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English: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
This novelization of Tarantino's ninth movie makes a bold move: The grand finale of the film is only mentioned in passing in a couple of sentences in the first third of the text, the author uses his space, time and freedom to elaborate on Rick Dalton und Cliff Booth. Quick recap: Dalton is the aging actor who wrestles with his impending lack of relevance, Booth is his stuntman and buddy who is haunted by a bad reputation. They travel through a fairy tale-like rendition of 1969 Hollywood, a beautifully shot dreamscape.

Usually, novelizations of movies are crafted in the spirit of capitalist monetization, as a means to generate more dollars, not as an artistic endeavor. It's safe to say that this author doesn't need more money though, and he also doesn't sell out. Rather, Tarantino gives us extensive backstories to his antiheroes Dalton and Booth (plus Brandy, the pitbull), we even learn what really happened to Booth's wife (in the movie, he is rumored to have killed her). The author also indulges in long discussions of classic (and less classic) hollywood movies and their impact, about directors, anecdotes from film sets, and stories about stars like, yes, Bruce Lee (whose portrayal in the movie was controversial). And it probably has become clear by now: This is not a plot-driven novel, much like the movie is not plot-driven. The text revels in scenic depictions, atmospheric dialogue as well detailed character development, and I'm here for it. Unsurprisingly, there's also a pulpy feel to the book, with simple, sometimes foul language - it's a shame that the German publisher released it in a fancy hardcover, against the author's wishes who wanted a cheap paperback aesthetic.

I just love how Tarantino unapologetically nerds out and re-creates the old Hollywood in a heightened version, hyperreal, tinted in shades of nostalgic yellow and sepia. In the movie, we see a film production without the camera, thus putting the reality in the movie on the same level as the reality created inside the movie narrative. In the novel, Tarantino does the same: He does also expand the story of "Lancer" that is shot with Dalton as the villain. The fictional characters who, in the fictional realm, are created by other fictional characters, are just as important as those who embody them.

And of course there's the melancholy of the two aging men, the standoff between old and new Hollywood, and Dalton's wish that Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate might open the gates for him. Tarantino has just re-iterated that he will only make one more movie and retire as a director with a perfect ten. Does he, a guy with a career that by now almost spans 30 years and who just bought a second movie theater to save it from being closed, sometimes feel like a nostalgic fossil, threatened by streaming platforms?

Well, he shouldn't. Tarantino is still the real deal. You can learn more about the book in (in German).