Musical Space

Every Quentin Tarantino film is a musicological event — a study in the use of soundtrack music — and his latest is particularly interesting, because he limits himself only to music heard when the movie takes place, in 1969. So, without divulging spoilers or trying to be a film critic, I really have to talk about Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood. Most striking is the film’s many layers. It’s a movie about making movies: actors playing characters playing characters, history distorted through camera lenses as seen through camera lenses. The confusion allows Tarantino to live out a fan-fiction fantasy; he even gets to direct scenes from bad TV shows and genre flicks. But even though the plot sends our perception a million fun directions, it’s all tied together with a near-constant AM radio broadcast. More ubiquitous than the cigarettes and hairspray, the soundtrack sustains the energy through his signature long scenes, and keeps a sharp focus on hippie-era L.A. culture. “Jenny Take a Ride,