Los Angeles Times - 31.10.2019

An illustration of Hollywood Blvd after. Credit: Nathan Schroeder

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THE ENVELOPE LOS ANGELES TIMES THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019

geared toward what he was read-

ing and watching.”

Tarantino’s deep knowledge of

the area — Hollywood, the Valley

— fuels the world of the film, just

as Los Angeles native Ling’s does.

“He wanted as real as we

could get, and not just landmarks.

He would say, ‘I really like Van

Nuys Boulevard. As a kid, I was

driving on Van Nuys Boulevard in

Panorama City — that’s where we

used to go shopping.’

“The greatest line he ever said

to me in terms of how things [for

the film] were perceived was,

‘Imagine an 8-year-old lying in

the back of his mom’s car, and his

point of view.’ ”

Much has been made of the

film’s restoration of 1969 Holly-

wood — the era-appropriate

mural on Hollywood’s Aquarius

Theatre, so many iconic façades

in Westwood Village and Holly-

wood Boulevard. The production

even repainted crosswalks to

O

nce Upon a Time ...

in Hollywood” is

Quentin Tarantino’s

nostalgic fable,

alternate history,

love letter to film, violent fantasy.

Production designer Barbara Ling

says it’s also very personal.

“It is his epic. It’s extremely

personal to Quentin,” she said on

the Sony lot. “He always says,

‘This is how I became a film-

maker. Growing up [here], my

mom letting me go to movies

really early. Watching TV. When-

ever I could, going to the book-

store or poster shop, getting

another comic.’ Everything was

resemble those of the time.

But perhaps more telling are

the tiny details: filmmaking

choices that came from the heart

of an 8-year-old lying in the

backseat of his mother’s car.

“I said, ‘OK. The signs I could

build, full-scale: Roy Rogers

restaurant, the Earl Scheib, the

Holiday Inn,’ ” said Ling.

“Another thing you remember

from Van Nuys is those enormous

electric and telephone lines. You

saw the signs through the lines.

So we put lines up, telephone

poles, then billboards and signs.

So when you saw Cliff [Brad Pitt’s

character] making that drive,

THE CRAFTS

Inside the

mind of

Tarantino

‘Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood’

draws on the director’s memories of a bygone

L.A. to create an authentic period look.

BY MICHAEL ORDOÑA

1969

2019