Combining (and often enhancing) the
social commentary and western setting of Django
Unchained with the simple story structure and collection of violent
character types found in Reservoir Dogs,
The Hateful Eight seems an accurate
composite of Quentin Tarantino’s entire filmography, from beginning to present.
In terms of violence, The Hateful Eight continues
the progression of extreme and exaggerated practical effects, which seems to
have started in the universe of Kill Bill
with spurting blood. At the same time, the amount of violence is often
surprisingly restrained; when your cast of characters is limited by remote
location, each death is that much more significant. It is the simplicity of
this plot, the restraint in storytelling that it demands, which ultimately
allows Tarantino to create one of his greatest cinematic achievements.
If it was not
clear from the Sergio Leone references in Inglourious
Basterds (tagline: Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France…), Django Unchained solidly transitioned
Tarantino into making films influenced by the Western genre, rather than the
Crime genre he had previously been known to sample from. While Inglourious Basterds was a war film that
merely alluded to them and Django
Unchained was Blaxploitation with a western setting, The Hateful Eight is a Western with an Agatha Christie style
mystery at the center of the narrative. In particular, the richly energetic
score from legendary composer Ennio Morricone and the scope of Robert Richardson’s
wide-angle 70mm photography of the beautifully harsh landscapes create a more
sincerely nostalgic approach to the western genre.
Set some time
after the Civil War, The Hateful Eight
shows us a country full of men who must find some way to put to use the skills
of violence they perfected during wartime. Even more importantly, the bloody
events taking place in a remote stagecoach stopover have allegorical
significance for a country still healing from civil war. Through the course of
the tense and bloody conflict in the film, there is a subtle start to healing
between two characters that were on opposite sides during the war. Spike Lee
may have protested this film for its blunt use of racial slurs, but ultimately
this is a film about the symbolic healing of a country divided. The healing
just happens to occur within the structure of a blood-soaked murder mystery.
The film opens
in the wide open wilderness of Wyoming
Although it is
true that The Hateful Eight has some of the exaggerated violence that Tarantino
has reveled in recently, even more predominant is the signature style of
dialogue he has carried through all of his films. Much of the film simply
relies on two characters bantering back and forth with witty repartee as the
only source of entertainment between expansive outdoor shots seasoned further
with Morricone’s majestic score. Somehow a three-hour film taking place in
mostly one location shouldn’t be this exciting, and it likely wouldn’t have
been in the hands of most other directors. Tarantino has announced that he will
only make two more films before retiring from directing, which is a shame considering
the ways that he has just recently begun to mature as a filmmaker.
The Blu-ray
combo pack includes a DVD and Digital HD copy of the film, though it is the
basic theatrical cut alone. I’m sure they will break down and release the
extended Roadshow cut at some point, but for now this will have to do. The
special features are also surprisingly sparse, with only two featurettes. The
first is a basic behind-the-scenes featurette, whereas the second extra is
dedicated to detailed information about the 70mm filming and screening process,
including the lens which hadn’t been used in decades. Samuel L. Jackson hosts
this featurette with his usual enthusiasm.
Entertainment Value:
9/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 10/10
Historical
Significance: 9.5/10
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