Ever wanted to see a Western version of Cluedo directed by Quentin Tarantino? Well you’re in luck because The Hateful Eight is Tarantino’s very own murder-mystery with his usual brand of violence, expletives and a polished Ennio Morricone soundtrack for good measure.
Set in Wyoming 12 years after the Civil War, The Hateful Eight sets you up for a three hour slogfest with some of the most racist, sexist, homophobic individuals you’ve ever met who seem to be hell-bent on beating Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character to a bloody pulp throughout the course of the film. With a whole lot of money on the line and a bunch of doings a transpiring plus things not quite adding up, you will be sitting in the cinema trying to piece everything together before the end as you try to figure out who is not being honest in a room full of only eight people.
So look, Tarantino is not for everybody. Some people can’t stand him, some people love him. For full disclosure, I’m in the latter category. Much like Martin Scorsese, I just love Tarantino’s encyclopedic knowledge of film because it’s always up there on the screen to enjoy, his homages to films of a similar ilk are there to trainspot, whilst he still remains committed to keeping everything in the same cinematic universe with references and winks that establish that it’s all connected, even during the post-civil war era of Westerns.
The performances are all strong. Kurt Russell looks like a bear and you almost want to cuddle him if he wasn't such a scary as f*ck guy, Samuel L Jackson brings what Samuel L Jackson always does to a Tarantino film, Tim Roth plays the perfectly creepy Englishman, whilst Michael Madsen is probably the one character who feels a bit short changed amongst the key cast. Jennifer Jason Leigh, aka the human punching bag in this film, brings a well-deserved Oscar nominated performance through not just the terrifying things she says but the heart-breaking quiet moments she can have in the film as Tarantino just lets the camera linger on her after copping an elbow to the nose or a hot bowl of stew to the face. However the stand-out performance, for my money anyway, is from Walter Goggins, who you may remember a Venus Van Dam from Sons Of Anarchy, he just plays this despicable racist red-neck who you almost come to like if he wasn't still a despicable racist red-neck.
The cinematography is second to none in this film with Tarantino going all out with the Panavison 70mm filming. Normally used for sweeping landscape shots this film works so beautifully in the confines of a wooden haberdashery as well. The frame is filled with characters going about their business in the background as other characters spit Tarantino's dialogue forcing you to pay attention to what everyone is doing in this film, when it's not focused on characters in the background then the 70mm film allows us to see the beautifully detailed backdrops of the haberdashery complete with floating snowflakes. Watching this on the big screen is a must, please don't watch a downloaded version of this film, it does a disservice to Tarantino effort and there is no way it could look half as good as it does in the comfort of a cinema.
The performances are all strong. Kurt Russell looks like a bear and you almost want to cuddle him if he wasn't such a scary as f*ck guy, Samuel L Jackson brings what Samuel L Jackson always does to a Tarantino film, Tim Roth plays the perfectly creepy Englishman, whilst Michael Madsen is probably the one character who feels a bit short changed amongst the key cast. Jennifer Jason Leigh, aka the human punching bag in this film, brings a well-deserved Oscar nominated performance through not just the terrifying things she says but the heart-breaking quiet moments she can have in the film as Tarantino just lets the camera linger on her after copping an elbow to the nose or a hot bowl of stew to the face. However the stand-out performance, for my money anyway, is from Walter Goggins, who you may remember a Venus Van Dam from Sons Of Anarchy, he just plays this despicable racist red-neck who you almost come to like if he wasn't still a despicable racist red-neck.
The cinematography is second to none in this film with Tarantino going all out with the Panavison 70mm filming. Normally used for sweeping landscape shots this film works so beautifully in the confines of a wooden haberdashery as well. The frame is filled with characters going about their business in the background as other characters spit Tarantino's dialogue forcing you to pay attention to what everyone is doing in this film, when it's not focused on characters in the background then the 70mm film allows us to see the beautifully detailed backdrops of the haberdashery complete with floating snowflakes. Watching this on the big screen is a must, please don't watch a downloaded version of this film, it does a disservice to Tarantino effort and there is no way it could look half as good as it does in the comfort of a cinema.
This film is really for the intense Tarantino fans because it plays to all of his best strengths: intense character development set within a single location, much like Reservoir Dogs, sudden and dramatic changes in protagonist, much like Death Proof, and explicit attention to detail through the sets and cinematography like in Django Unchained and Inglorious Basterds. At nearly three hours long, Tarantino drags out a lot of these elements more so than usual so it may test the patience of some of his more devoted fans, however the ending has a satisfying conclusion that makes up for any frustration some fans may feel. Although there’s no denying that the film could easily have been edited down.
Tarantino’s films normally ride a sea of controversy and in this case one of the big talking points is the violence towards women, or in this case violence centered all around Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character. It’s always sudden and always confronting, however the one thing that often seems to be overlooked is how strong and terrifying her character is amidst all this violence. It could be argued that the violence is representative of the time and place the film is set, but does this make Tarantino a misogynist? To be honest, it’s not my place to say. As a white male in my mid-thirties, I have no right to “man-splain” misogyny in a Tarantino movie any more than “white-splain” whether Tarantino has the right to use the N-word in his movies.
Overall, this film is a great murder-mystery that stretches for a near three hours, Tarantino masterfully manipulates you into playing the guessing game for the whole length of the film. Once everything is finally revealed and we have a dramatic change in protagonist you realise as an audience member that all the clues were right there in front of you all along, which makes The Hateful Eight a must-watch for a second time.
The Hateful Eight gets Four and a Half out of Five Stars (or Four and a Half ********** ********** ********* out of Five ******** ******** ********* *******)
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