Compilation 丨 Wu Junshen
Recently, Quentin Tarantino published his first book, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. This is Tarantino's attempt to novelize his 2019 film of the same name. The fictional version of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was released in paperback form on the American book market in the 1970s, with the slogan on the cover: "Hollywood in 1969... You should go there! （Hollywood 1969 ... You shoulda been there!）”
The fictional version of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is not a direct translation of the film, and the two versions of the story do share the same scenes, but even the same scenes are changed and extended in the novel. The Guardian pointed out that at the Cannes film launch of "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", Quentin was angered by questions that suggested that he was not interested in female characters. In the novel, the inner world of Sharon Tate and the fictional child actor Trudi Fraser is perfected to a considerable extent, especially Trudi, who has evolved from a character on the screen to a real character.
Fictional version of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
The New York Times argues that Quentin is telling stories in the way Ofelmore Leonard and making room along the way to talk about some of the topics he cares about — old movies, male friendship, revenge and redemption, music and style. Tarantino knows perfectly well that what is unique to America is not myth, but pop culture.
So, as an all-rounder of pop culture, Quentin uses the form of fiction to unfold his vast amount of details, Hollywood-era conversations, and industry gossip. Although the book takes a third-person narrative, sometimes the mask of fiction is taken off – "When it comes to how to make a modern Hitchcock-esque thriller for a capable audience, beating to a swinging London beat, Roman Polanski cracked the code" – which undoubtedly points to Tarantino himself. Quentin's talent and passion show that he can also write decent non-fiction about popular culture. Meanwhile, the British newspaper The Guardian noted that Quentin had a memoir already on the way and that he had signed a two-book deal with Harper Collins.
If you haven't seen the movie, then reading the book may not make much sense. In this film, actor Rick Dalton (the character of Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double, driver and friend Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), face their growing age and changing film culture – tough guy male protagonists are being replaced by a new generation of neutral long-haired men. Meanwhile, Rick Dalton's neighbor, the famous actress Sharon Tarter (Margot Robbie), who is also the wife of the famous director Roman Polanski, was brutally murdered by the Hollywood cult Manson family, shocking the United States. Confusingly, the film's fantasy of violent climactic scenes—Rick burning a murderous hippie with a flamethrower—is interrupted by the novel's constant flashbacks and jumps.
Throughout, the process of novelization anchors this winding story. There's no actual structure here, but it's precisely because the film's existence means that structure doesn't matter – the characters and environments benefit from cross-media charm.
Tarantino, in the Guardian's view, is not Henry James, who over-explains, repeats his own words, and describes it in repetitive rhetoric: the film is to "resonate with the audience"; the industrial giant must be "head honchos"; the victim always emits a "scream of horror". But as with his films, Tarantino's insatiable passion for pop culture is extremely contagious.
The New York Times concluded by arguing that Quentin Tarantino made storytelling simple in the novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which was precisely the hardest part.
References for this article:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/06/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-by-quentin-tarantino-review-from-auteur-to-author
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/28/books/quentin-tarantino-once-upon-time-hollywood-novel.amp.html
https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2021/jun/29/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-review-tarantinos-debut-novel-shines
Editor| Zhang Ting
Proofreading | Lucy