Kurt Russel and Samuel L. Jackson in Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight
The roll continues. Quentin Tarantino’s loud knock on the door
of cinematic greatness continues to ring loud and clear. With The Hateful Eight
Tarantino continues his streak of great films that begun with Inglorious
Bastards, and strays further and further away from the lull (well at least in
the opinion of someone who is not the biggest fan of Kill Bill) he saw in the
late 90s and early 00s. The Hateful Eight is a film that takes everything that Tarantino
has learned since his initial film Reservoir Dogs and stuffs it into a haberdashery,
literally. The Hateful Eight is a thriller masterclass from beginning to
finish, a beautiful genre reversal and a film that is even staunchly political.
Do not be fooled by its reduced scope, The Hateful Eight is just as great, if
not better, then his two proceeding films.
While his last two pictures were grand and sweeping western
types, The Hateful Eight returns to Tarantino’s smaller routs and resembles
Reservoir Dogs more then any of his other motion pictures. Sure it is shot in beautiful
70mm, features a score from Ennio Morricone, and has both an overture and a 12-minute
intermission (at least at the 70mm screenings, the regular digital screenings
that hit theaters on January 1st are said to have cut the
intermission as well as some of the longer scenic shots) but that’s where the
similarities to old westerns end. The majority of The Hateful Eight takes place
either in a tiny stage coach or in Millie’s Haberdashery, the opposite of the sprawling
settings of the epic western that The Hateful Eight is an aesthetic pastiche
of.
The whole plot of the Hateful Eight can almost be explained
by its title. Eight characters are locked in a haberdashery and chaos, driven
primary from the hateful nature of its characters, ensue. The main thrust of
the film are the four characters that enter the haberdashery midway through its
runtime. John Ruth (Kurt Russel), a bounty hunter who insists on taking his
bounty alive, must transport his latest prisoner, the mysteriously sadistic Daisy
Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to Red Rock to be hanged. Along the way he runs
into a fellow bounty hunter, the vengeful Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L.
Jackson) and the dopey soon to be sheriff of Red Rock Chris Mannix (Walton
Goggins) both of whom have each lost their respective transports in a terrible
blizzard. The four stop at Millie’s Haberdashery after the blizzard becomes too
much to bear to meet up with the other four main characters, a British Hangman
Oswaldo Mobary (Tim Roth), a mysterious unknown Joe Gage (Michael Madsen), a Mexican
assistant to Millie Senior Bob (Demian Bichir), and an old confederate soldier General
Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern). Safe to say chaos ensues.
The Hateful Eight is the talkiest Tarantino film in a long
while. The first half of the film is essentially all talk with characters jaw
jacking on the way to and within the haberdashery. As such the film takes on a
deliberate pace, especially in its pre-intermission half, which for viewers who
are not a fan of Tarantino’s dialogue could be extraneous. I on the other hand
am the biggest fan of Tarantino when he is at his talkiest, and as such The
Hateful Eight is an utter delight. Tarantino’s dialogue still pops off of the screen
in the best possible way, and to me is the star of the film. There seems to be
such care taken in every word coming out of the characters’ mouths and
Tarantino’s dialogue has gotten more theatrical then ever (fitting for a film
that could have probably been a play). After two sweeping historical “westerns,”
especially following Django which had the least amount of dialogue since Kill
Bill Part 1, it’s nice to see a Quentin Tarantino film where a lot of the
action is just characters talking.
That being said when the signature Tarantino craziness does
ensue it comes with a vengeance. The second half of The Hateful Eight is absolutely
insane, taking twists and turns that are both unexpected and thrilling. The
deliberate and very tense first half makes way to an ultraviolent frenzy, the
explosion following a build up of energy. The film’s structure reminded me a
lot of an extended version bar sequence in Inglorious Bastards, tension builds
slow and steadily through his dialogue, before exploding in sequences that are
brutal and unforgiving. The second half of The Hateful Eight sees some of the
most violet sequences in all of Tarantino as the entire situation within Millie’s
Haberdashery goes horridly awry. It’s thrilling and unpredictable, leaving me
at the edge of my seat and taking my breath away with every action taken.
