This year, twenty-five years after the iconic Quentin Tarantino took the Cannes Film Festival by storm with “Pulp Fiction,” the non-conforming director returned with “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” for which he received a six-minute standing ovation. Indeed, in an interview with Esquire, the director said of his new film, "this is the closest thing I’ve done to Pulp Fiction."
The reception was one of the longest at this year’s glamorous festival, building up to the moment when Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio would stand side by side on the most glamorous red carpet in the world. Cameras flashed and fans screamed as DiCaprio and Pitt readily posed for selfies and photos, and signed autographs.
Tarantino seemed to savor the moment, mouthing the words “I love you” to his wife Daniella Pick, and whispering in the ear of Margot Robbie, one of the film’s stars. Appearing in good graces, he stood at the top of the stairs of the Palais, and contemplating the scene below him, he yelled “vive le cinéma.”
As for the film itself (for which you can watch the full trailer here): it’s a sweeping look at the movie business at the end of the 1960s — one that's surrounded around real-life figures such as Sharon Tate and the Manson family. DiCaprio plays a washed-up TV-Western star and Pitt, a body-double and majordomo. The film's cameos include everybody from Timothy Olyphant to Bruce Dern, and even Lena Dunham as a Manson girl.
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” will debut in theaters on July 26, and in addition to DiCaprio, Pitt and Robbie, the cast will include Kurt Russell, Al Pacino and the late Luke Perry, in one of his final big-screen roles. The premier was heavy with attendees, with dozens of people being turned away at the door, even though they had balcony seats, because the event was oversubscribed.