No spoilers until the second post!
OK. Spoilers from here on out.
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The only thing QT exploits is our knowledge of what happens on Cielo Drive on that night in August. The movie is very funny for two hours, but you always have that sense of dread about what is coming. And then of course he totally subverts our expectations.
Not only do Sharon Tate et al survive, but the Manson gang don’t even make it to her house! Nope, they pick the house next door owned by Rick Dalton (Leo) after he comes outside and yells at them about their loud muffler. They back up and decide to switch targets…but unbeknownst to them, Rick’s stunt double, Cliff Booth (Brad) has just entered the house after walking his (awesome) dog, Brandy. Things go very, very badly for the three would-be killers in a violent and hilarious fashion. A lot of stuff pays off in this final scene, and the audience I saw it with loved it.
There is some brutal violence against women and I can see QT getting some flack over it, but the fact is that it really was two women and one guy who were intent on killing a bunch of people that night - QT is just giving us the revenge we want.
What did everyone else think?
Another thought: is there any significance to Kurt Russell (I think it was him) doing the narration towards the end?
Thanks.
I think I’ll pass.
Why someone would think this was a movie to make, I don’t know. QT thinks he has to keep topping himself, I guess.
I continue to feel the movie is disrespectful to the dead people, because in real life, they are still dead, and QT’s little revenge fantasy is in poor taste. And I LIKED IBs. But there’s a difference between killing someone who IRL is really dead, and not killing someone that is.
Awesome thread! Now I don’t have to see this movie ever and I still know the ending! Thanks, Stephe96; I didn’t even have to wait for Wikipedia to get clearance to post the plot with this one!
ETA:
Tarantino lost me forever with IBs. Specifically, when I heard David Bowie’s Cat People. I turned the movie off, popped the BR out and sold it the next morning. I read about the ending on Wikipedia, tho.
Are you being sarcastic? I was asked to post a spoiler thread and I think I gave everyone fair warning…
No. I figured the ETA would make that clear.
I have been a huge Tarantino fan since PF, have caught all of his films since on opening night, but surprisingly only loved 2 of them as I was walking out of the theater (KB1, PF)… because, like much of Monty Python, much of the experience is in the after, the discussions, the quotes, the things you notice a second time.
My daughter and I were driving home tonight and our conversation was as such…
:chuckle:
(grins) “What, Dad?”
(still chuckling) “When Brad Pitt snapped his fingers.”
“That was awesome. I liked how she wanted to watch herself in the movie.”
“Shit, I would too, wouldn’t you?”
… nods …
“Was it one of the Manson girls who sold him that cigarette?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to see it again - Tarantino showed him buying it twice, which hints at a stronger connection than usual. He does stuff like that.”
“That was a weird movie.”
"It was a weird movie. All his movies are weird. They cut in time. They change styles in a flash. There are always homages and references. Sophia, I think there was a time when we went from the movie into a documentary then into a TV show, watched that for a minute or so, then pulled back out into the documentary, finished that, and then returned to our movie. I mean, who the fuck does that?
“But you never, ever, ever lose track of what’s going on.”
"Hey, yeah! I noticed that, Dad! There was this long sequence that was Leo only and then a couple of quick shots of Bruce Lee appeared. I just started wondering what was going on with Brad Pitt when the film cut to his story.
… pauses…
“… Damn, that’s good movie making.”
“Did you notice just how much of the film was spent driving?”
“… Yeah. Now that you mention it…”
“Very Los Angeles, 1969. You drove everywhere and a good chunk of your life was in the car. The feel of living in that city, at that time, was very immersive.”
“Mind if I play my music?”
“Sure, Sophia,” disconnecting my phone from the bluetooth.
“Look, there’s a OUaTiH playlist on Spotify!”
… one of the songs starts playing, Sophia starts laughing…
“That was when the…”
… and, continuing, we drove home.
It was awesome, the 3rd QT movie I loved coming out of the theater, and for far fuller, richer reasons than the first two could ever be.
[Moderating]
Snowboarder Bo, I know that it’s difficult to convey tone online, but you might want to work on it a bit more. I was this close to warning you for threadshitting, and I hardly ever warn for threadshitting.
By “snapped his fingers,” you mean the part when Brad made the clicking noise with his mouth? That WAS awesome.
I was wondering who sold him the cigarette; those Manson girls all kind of looked the same, but I guess it could’ve been a random hippie. QT could’ve had Pussy Cat sell him the cigarette during their drive if he wanted to make that part clearer.
Yeah, that was it.
It was funny… we discussed this as well, how the long extended scene where Pitt is feeding his dog originally seems to exist to drive the point that Brad doesn’t have much of a life. It isn’t until much, much later in the movie that you realize the scene exists also to show you how disciplined the dog is, and the closeness of their bond.
And the choice of breed is also a tip-off.
It was great in QT fashion.
It was great seeing Robin from Stranger Things 3 (Maya Thurman Hawke, also Uma Thurman’s daughter) as the Manson girl that comes to her senses and steals Tex’s car and hightails it out of there before the killing begins.
Did that really happen? Did one of killers chicken out? Or did QT let her leave because she didn’t actually participate in the murders - so killing her would have been (ahem) gratuitous?
Answered my own question: Kabasian didn’t flee; she waited by the gate as a lookout.
*Kasabian, rather.
She also ended up a star witness for the prosecution in the trial. I haven’t yet seen the movie, but ‘running away’ is somewhat consistent with her later actions regarding the crime.
Txt from Sophia:
“Holy God, Dad, those Manson women were vicious! I thought the violence was perhaps a bit too much, but now I know what they did to that poor baby… it wasn’t violent enough!”
Exactly. QT isn’t relishing in violence against women, just extreme violence against THESE women. They got off easy in this movie compared to what they did in real life.
One thing the movie did not get right… and I’m not too sure how it could have been fixed… is the complete lack of smog. Check out the link below for a picture comparing LA air quality in 1968 and 2005.
Just got back. 2 HUGE thumbs up from my wife and me. Loved DiCap/Pitt. Margot is GORGEOUS.
Gotta get my mean dog some of that rat flavor dog food!
Was laughing through the final scene until Cliff took the one girl over to the mantelpiece. Damn - that’s gonna leave a mark! :smack:
LOVED the pooch!
Really liked the way they cut the old movies/TV shows. And don’t leave before the credits…
There a jokey smog alert playing on a car radio at one point, wasn’t there?