Not necessarily the best movies ever made, but these are twenty of my favorites, in no particular order.  Each post for the next twenty days will feature a brief discussion of one film (though one or two days will have multiple posts to make up for absences).

Post 13: Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood (2019 dir. Quentin Tarantino)

There’s a scene, towards the middle of this film, when Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) is just driving around Los Angeles having an afternoon. She visits a book store then even goes to the movies to see herself on screen. At one point, you can see a car pull up several lengths behind hers, possibly following her. Her afternoon is simple, sweet, innocent, but that car made me so tense. It reminded me what happens to Sharon, at least in real life.

But this film is not real life, it is a fairy tale. Beautifully told, shot, acted, and edited, it bookends the year 1969, spending most of its time early that year with a day in the life of Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stuntman stand-in Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). It is a simple premise, so well conceived and executed, so of its time, that I never once thought I was watching a movie, not until the glorious ending at least. Even though I already knew the story of what actually happens, the specter of Charles Manson (Damon Harriman), only briefly seen one time, haunts this film. It is a lament on the loss of innocence.

Tarantino enjoys toying with his audience, wondering what might be if only this could happen. His Inglourious Basterds (2009) ends with the perfect climax for that story, even if it is not what really happened during World War II. His Kill Bill duology is all about the expectations of its main character, The Bride (Uma Thurman), focused on one goal, and knowing what might be if only she could finish her revenge. And Jackie Brown, my favorite of Tarantino’s films, has its protagonist Jackie (Pam Grier) dreaming of escape, and a cohort, Max Cherry (Robert Forester in a great performance), dreaming of being with Jackie. It is unrequited hope and expectations.

The ending of this film, with its alternate history, implies that the loss of innocence, that something which Manson and his followers took from our culture, maybe did not have to be so severe. It asks us to imagine what might it be like if it had never happened, after all. But, it did happen. Sharon Tate’s fate, and the lives of all those others including the Manson Family, are part of history now. History and our collective unconscious.

But just for now imagine, as this movie does, if it had not happened. Imagine if Sharon were still alive. Imagine if no one ever heard of Charlie. Just imagine, the story really asks. It is a fairy tale, after all.