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 Set in the late 1960s, when spaghetti westerns ruled the screen,
"Once Upon A Time in Hollywood" was one of the most hotly
anticipated premieres at the film showcase - not least because
it only made it to the competition at the last minute.
Tarantino, a Cannes darling, won the festival's top Palme D'Or
prize for "Pulp Fiction" 25 years ago, and his latest offering
is not short of big names, with Australian actress Margot Robbie
and Al Pacino also in the line-up.
Centered on Ricky Dalton, a TV actor wracked by self-doubt
played by DiCaprio, the film is a love letter to the world of
cinema, from its glamorous parties to the highs and lows of
being on set.
Dalton and stunt double Cliff Booth, played by Pitt, roam the
studios of Hollywood, pondering their careers and getting into
scraps, running into hippies and martial arts stars.
Ominously, however, it also takes place in the run-up to the
notorious Mason murders - the gruesome killings orchestrated by
cult leader Charles Manson, which claimed the life of pregnant
actress Sharon Tate, married at the time to filmmaker Roman
Polanski.
The film's evocative atmosphere, flashes of violence that
Tarantino is known for, and darkly comic moments elicited some
early rave reviews following the premiere.
"It's shocking, gripping, dazzlingly shot," The Guardian's Peter
Bradshaw wrote, giving it five stars.
The finale was "entirely outrageous, disorientating,
irresponsible, and also brilliant," Bradshaw added.
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In a message sent out on social media by the movie's promoters ahead
of the premiere, Tarantino asked the media and those at the premiere
not to ruin the film, his ninth, with any spoilers.
"The cast and crew have worked hard to create something original,"
the director said. "I only ask that everyone avoids revealing
anything that would prevent later audiences from experiencing the
film in the same way."
Some critics highlighted the movie's patchier, more self-indulgent
moments, but they still found enough to like in show-stealing scenes
and strong performances by DiCaprio and Pitt in particular.
Entertainment site TheWrap called it "big, brash, ridiculous, too
long, and in the end invigorating."
"It's fun but ... it's too long for a small story in fact," Joachim
Lepastier, a journalist from France's Cahiers Du Cinema, told
Reuters after leaving a screening.
Tarantino, who arrived on the French Riviera last week and has been
spotted at several screenings and premieres, hit the red carpet on
Tuesday alongside his wife, Israeli singer and model Daniela Pick,
who also has a role in the film.
DiCaprio, Pitt and Robbie also put in star turns on the Croisette at
the glitzy premiere.
The Cannes Film Festival runs until May 25. Tarantino is vying for
the top award alongside veteran filmmakers like Britain's Ken Loach
or Spain's Pedro Almodovar, and newer ones including French promise
Celine Sciamma.
(Reporting by Sarah White and Johnny Cotton; Editing by Frances
Kerry and Richard Chang)
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