The Hateful Eight is the aptly titled eighth feature film from visionary director Quentin Tarantino, and his second foray into the classic western genre after the immensely popular Django Unchained in 2012. The film stars an ensemble cast of Tarantino regulars; including the ever charismatic Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell sporting an incredibly impressive moustache, Tim Roth in his most rodent-esque performance yet and Michael Madsen grumbling and squinting through his lines like a true cowboy. The performances from relative newcomers to the Tarantino universe are also welcoming, particularly from Channing Tatum in a small yet pivotal role.
Since conception to release the film seems to have polarised both general film audiences and critics alike, with some claiming it is one of Tarantino's best pictures and a true refinement of his film making skills, whilst others argue that it is overly long, pretentious and self-indulgent. This contrast in audience opinions and expectations could even be seen in the small Odeon screen that I watched it in, where on one side there were people gasping and laughing audibly at the action and atmosphere building on screen whilst in contrast a fair amount of people left an hour into the film, muttering about how bored they were whilst shovelling popcorn into their mouths. Personally I can understand both sides, and whilst I did love a lot of the film I can acknowledge some of the films problems over other Tarantino features. Below I will be delving heavily into spoiler territory so you have been warned.
The film opens with the gorgeous snow covered Wyoming location that establishes the films setting, then cutting to an incredibly slow and atmospheric zoom out from a Jesus statue covered in snow. This is over-cut with a roaring Morricone score and the traditional, retro opening titles, establishing quickly the typical tone of Tarantino movies; a unique yet irresistible mix of stunning cinematography, flawless direction, schlocky ultra-violence and cheeky retro cinematic tropes, like the big yellow opening titles and the old 'Ultra Panavision 70' logo emblazoned on screen, giving the film the appearance of a movie that would have been made decades before and showing yet again the directors genuine love for classic cinema and film making as a craft.
Set an undisclosed amount of time after the civil war, ex-union soldier turned Bounty Hunter Major Marquis Warren (Jackson) waits at the side of the road with a stack of three dead bodies. He is picked up by a stage coach holding fellow bounty hunter John "The Hangman" Ruth (Russell), named for his trademark preference for delivering his bounties alive to the hangman. A fun trope in Tarantino films has always been establishing these larger than life, caricatured bad-asses, like The Bear Jew from Inglourious Basterds who smashes Nazi skulls in with a baseball bat, and Stuntman Mike from Death Proof, the ex-stuntman who goes on a murderous rampage with his death proof stunt car. Here the trope is executed and presented without having to show anything to validate the notoriety, with just the context and back story behind The Hangman being entertaining in itself. Ruth is chained to his newest bounty, the murderer and gang member Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), who he is transporting to the town of Red Rock to claim the bounty on. As Warren is also travelling to Red Rock to collect his bounties on the three dead bodies, Ruth hesitantly offers him a ride on his coach.
Further down the road the three pick up another traveller, the self claimed sheriff of Red Rock and racist lost-causer Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins). Tarantino's masterful direction of tension and suspense unfolds during the conversations between the characters in the coach during this section, with each having incredibly differing ideologies and opinions. This is handled fantastically, with the characters and their back stories being clearly introduced, with the racial overtones and the tensions after the civil war shown and contrasted in the characters of Warren and Mannix, which plays in great particularly later on in the film where the relationship between these two characters develops and shifts somewhat. It was at this stage that I was concerned as to whether each new character would meet each other in this episodic style, with a small chapter dedicated solely to the back story and the establishment of each new character. Already at this point the introduction of Chris had seemed somewhat happen-stance, but luckily once the stagecoach stops the drama that you'd expect from a Tarantino film picks up.
Eventually due to a blizzard the four characters are forced to stay overnight in a stagecoach lodge, Minnie's Haberdashery, to avoid the blizzard. Like the Candlyland manor in Django Unchained, the Safe-house in Reservoir Dogs, the Le Gamaar cinema in Inglourious Basterds and the Jack Rabbit Slim's 1950s diner from Pulp Fiction, this location joins the ever expanding group of iconic Tarantino locations, that not only match the genre style in a unique way but also have such a lived in and unique look and have such an affect on the story as a whole that they act almost as a character in themselves. Minnie's Haberdashery acts like a stage in a play, with small, potentially insignificant details in the décor having emphasis or a part to play as the story unfolds. The imagery of the quaint cabin against the desolate and stark winter setting makes it visually striking and unique, and puts no doubt in having the familiar aesthetic of a Tarantino movie.
