The Golden Globe Honours One Of The Worst Films Of The Year

Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against  Quentin Tarantino’s cinema. They have invented a brutal  bloodied  toxic language of expression which suits today’s  restless movie audiences. But Once  Upon A Time In Hollywood was just not vintage Tarantino. It  was  a rambling aimless unanchored work  cruising Beverly Hills in 1969(69 probably being the  position Tarantino favours)   when Sharon Tate  was brutally murdered.

In  Tarantino’s film Ms Tate  doesn’t die. As  played by Margot  Robbie(so wonderful in  the new Bombshell) she barely lives.Most of the  meandering drama  is about  a falling superstar Leonardo di Caprio and his  body-double Brad Pitt.Their  camaraderie is  pitiably low  on  true feelings and alarmingly high on repetitive situations.

Just how this 2 hours 40 of narcissistic peek-a-boo  qualifies as  ‘Best Motion Picture-Musical  Or Comedy’  is  beyond my range of  comprehension. To me, there was nothing particularly  funny or musical about Once Upon A  Time In Hollywood.Unless I missed something when I  blinked.

And to award  Brad Pitt  for  Best Supporting  Actor in a category toplined by Al Pacino  and Joe Pesci! It’s like honouring the  film Beimaan  at  the Filmfare awards during the  year  of  Pakeezah.This did  happen. Pakeezah  received no awards.The  aptly named Beimaan walked away with every major award.

The Golden Globes did  get it right with Sam Mendes anti-war drama 1917  which won the Best  Film  in the ‘Drama’ category.And how  wonderful Rene Zellwegger was as the legendary Judy Garland in Judy.

As  for the Best Actor in  the  ‘Drama’ category , if not Joaquin Phoenix  in Joker then who? Ripping aside all  misgiving and sardonic readings of  the recluse verging on a complete psychological  collapse, Joaquin’s performance will be talked about for many years  to come.

The thing about  Joaquin is, he doesn’t care  about awards  or breathing fresh air. If he spent more than a year starving himself to look like the  skeletal psychotic Arthur Fleck he  knows he  did no one  a favour. Even Ranveer Singh  or  Varun Dhawan would do  the same.  The  crux and quality  of  a performance is judged not by the  preparation but  by how  much the actor is able to bring to  the  screen.And Joaquin has brought a helluva  lot to the screen, making his  character so  tangibly desolate  it is like entering an echo chamber with no  exits.

 So yeah,  an Oscar too  for  Joaquin Bhai, please?   But  please  let’s  honour  2019’s finest Marriage  Story, The Irishman and  1917  . They deserve to be put up there.Once Upon A  Time In Hollywood is  the  kind of cinema that thinks and breathes through its director’s balls, every other  scene  a visual  representation  of the sex act.Now Tarantino wants to put out  a 4-hour version of his self-designed epic. I am sure his fans are already climaxing.