Actual events you must know to understand the movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino’s new production, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, has every chance of becoming a blockbuster. However, in the film there are not the usual rivers of blood, nor fights or swearing so common in Tarantino’s universe. The entire plot is inspired by actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Rick is an actor struggling to find his place in the film industry. In the context of Dalton’s moral torment, a carefree young actress, Sharon Tate, is shown. She walks the sunny streets of Los Angeles, buys books, goes to the movies and doesn’t even suspect that, literally, in the neighboring neighborhood, someone is preparing a terrible fate for her.

O awesome.club tried to get to the bottom of Sharon Tate’s story. This is the case when you need to familiarize yourself with real events, in order to understand the artistic sense of the film. Quentin Tarantino himself insists on this.

The story began in 1967, when a young American actress and model, Sharon Tate, won the heart of Polish director Roman Polanski. At that time, Roman was taking his first steps in Hollywood by directing the cult horror film Rosemary’s Baby, which is believed to be a worthy continuation of the Hitchcock legacy. The couple met on the set of the film. The Dance of the Vampires and married six months later.

While Roman Polanski was writing new screenplays, his wife was conquering cinema. Sharon starred in several movies, caught the attention of Hollywood agents and appeared in Playboy. Although her name was still unknown to the average viewer, everything indicated that she would have a great future: the actress was only 25 years old.

In 1969, Tate became pregnant. The baby was due at the end of August. At that time, the couple moved to a new house on Cielo Drive Street (Los Angeles) and enjoyed the bohemian life among the Hollywood hills.

Polanski was forced to temporarily leave his pregnant wife for London, where he planned to start filming. the day of the dolphin🇧🇷 And so that Sharon wouldn’t get bored, Roman invited his friends to stay at the house: fashion designer Jay Sebring (Sharon’s ex-boyfriend and best friend at the time), rookie actor and screenwriter Voytek Frykowski and the heiress to a coffee empire, Abigail Folger.

It is worth mentioning that this all took place in the turbulent 1960s, during economic upheavals, the Vietnam War and the subcultural domination of the “children of the sun”. The latter were often clustered in hippie communities, which was completely normal, especially in regions as hot as California.

Precisely in the year of the events of our interest a sect arose in Los Angeles under the direction of a man named Charles Manson. He was convicted on two occasions and it was rumored that he had shown signs of psychopathy but also had a talent for public speaking. His complicated philosophy about life and death gave him the status of something of a prophet, and he was later proclaimed the leader of the sect. He was joined by many followers (mostly women) who called themselves “Family” and began traveling the country in an old school bus, using banned substances, practicing free love and robbing houses. In 1969, Charles settled in Los Angeles on a ranch called Span, where once several westerns were filmed. Manson befriended his blind owner and was able to stay free on the ranch in exchange for small services like cleaning and periodic intimate relationships with the cult’s members.

All was going well until Manson suddenly interpreted that Paul McCartney song, Helter Skelterwas a divine omen, and the new white album, by the Beatles, the new gospel. He announced to his “brothers and sisters” that a voice from heaven had told him about the end of the world to come, under the name of Helter Skelter🇧🇷 And before the apocalypse there would be an interracial war, which Manson was supposed to start…

His plan was as follows: the “Family” was to organize a series of murders of wealthy, white-skinned Hollywood residents. At the same time, everything should be seen in such a way that suspicion falls on the African-American organization called “The Black Panthers”. The murders would provoke a new civil war, but already interracial, that would be won by the African Americans. Immediately thereafter, Manson and his followers would enter the arena to take control of the situation and permanently establish white rule, as the representatives of the black race would not be able to control their own power.

In his opinion, the plan was perfect. They needed the first victim. Manson began to remember his former enemies, and the choice fell on famed producer Terry Melcher. According to some sources, Manson dreamed of becoming a musician, and Terry was the person who told him about his lack of talent.

Coincidentally, the producer sold his mansion to Polanski’s family. Although Manson had discovered beforehand that his old friend had moved out, the first house to start the interracial battle had already been chosen: he didn’t care which rich white people started the war with.

On August 8, Charles announced the start of the Helter Skelter and ordered community members to commit the first murder.

The officers remove Sharon Tate’s body.

On the night of August 9, four members of the “Family”, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, Linda Kasabian and Charles Watson, armed with knives, broke into the house where Sharon Tate was staying with her three friends. The drunk hippies took all the money and carried out a massacre. Sharon asked them to hold her hostage until the child was born: she was already in her ninth month of pregnancy. In total, the hippies delivered 102 stab wounds to the victims.

The only survivor that night was worker William Garreston. The hut where the boy lived was far away in the forest. The killers just didn’t notice. William confessed to the police that he witnessed the crime, but did nothing.

After the incident, Roman Polanski fell into a deep depression. They said that your movie Rosemary’s Baby it was an ominous omen of tragic events. The film tells of a woman who has a complicated pregnancy with a rather terrible outcome.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, several more brutal massacres were committed against wealthy white families. The city of Hollywood was gripped by a paranoid fear. Walls appeared around homes, prices for guard dogs tripled, and many celebrities left their homes. All eagerly awaited the capture of criminals.

In the end, Manson’s “Family” was arrested. The sect members did not understand why they were arrested by the police, as they considered themselves representatives of the new faith and their master the incarnation of Christ on Earth. Charles Manson, for his crimes, was sentenced to death, a sentence transformed into life imprisonment, the same sentence as the four involved in the massacre. Charles Manson died in prison on January 1, 2017, of bowel cancer. Susan Atkins died in 2009 of brain cancer. The others remain in prison.

Have you had the opportunity to watch Once upon a time Hollywood🇧🇷 Share your opinion about the movie in the comments. But please, no spoilers!