Eventually this period of peace ends in a spectacularly amoral and evil speech masterfully delivered by Warren to Smithers, who had already had an alteration over the latters racism, murder of many young black soldiers and resentment of the norths victory. Warren gives the elderly man some stew and a gun, and begins telling him a story of how his missing son had gone finding Warren to claim a bounty, and Warren had stripped him naked and made him march miles. When Smithers son had begged for a blanket Warren made him perform oral sex on him, and then finally killed him. This bitter story is shown in flashback and could potentially be called the darkest and most macabre moment from any Tarantino film, and it is executed fantastically. Jacksons line delivery is darkly funny and incredibly evil, and finally leads to Smithers murder by Warren, who claimed self defence as the old man pulled the gun first. This sequence is up there with the Ezekiel 25:17 speech, and the validity of the story itself adds anther level of mystery to this already great mystery film. Tarantino is always best when showing brutal tales of revenge and this sequence does not disappoint, and shows the director hasn't lost his age when it comes to showing the truly horrific and amoral, and Jackson certainly hasn't lost his edge when it comes to delivering intense, funny, horrific soliloquies of this magnitude.
After this we are in typical Tarantino territory once more after the slow build up over the first half, with a quaint cameo from Tarantino himself as the narrator, plots of poisoned coffee and the violent death of Ruth and O.B from it. This section is portrayed incredibly gruesomely it is almost comical, with the blood spurting from their mouths looking more like a scene from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ("I have a touch of consumption!") than a big Hollywood movie, but it is this schlocky portrayal of violence that Tarantino loves and it is endearing, particularly as other elements make the film seem so artsy and high brow it is nice to know that the director hasn't lost touch of his own style. If the first half belonged to Ruth the second certainly belongs to Major Warren, as he tries to discover who poisoned the coffee that leads to the films dramatic conclusion and the reveal to who was working along with Daisy.
All the typical Tarantino tropes are in this film, from the way scenes flow into each other, the chapters that split up key parts of the stories, flashbacks to moments in the past and the incredibly interesting and well written characters. With so many main characters all played by such wonderful actors I was worried about how well developed they would end up being, and yes whilst it can be argued that Roth and Madsen get hardly as much development as Jacksons character they all act like cogs within the machine, and are still more interesting than a major character in many other films that would be released. The performances are all fantastic, but Samuel L. Jackson stands out in possibly his best performance since Pulp Fiction, being darkly funny and brutal in a role he was born to play. I would argue that without the incredible on screen presence that Jackson brings to the role the film wouldn't have been as powerful as it turned out being.
The films let downs probably come from its pacing, particularly in the early parts of the film. Anyone going in expecting Kill Bill levels of gore and violence from the get go will be disappointed, as the build up is far slower than Tarantino has dared do before. Unfortunately unlike the almost equally long Django it does occasionally feel its length, and certain scenes do feel like they could do with an edit. Watching the film it feels more like a directors extended edition than a typical theatrically released movie, with long takes and moments of silence that worked on occasion but still felt a little out of place. There is a scene near the beginning where Daisy's nose is broken by John Ruth, and whilst initially comical the extended shot of her face as she struggles for breath and re-cooperates herself and breathing heavily the scene becomes uncomfortable to watch.
The film was unusual in its format, being filmed on classic and rare 70mm format that makes each frame look gorgeous. I think this format would have been nicer however in a film like Django Unchained which has a variety of different locations and settings that would have benefited from this format. Here where the film is predominantly filmed on one set the format seems a little wasted. Tonally the film changes drastically after the first half, and the film goes into over the top ultra violence that fans and critics of Tarantino have come to expect. Whilst it would have been nice to see Tarantino tackle something a little quieter and different, the violence is so exhilarating, enthralling and entertaining that it's impossible to not be glued to the screen
Summary: It is nice after the epic nature of Django that Tarantino has gone back to basics to show a classic story of betrayal and mistrust that he did so masterfully in Reservoir Dogs. A few pacing and tonal issues aside, The Hateful Eight is a masterful piece of film making with a fantastic pay-off
8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment