Intervju / Interview
staying true to themselves. Among the interlocutors was one Quentin Taran- tino, the director who followed up his latest very successful film by writing a novel of the same name (published in Serbia by Laguna) and discussing it… Your new novel, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is based on your film of the same name. Did you start by writ- ing the script for the film, or did the novel, which both ech- oes and vividly departs from the movie, come first? “I wrote an opening chapter for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood called “The Man Who Would Be McQueen,” 14 years ago during my press tour in London for Death Proof. It was a his- tory of Rick Dalton’s career. [Dalton, a fictional TV actor from the ‘60s, would eventually be played by Leonardo Di- Caprio in Tarantino’s film.] That was my favourite thing I’d ever written. Then I was like, Okay, who am I kidding? I’m going to make this into a movie just so I can shoot the movies that Rick Dal- ton did! So I can shoot those clips and make those posters and do all those marquees. I then spent two years try- ing to figure out how to turn my little cinema book chapter into the movie.” You won a Golden Globe for the script, and the movie was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Pic- ture. What made you go back to the novel? “The script was the outline, but it was one of those things where I had a ton of material. I wanted to learn about the Hollywood of the ’60s. I just wrote, wrote, wrote. There was also the idea that the book is the book and the movie is the movie, and I want the book to work like a nov- el and do the things a novel can do.” You consistently play with re- ality. For instance, did Sharon Tate really snore? “I don’t know! That was a character touch of my own—the idea that this sleeping beauty had a snoring problem. I thought that was a charming thing.” Was her dog really named Dr.
“Yes, that was the name of the dog. That’s in her husband, Roman Polanski’s, autobiography. My great- est hope is actually that you cannot tell where the real stuff starts and the alternative history begins. That it’s all a jumble.” I’ve always felt that one of your talents was in naming things, like Bounty Law, Rick Dalton’s TV show in the nov- el and the film. “It’s a very dark show, darker than they probably would have allowed in 1959, when it supposedly aired. I think I specialise in coming up with names. My reason to write is almost to name towns, bars, restaurants and the movies my characters are watching. When you see movies about Hollywood, the fake titles often sound fraudulent. The Pickle That Ate Pittsburgh or something like that. Even when my titles are strange, like The Fourteen Fists of McClus- key, that does sound like a World War II bunch of guys on a mission movie, circa 1966. When my friend read the script, he said, “This is pretty good, but what I want to see is The Fourteen Fists of McCluskey!” Unlike the film, the novel has sex scenes. Were they fun to write? “Yes. I’m not interested in shooting naked people in a movie. I don’t want to have to convince actors to do things they might be uncomfortable with. I mean, look, if it were 1971, I’d prob- ably feel differently about it. But ever since I’ve been making movies, it’s been an uptight issue. But with a book, I’m not degrading anyone; they’re just fig- ments of my imagination.” What are your favourite films of the late ‘60s, when Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is set? “Head, starring the Monkees—the script is cowritten by Jack Nicholson! And Yellow Submarine. I’m not a big Beatles fan; you’re either an Elvis man or a Beatles man, and I’m an Elvis man. But sometime in 1999, my then girl- friend and I watched Yellow Subma- rine, and we loved it. After seeing Yel- low Submarine, there finally was one thing about the Beatles that I had tre- mendous affection for.”
Klasični Ta- rantino kod koga sve pr- šti od ek- splozivnih dijaloga is- punjenih mešavinom uličnih i knji- ževnih ka- denci. Či- ta se kao da slušate neči- ju dobru pri- ču, piše Va- šington post Clas- sic Taranti- no, in which everything bursts with explosive di- alogue, with its blend of streetwise and formal cadences. It reads like listening to someone’s good sto- ry, writes the Washington Post
The story of Rick, Cliff, Sharon and Charles The novel brings the story of Rick Dalton, who once had his own TV series, but is now a washed-up villain who drowns his sorrows in whiskey sours. Cliff Booth, Rick’s stunt double and the most infa- mous man on every movie set. Sharon Tate, who left Texas to chase a dream of becoming a movie star and succeeded. And Charles Manson, an ex-con who convinced a bunch of hippies that he was their spiritual leader, but who would have gladly trad- ed it all in to be a rock ‘n’ roll star
Sapirstein after one of the devil worshippers in Rose- mary’s Baby?
34 | Holivud » Hollywood
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