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The Hateful Eight, the eighth film by Quentin Tarantino, might be the most claustrophobic widescreen movie ever made and it is also the filmmaker’s most disjointed. For a film that only takes place in one room, it carries the heavy weight of Tarantino’s influences and the weight of being a Tarantino movie.
Set some time after the Civil War, it begins with Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), a former Union soldier turned bounty hunter, hoping to get on a stagecoach to Red Rock, Wyoming. In that stage is John Ruth (Kurt Russell), another bounty hunter known as The Hangman, and his bounty, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh). After picking up Sheriff Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), they arrive at Minnie’s Haberdashery.
There, they find another group of questionable souls. Oswaldo Mowbray (Tim Roth), Bob (Demian Bichir), Joe Gage (Michael Madsen), and General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern) are all there, waiting out the impending blizzard. Marquis is fairly certain that somebody isn’t who they say they are.
Yes, despite Tarantino making such a stink to have this film released in the 70mm format to be seen on the biggest screens possible, about 80 percent of it takes place in a one-room general store. The film includes several beautifully photographed exteriors by Ralph Richardson and the entire first two chapters are shot outside. After that though, the story is stuck inside, the howling wind only added to prove that there is an outside world that these eight characters do not belong to.
Another deception on Tarantino’s part comes by way of his choice of composer. He chose Ennio Morricone, whose work on Sergio Leone films like A Fistful of Dollars and Once Upon A Time In The West is legendary. But the contents Morricone scores (and scores incredibly well, it must be said) could not be farther from a Leone film. The Hateful Eight is has more Agatha Christie in its DNA than Leone, although there’s no Hercule Poirot trying to keep everyone calm while he solves the murder.
Tarantino’s gift of getting great performances has always been a bit undervalued, but The Hateful Eight is another example of how he can get the best out of his actors. Everyone is enjoying their part, no matter the size. Kurt Russell and Samuel L. Jackson look like they should have made a series of movies together, while Jennifer Jason Leigh steals every scene she has. Why it’s taken this long for her to get into a Tarantino movie is a mystery. Walton Goggins is also excellent. It’s clear that if Westerns were being made as often as they used to be, Goggins would be in every single one.
Surprisingly, Tarantino is actually up to the task to bring a cramped story to life. His direction during the film’s first half is remarkable, proving that he can make a good film without needing everyone to shoot each other every five seconds. Tarantino movies have often been about style over substance, but without violence, his writing is incredibly effective at telling stories. Thanks in part to Jackson’s performance, the story about Smithers’ son may be the most chilling thing Tarantino has put on the big screen.
But The Hateful Eight needs to run three hours, even though it really doesn’t have to. With the start of Chapter Four, The Hateful Eight begins to feel like Reservoir Dogs in the West. Tarantino pushes the violence into total overdrive, making anything in Django Unchained feel like child’s play. And since this is all in such a cramped space, it feels more extreme. Blood spatters from body to body, and no one is safe.
This gives The Hateful Eight a disjointed nature, going from Tarantino’s most mature work to his most violent and extreme. The film is at its best when Tarantino goes against his shoot-em-up nature and lets his words speak for themselves. But I’ll be double-dog damned if Tarantino isn’t the best director of total chaos we have.