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As noted in the first issue, we are invited to view Mulholland Drive as the exemplar, and perhaps the ‘‘internal critique” of the Hollywood movie. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), by contrast, works as a kind of “coda” to the genre. If Mulholland Drive (2001) has been called a “poisonous valentine” to Hollywood, then Once upon a time in Hollywood (2019) can be viewed as its “sanitized” counterpart.
As the ultimate Hollywood movie, Mulholland Drive (2001) cites multiple genres, some via a quick nod, others with more detail. Without attempting a complete list, these examples would include: comedy, gangster films, horror films, Westerns, romance, “amnesia” films and films noir. Of course, the beauty of David Lynch's achievement is the melding of “horror” with entertainment, without attempting to reconcile the two.
Lynch imbues his film with a dreamlike structure that avoids binary choices of “this” or “that”. For Lynch it is more likely to be “this” and “that”. Thus, he is perfectly comfortable with presenting two characters played by the same actor-Naomi Watts-with different names-Betty and Diane-who occupy the same screen space. Or perhaps we should call them counterparts in alternative universes. In the same vein, its “poison” is presented with the same emphasis as its loving celebration of the classic Hollywood era. Its “horror” isn't meant to taint or disqualify its glorification.
On the other hand, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a kind of throwback that recreates and plays upon our nostalgia for a lost time. What's interesting about Tarantino's film is the way it confounds our expectations based on our knowledge of his past work and the tropes that seemingly define his style, chief among which is a penchant for gratuitous violence. Thus, in a film that revolves around Sharon Tate and her entourage, we expect to see the violent murder of Sharon Tate and her unborn child by the Manson Gang. Yet it is at this very point that the director offers us a fictional