Kelly Reichardt Says Tarantino's ‘Once Upon A Time in Hollywood' of Being ‘Too Macho'

Director Kelly Reichardt, bless her maverick heart, is one of the great American filmmakers of the last ten years, what with a track record that speaks for itself ("Wendy and Lucy," "Meek's Cutoff," "Certain Woman") and a contemplative, minimalist and distinctive style that is meant to isolate mainstream audiences.

Reichardt was part of the Cannes jury last year, alongside artists that included directors Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Yorgos Lanthimos, and actress Elle Fanning. Surprisingly, that jury, which honored Bong Joon-ho the Palme d’Or for “Parasite,” didn’t give a single award to Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.” Suffice to say, Reichardt doesn’t seem to be much of a fan of Tarantino’s latest opus, accusing it of being “too macho” in a recent interview with Mel Magazine:

“I just don’t understand [macho men] — I don’t get it. It’s beyond my comprehension. Like, in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, the idea of the shirtless man on top of the roof — the white man who beats up Bruce Lee, saves the damsel in distress, and sets on fire the “scummy hippies” — I’m just like, “Really?” People love it, but I don’t understand, especially in the climate we live in, how the macho-man thing just keeps being interesting to anybody. The idea of white man as savior? Please — as if that has any relevance anywhere on the planet. Give me a break. How the semiotics of that — and the mythology of that in the world as we know it — can still exist is quite fascinating.”

To each their own, I guess, but, If you remember, Tarantino had put Reichardt’s “Meek’s Cutoff” on his list of the worst movies of 2011. So this could be a “payback” of sorts, who knows.