Once upon a time in Hollywood: Tarantino’s novel kills the mystery

February 1, 2025 | Books

As a first film by Quentin Tarantino that I saw in the cinema, I have something for a weakness for Once upon a time in Hollywood (2019). Although I did not hold so typically violent, the image that the director painted from Los Angeles of the 1960s was captivating, perfectly complemented by the period soundtrack and Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as an actor and his double navigation stuntman in the ruthless world of Hollywood after the top of their career.

How does a story so intertwined with certain visuals and music translates into the word written – especially when the new Romanization is the author’s beginnings? We discovered in 2021, when Tarantino published a 400 -page touch -up which he described as “a complete redress of history”. Although it is not terrible, I will say that I am happy that he first gave us the film, because the novel is not as exciting.

Tarantino draws the best party of freedom that a book provides, moving the highlight of the film at the start and developing in certain areas that would not have been as interesting (or would have been too long) on ​​the screen. However, this freedom is as much a blessing as a curse, and as talented as Tarantino, it is difficult to escape the feeling that narration on paper is not its strong costume.

Naturally, the widening of the stories of the characters requires an explanation of their acting career, and the author is not timid to transform these sections into long lists of real and fictitious production film, directors and production companies. You expect Tarantino to be a film buff and it is quite clear that it is, but when I was caught in the story, it was often discouraging to realize that the coming pages would be nothing but a lesson in tangential and semi-fictitious Hollywood history.

Like his large image counterpart, the book is at its best when we learn his characters through a natural but poignant dialogue. A particular highest point is his story of Rick Dalton’s work on the set of Lancerwhere he is forced to confront his status in the front life through the double blow of the cowboy novel he reads and his relationship with a young co-star with all his career in front of her. It is the heart of this last third of the novel, and undoubtedly its culmination.

However, the Hollywood The greatest defect in romanization is that his third -person narrator has carte blanche to read the spirit of any character. No rule is infringement, in itself, but a large part of the pleasure of films and novels comes from the observation of the subtleties in the discourse and the behavior of each character. The implementation of these clues reveals their motivations and helps to give meaning to the global story.

Apart from the narrated sequences, Tarantino does not have many opportunities for such transparency in his films, but the novel goes too far. We are constantly told Why The characters do or say things – in certain scenes even between each line they speak. It would not be such a problem if it applied only to the main distribution that we follow, but it also applies to each actor, director and agent they meet, putting to rest any potential mystery on their angle or their objectives.

If I had not seen the film and I did not know the characters, I am not sure that I would have arrived at the end, but that does not mean that Once upon a time in Hollywood is not a pleasant reading. If you liked the film as much as I do, you will probably appreciate the chance to spend more time with Rick and Cliff and find out more about their stories – do not expect a finish starting page.

3/5