point of view. Tarantino did it but just telling a story of once upon a time in Hollywood.