3 STARS
The Hateful Eight, Quentin Tarantino’s, you guessed it, eighth and much anticipated movie has had some rave reviews, whilst others, if you pardon the pun, have been more hateful…
Although there are some moments of brilliance in the film- the ominous soundtrack, shots of beautiful mountain scenery and a fast paced and bloody ending in true Tarantino style, for me this wasn’t enough to make up for the dismal first half of the film.
The first characters we meet are John Ruth and Major Marquis Warren, (Kurt Russell and Samuel L. Jackson), who are both bounty hunters during a period after the American Civil War. For what felt like a very long time they sat talking in the back of a stagecoach as they journey to ‘Red Rock’, whilst John Ruth’s prisoner, Daisy Domergue (played by the fantastic Jennifer Jason Leigh), is either being told to shut up, or being punched in the face. Another traveller joins them, Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins) and their journey continues until they reach Minnie’s Haberdashery, the location where the rest of the action is set to unfold.
From this point, the film does start to improve but the snail-like pace unfortunately doesn’t change until the very end. Tarantino does successfully build up tension and I was dying to know what would happen next. However, too frequently I was disappointed with the moments of climax to feel that the immense build up had been worth it.
The performances from all the cast members were commendable, but they did not make up for the film’s repetitive dialogue and lengthy running time- at over three hours it wouldn’t have hurt to shave off at least half an hour.
The lack of female characters, and the treatment of the few who did appear in the film, was hugely problematic.
Tarantino has been criticised for his use of the ‘N-word’ in previous films and in The Hateful Eight I would have to agree that it was excessive. It made me feel uncomfortable, and rightly so, however whether the frequent use of a highly offensive racist term can keep being justified because of it’s ‘historical accuracy’ is something I’m not so sure of.
In a similar way, Tarantino has been criticised for his extreme use of violence, and indeed close ups of guns and dramatic shoot offs are pivotal to most of the action in The Hateful Eight. He has been known to defend his presentation of on-screen violence, saying he doesn’t see a link between it and reality. However, watching this latest film with an awareness of America’s current gun-crisis really made me question whether the gratuitous violence was only aggravating the situation. It’s not to say that violence or racism or the abuse of women shouldn’t be tackled in film. And of course, it’s not just Tarantino who uses extreme violence in his work to controversial effect. But when the message of a film is lost, and for me it was unclear what Tarantino was trying to do with The Hateful Eight, attending to these issues can do more harm than good. As a director with such a large platform, whether you like it or not, you have an obligation of social responsibility and The Hateful Eight did not sit well with me considering the current situation in the U.S.
Sadly, solid acting and stunning settings do not make up for a lack-lustre, slow paced film full of flake blood. Make up your own mind, but I certainly won’t be remembering The Hateful Eight as one of my favourite Tarantino films.
Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3460252/
http://www.idigitaltimes.com/quentin-tarantino-and-samuel-l-jackson-inte…