Anytime Quentin Tarantino decides to put out a new movie is a cause for celebration. While his style may not be for all tastes, it cannot be denied that he is one of the most original voices of his generation and has close to a perfect record in great films. In a time when remakes, sequels and cookie-cutter, more or less identical family-friendly fare keeps getting churned out and attended by essentially brain-dead patrons numbed with mediocrity, Tarantino is still one of the freshest and most originally vibrant voices in filmdom. The Hateful Eight, his eighth movie he has directed (10.5 if you count movies he had a lot to do with), while not being his finest outing, is still better than most others' best.
The Hateful Eight is actually a fairly simple premise. During a horrific blizzard in the late 1800s, eight people are trapped in a haberdashery and must wait it out. Each of the people are not what they seem and eventually come to blows in a characteristically "Tarantino-esque" climax of blood-soaked denouement. The movie is part whodunnit mystery, part suspense. The best way to describe it is Key Largo meets Ten Little Indians meets Straw Dogs.
The specifics of this particular movie are less important than the journey. Like Inglorius Basterds, this is a movie of talking, not action. The is a sheer joy of the spoken word and dialogue that crackles and sparks in this movie. This is a movie that lets actors act, so you can see the craft. There is not a bad one in this bunch. Aside from Tarantino regulars like Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, and Michael Madsen, there is also Bruce Dern, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins and Kurt Russell. Every one of them puts on one of their most intense performances to date and all are a joy to watch.
But the real star of this film is the auteur himself, Tarantino. Much has been made of the fact that it was shot in the largest format available, 70mm CinemaScope. The interesting thing about this choice of format is that it is more appropriate for movies with wide vistas like Ben Hur, Lawrence of Arabia or The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. And while this movie has many great shots of the expansive Wyoming landscape, most the film takes place in very intimate quarters inside a cramped cabin. Yet somehow, Tarantino makes it work beautifully. For a guy who never went to film school, he has enormous talent for direction. It is amazing that such a good writer and director exist in the same guy. It makes it all the worst when he keeps threatening to quit the business with only eight movies under his belt.
A quick thought about the four-hundred-pound gorilla in the room whenever discussing Tarantino-the violence. It is no secret that the biggest hallmark of all Tarantino films is the level of violence in them. In this one especially, with as intimate as the quarters get, so does the level of violence. Jennifer Jason Leigh's outlaw suffers the worst at the hands of lawman and hangman Kurt Russell. Some have said the violence borders on mysogynistic with the level of abuse leveled on her. But it turns out she can take it and dish it back like a vengeful harpy. She is easily the toughest and arguably most brutal character in the film, so I think the mysogynous criticism is people trying to make a name for themselves making mountains out of molehills. But the point I am making is that it's too bad that Tarantino feels his signature must be written in blood. It is now expected. When I left the theater, I heard two dim-witted twenty-somethings lamenting that the film looked like it wasn't going to have the violence level one expects from Tarantino's movies. They, and other brain-dead specimens like them completely miss the point if that is why they are coming. But unfortunately, Tarantino has now painted himself in a corner as people now have certain expectations of him. I love it when directors move out of their comfort zones and do something completely unexpected. What would be interesting would be if Tarantino did a love story (different than True Romance) or a straightforward drama. I would love to see what he could do outside the crime/action genre. He certainly tries to do very different movies each time, and he certainly has the talent to visually and aurally tell a compelling story. I would love to see him do one that didn't necessarily require he fall back on extreme violence like a crutch. He's better than that and it is long time that he demonstrated it, but that's just my opinion. In any case, if you love great film storytelling, this is a required movie to see. And while you're at it, try it's artistic ancestor, Key Largo.
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