by Raymond Sands

The hype is now even more justified after seeing some of the characters we were only able to create in our imagination. And, just like any other Tarantino movie, it did not disappoint. It has that special mix that no other filmmaker was able to reproduce. A colourful story, fascinating and weird characters and, this time, a lot of real-life figures from the 1960s like Sharon Tate, Bruce Lee or the infamous Charles Manson. And while the trailer was considered food for thought by most fans, there’s still a lot left to the imagination and here’s what we managed to put together with the info we have after taking into account the press conferences following the movie’s premiere at Cannes.

Los Angeles in 1969

This much we know. The geographical and temporal setting of the movie is known. And it was rumored for quite some time now that Tarantino will approach the Manson story. He addressed these rumours back in 2017 when he wanted to make it clear that it’s not about Charles Manson, it’s about 1969. And after viewing the trailer, it’s crystal clear with some of the brightest icons of the time; the bright light, blinking marquees of the ’60s along with the Pussycat Theatre showing plays like The Turn On! or Babette.

Sure, Manson and his family are also involved, we’ve seen that with our own eyes in the trailer. Played by Damon Herriman, it’s not clear how much influence he will have in the movie. And you never know with Tarantino, he’s like a Neosurf casino in that regard. It can be a major part or just one of his exaggerated cameos like Hitler’s in Inglourious Basterds. One thing is certain though, it is quite hard to tell the story of 1969 Hollywood without invoking Manson as well. After all, he is directly responsible – who knows in what proportion – for the dying out of hippie culture. All his murders, including the one of Sharon Tate, put an abrupt end on the free-loving decade as it was known. So, he’s a mandatory part of the story. We’ll see how much Tarantino will use this dark and enigmatic character in his story.

Unbelievable Cast

Ok, we already knew most of the big names involved and that’s what created the big fuss from the beginning. Apart from being a Tarantino movie, of course. So, let’s start with the A-listers and go down from there.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Playing Rick Dalton, a TV actor starring in Bounty Law, a fictional Western, that is looking to make a step up and into movies. As always, DiCaprio does a great job and that is obvious from the few scenes we got in the trailer. And considering his entourage, it’s going to be a hell of a movie.

Brad Pitt

Playing the stunt double and right-hand man for Rick Dalton, by the name of Cliff Booth, the pair of characters is based on the real-life actor-stuntman team of Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham. In the setting imagined by Tarantino, they live next door to Sharon Tate.

Margot Robbie

Who else to be more suited for telling the story of Sharon Tate than Margot Robbie? She already played a very interesting part alongside DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street and the role she had in I, Tonya established her as one of the best actresses of the moment. And even though there’s a big chance the movie will start some controversy around why doesn’t Margot get more lines and if this is an anti-feminist approach from Tarantino, it’s still lovely to be able to see such an important role played by a fascinating actress like Margot.

Other big names include the actor playing Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate’s husband at the time she was killed, Rafal Zawierucha and the three close friends that were with Sharon that evening. Names include Samantha Robinson that plays Abigail Folger, Australia’s own Costa Ronin as Wojciech Frykowski and Emile Hirsch as Jay Sebring, the former boyfriend of Tate. What’s even more interesting is that in real life, Sebring was a close friend of Bruce Lee and we get an amazing moment in the trailer where Bruce is training Sebring.

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