Quentin Tarantino’s newest movie “The Hateful Eight” returns the writer and director back to the same playing field of his first film, “Reservoir Dogs.” His film is broiled in an intensity that erupts from the dialogue of eight deceptively crafted characters.
In nearly three hours, Tarantino blindfolds his audience and tells them to walk toward the edge of a cliff. Unsure about each step, we never know when “The Hateful Eight” is going to be set off. But it’s that thrill of everything leading up to the edge that is the real experience of the film, not the inevitable fall into action.
Through chance encounters, meticulous planning or some universal irony, eight strangers find themselves stuck in a lodge together during a western blizzard. There’s Major Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) of the Civil War, the new town sheriff Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), a bounty hunter named John “The Hangman” Ruth (Kurt Russell) and his prisoner, the notorious Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Ruth’s looking to collect the $10,000-bounty on Domergue’s head, but he picked up the other two on his way to town. They arrive at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stop, that’s already been settled by a Confederate general (Bruce Dern), the town hangman (Tim Roth), a former cowboy turned farmhand (Michael Madsen) and a Mexican named Bob (Demián Bichir).
Even if you’re unfamiliar with Tarantino, the cast of characters should be enough indication of conflict to come. Each character is quick to develop opinions of one another, due either to reputation or prejudice, and the objective audience is left mostly in the dark with no clear cut hero to follow. Between soldiers, criminals and peacekeepers, each of the haberdashery’s guests is a killer.
Either for their country, the law or for the hell of it, these characters aren’t too different and are quick to develop itchy trigger fingers. This may be Tarantino’s most in-depth script yet, as the deeper interpretation has replaced explosive and over-the-top violence. It at least seems that way for the film’s first two acts, but tensions do turn the sophisticated setup into an eventual bloodbath.
Although there are only eight characters (plus a stagecoach driver played by James Park), they’re soon dropping like flies in a brutal manner. There’s a lower body count than something like “Kill Bill,” but characters are shot and gored in a much more callous way. It’s a good move in direction since it keeps the film grounded in demented intimacy, despite jokes here and there.
Each actor makes their character their own and feel just right for the part; there’s no surprise there. As far as the cinematography that Tarantino features in “The Hateful Eight,” I may have been a bit underwhelmed with what ends up being a film in mostly a single setting. But a lone cabin in the West has rarely felt this alive, as Tarantino’s film leaves a lasting impact on the viewer. There’s no way this film buff could leave his audience unsatisfied.
_MOVE gives “The Hateful Eight” four stars out of five._
