Written by Robert Scocchi | Published
Quentin Tarantino first announced it in 2012, while doing press for it django unchained, He only plans to write and direct 10 films before retiring from filmmaking as a way to come out on top. Since then, I’ve had a slow burn through the rest of his work. Up until that point, I had seen every entry. As soon as he made this announcement, I was kind of bummed out for a while because I still have a lot of time to watch a few movies, and I want to savor them like they are works of cinematic art. I finally sat down with 2015 The Hateful EightTarantino’s eighth film, and by far my favorite of his entire catalog of work.
I hate long movies. I absolutely despise them. In most cases, I feel that feature films can be remade to tell a more accurate version of the same story in 90 to 120 minutes. This is not the case for The Hateful Eightwhich is 168 minutes long, which is only approximately three hours. There is no fat in this film, and the tension comes from the pacing as everything slowly escalates to the point of no return. It’s an absolute bloodbath, but it chooses its moments carefully, relying heavily on dialogue and telling facial expressions while letting its claustrophobic surroundings chew the viewer up and break them up with its saliva to ensure proper digestion.
So I can finally watch Once upon a time in HollywoodI’m happy to admit that I will probably come back to visit The Hateful Eight A few more times before moving forward with Tarantino’s filmography while we all wait for his tenth and final film to take shape and see the proper release.
These eight people are so hateful!
A modern crime classic in every sense of the word. The Hateful Eight The film revolves around a group of the most horrific people you will ever meet, trapped in a claustrophobic environment that deliberately echoes John Carpenter’s character. The thing. Holed up in a cabin on their way to Red Rock, Wyoming Territory, we meet bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), John “The Executioner” Roth (Kurt Russell), “Madman” Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Sheriff Chris Manx (Walton Goggins), Señor Pope (Demián Bichir), Osvaldo (Tim Roth), and Joe Gage. (Michael Madsen), and General Sanford “Sandy” Smithers (Bruce Dern), also known as “The Confederacy.”
If you haven’t seen The Hateful EightThe less you know about the movie’s plot, the better. There’s not much to spoil, so there’s no reason to spoil anything here. All you need to know is that these eight individuals are seeking shelter from a relentless blizzard at Minnie’s Haberdashery on their way to Red Rock. They all know each other in the sense that they are aware of each other’s reputations, but they have to rely on instinct to decide who is telling the truth. Since we’re talking about bounty hunters, executioners, alleged bailiffs, thieves, or worse, it’s immediately clear that most of the Hateful Eight rely on deception and betrayal as a way to survive in post-Civil War America.
Deception as a means of survival
Fully aware that he is a black man living in the white man’s Wild West, Marquis knows Minnie personally, and he immediately becomes suspicious of her absence and begins to sense that something is wrong. To make matters worse for Warren, John Ruth is aware of the bounty on his head, but the two reach a temporary truce during their bus ride to the junkyard. As the storm rages and the fire roars, things initially look good for the Hateful Eight, but it doesn’t take long for the paranoia to set in as each person begins to reveal their true nature.
Using animosity as a form of communication, weapons are drawn, coffee is poisoned, rewards are discussed, and in the end, we get each person’s backstory as they slowly turn on each other in the name of self-preservation. It’s a tense buildup that culminates in the kind of hyperviolence you’d expect from a Quentin Tarantino film. No one is who they say they are, and when the truth finally comes out, things get ugly quickly.
He shot wide and scored brilliantly
Featuring clear similarities with The thing In a Western environment, The Hateful Eight It was elevated by Tarantino’s decision to shoot using Ultra Panavision 70 with restored lenses and Kodak Vision3 film stock in a 2.76:1 aspect ratio. The experience is further enhanced by Ennio Morricone’s score, his first Western soundtrack in 34 years, which also includes three unused tracks from his work on The thing: “immortality,” “bestiality,” and “despair.” Since the film already reflects the tone and paranoia of Carpenter’s snow-covered masterpiece, the inclusion of Morricone’s music is the perfect finishing touch.
As far as I’m concerned, The Hateful Eight It earns every minute of its running time because it’s so beautifully shot and doesn’t waste any of it on unnecessary filler. The setting and character work need time to breathe for the story to hit as hard as it does. The tension is what makes this film a rewarding mystery to sink your teeth into. It’s supposed to make you feel uneasy and uncomfortable, but Tarantino’s twisted sense of humor forces you to laugh at the worst possible moments because no one turns cinematic violence into black comedy better than him.
The Hateful Eight It is currently streaming on Netflix.
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