Jay Glennie’s The Making of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood hits book store shelves on October 28th, courtesy of Insight Editions. We received an early look at this 488-page work of art, which attains a level of quality and immersion as great as the film itself and is sure to grant Tarantino fans an incredible level of appreciation and knowledge of his modern classic masterpiece.
From pre-production to awards season and beyond, Glennie covers every single aspect of the creation of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. He’s been granted complete access to the archives of the production and the people who made it and he more than achieves his task of telling the film’s story completely and engagingly. I thought I knew everything there was to know about the film and I thought I’d seen everything that ever existed related to the movie, but what I’d already known and seen was just the tip of the iceberg. This book contains hundreds of photos and illustrations from behind the scenes, on set, wardrobe designs, blueprints, fictional product labels and promotional posters, and more. So many of it is new to fans with the printing of this book, which makes the level of immersion and discovery when reading the book a legendary experience. My personal favorite images are high resolution scans of the various Wolf’s Tooth Dog Food labels, candid shots of the actors in their wardrobe, and shots on set of Tarantino that I’d never seen before.
Starting with an introduction by the maestro himself, the book never lets up with one new discovery after the next. The reader is treated to tidbits by Tarantino himself, such as the revelation that Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is the only film he started with the ending first. Glennie captures Tarantino’s voice and penchant for storytelling throughout this epic text, and reading its various chapters feels like a thrilling journey with twists and turns, like watching the movie for the very first time. One of Tarantino’s many achievements with this film was showcasing so many new young talents of filmmaking before they made it big, and it’s a delight to read more about the roles Austin Butler, Margaret Qualley, Mikey Madison, Julia Butters, and more played in the production of the film and what appears to be the absolute blast everyone had behind the scenes. Seeing the joy on the actors’ faces gave me a new appreciation for the production and the film itself.
What sets The Making of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood apart from other books on film is that it doesn’t skimp on either text or pictures. Some of my favorite books on movies are either lacking in one department or the other, and some books with a wealth of imagery could still end up falling kind of flat because the reader is left with no further insight into the production of the film. Glennie’s text is both a pleasure to read and view, and this makes it simply one of the best books on a single film that I’ve ever read. Glennie’s narrative never lingers too long without direct quotes from an incredible number of people who brought the movie to life, both in front of and behind the camera. The book is simply a definitive telling of the story of the film from the people who were there, and no stone is left unturned in Glennie’s achievement in telling the complete tale from start to finish.
Measuring 9.5″x13″ and weighing a couple pounds, Jay Glennie’s The Making of Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood has a massive physical presence worthy of its importance and the legendary source material. The pages are so big that the crisp images pop out at the reader like glossy, detailed posters. Whether it’s a page from the script, a call sheet, wardrobe, or artist’s renderings, the pages hold a level of color, quality, and detail which make this book a pleasure to sit down with and soak up everything it has to offer. The embossed logo on the thick hardcover feels great to the touch and the foil-coated “9” on the spine (to signify that this is Tarantino’s 9th film) has me praying for more numbered entries in this series!
There’s no other way to put it: if you are a Quentin Tarantino fan, you need to own Jay Glennie’s The Making of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. No other book comes close to presenting the complete story of the making of this film… or the making of any other Tarantino film for that matter. Be on the lookout for this incredible book, which is in stores on October 28th, and stay tuned to Conskipper for complete coverage of all things Quentin Tarantino as soon as it breaks!