Tarantino has been able to create wonderful dialogue and
tension in a small room since his debut, what makes The Hateful Eight stand out
from its comparable partner Reservoir Dogs is all the things he has learned
since then. The first is characterization, if there was one issue with
Reservoir Dogs is that it seems as though there is no real since of depth in
its characters. The Hateful Eight is exactly the opposite, Tarantino manages to
play a beautiful game of being able to flesh out each of the characters while
never killing the energy of the plot. These are not generic people talking in a
haberdashery, every one of the characters has a motivation and an arc of sorts,
and while all of them are not as fleshed out as say Sam Jackson’s character,
every character has a certain depth that makes every one of them, and the film
itself, a lot more interesting.
The Hateful Eight is also surprisingly political. Tarantino
is not particularly known for breaking into this sphere, Django is virtually the
only film that has ventured into that direction, but it’s hard not to see parts
of this film not being influenced by current political events. Tarantino’s best
use of politics is through the way he manages to use uncomfortable societal
topics to his advantage. The first and perhaps most prevalent case of this is
the only primary female character in the film Daisy who is vile but also one
who gets slapped around a lot by some of the males in the film. It’s hard to
remember another woman character in film that is treated the way Daisy is in The
Hateful Eight. She is treated basically as one of the men, which is very
interesting because it means she gets subjected to the same amount of violence
as the men do throughout the film. There are numerous scenes of her being
violently hit and slapped around and I remember, in particular, the
uncomfortable laugh in my screening the first time she got hit; the reaction itself
is one of the more visceral reactions of shock and discomfort that I have ever
witnessed in a theater. Daisy is of course not defenseless and commits various
acts of vitriol as well, but it is a reminder where we are at in terms of women
and violence. Tarantino doe a masterful job of challenging the audience by
putting them in an unusually uncomfortable spot in this regard and it is incredibly
effective.
The same can be said for many of the characters in this
film. Sam Jackson’s character who is probably the closest thing anyone comes to
a “hero” in the storyline is the most fascinating figure in this regard. He is
the only main character in the film who is African American, and has to deal
with issues of racism in a variety of different ways (especially from the
confederates who find themselves in the haberdashery). It’s a character who
should be easy to care about but the insanity he is willing to go for revenge
makes the character more and more troubling from the “hero” perspective, and
even when the character is right Tarantino pushes the lengths that the
character is willing to go. It is a fascinating play on both the lengths to
which people will go for a sense of justice as well as the fear that some
circles share of extreme violence amongst people (particularly men) of color
The cast, per the course for almost every Tarantino film, is
superb with its mix of familiar names and relative unknowns. Samuel L. Jackson
is phenomenal here delivering his most high energy performance perhaps since
Pulp Fiction over two decades ago. Kurt Russel does a good John Wayne with a
much more brutal edge. Jennifer Jason Leigh is also fantastic with wonderful
facial expressions that tell a world of a story on their own. There is also
quite the wonderful cameo that I won’t spoil. All I say is when you see the
name in the opening credits, you’ll understand.
Despite being trapped in a single room for the film’s
majority the 70mm format still helps in various ways. Tarantino has said his
goal was to create a since of claustrophobia inside the haberdashery using the
format, and for the most part he succeeds. The screen often times will show the
majority of the haberdashery encapsulating the small size of the building in
which everyone is locked. The amount of detail in every shot is also fascinating.
Because of the size of the room characters that are not focused on in any good
scene are on the periphery either watching, poring drinks, or simply attending
to their own business. This may not seem like a big deal in theory but it
really adds to the overall atmosphere of the film. Tarantino does not leave the
film without some spectacular exterior shots though. When the snowy outdoors is
pondered by the camera the results are spectacular. I highly recommend that if
your city is showing it that you make an effort to go see the 70mm screenings
as it captures the full picture of what Tarantino is going for in The Hateful
Eight. The score is also great as Ennio Morricone returns to write a score that
sounds like an old western with a wickedly dark twist.
The Hateful Eight is yet another home run for Tarantino. A
masterclass in suspense and a great genre reversal, The Hateful Eight shows
many of the aspects of Tarantino’s game which he has polished across his last
several films. The film is not for everyone, the usual ultraviolence and profanity
have this time been joined by a sense of dark discomfort, but those who can
stomach it are in for a treat. The Hateful Eight continues Tarantino’s march
towards greatness and is the best film of 2015.
Grade: A+
-Frederick Cholowski
