The Hateful Eight
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Samuel L Jackson, Tim Roth, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins
Four-and-a-half stars
The Hateful Eight is not for the faint at heart. What Quentin Tarantino movie is? But while cinema's favourite cinephile is up to some of his old tricks, this thriller also feels like a step forward for the wayward enfant terrible – a step towards maturity.
That’s not to say he’s mellowed. Instead, Tarantino displays a relaxed power. It is an easy authority that is less manic than the cinematic language we’ve grown to expect from him. But it still packs a hefty punch to the gut, or, in the spirit of Jennifer Jason Leigh’s murderous prisoner – repeated blows to the head.
This tale of eight unsavory individuals stranded in a one-room shop in the middle of a Wyoming blizzard is in no hurry to play out – and the audience benefits from that.
It’s a whodunit in which no one has done anything yet – more of a who’s gonna do it, and what are they gonna do? Everyone is bad, everyone has a secret, and everyone is the hero of their own story.
Samuel L Jackson is Major Marquis Warren, a bounty hunter who carries a personal letter from Abraham Lincoln in his coat pocket. Kurt Russell is the violently affable John Ruth, who is transporting a prisoner to be hanged for a US$10,000 (Dh36,729) bounty. Leigh is said prisoner, Daisy Domergue, whose bloody Cheshire grin says more than any monologue ever could.
Walton Goggins is Chris Mannix, a soon-to-be sheriff who is either a master manipulator or just plain dumb. Demian Bechir is Bob, who runs the shop. Michael Madsen is Joe Gage, the disturbingly quiet one in the corner. Tim Roth is Oswaldo Mobray, a British hangman who seems to be a Christoph Waltz stand-in before he finds his own groove. And Bruce Dern is a Confederate General, wondering what has become of his life now that the war is over.
It seems like a lot of characters to juggle, but it is really not. That’s the brilliance of Tarantino. Each is so distinct and so rich that they pop off the screen as soon as you meet them. This is refreshing when so many ensemble movies confuse character development with something more akin to “look at this famous person you recognise”.
Tarantino also keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering who to trust – or, at the very least, side with. This will changes every few minutes as the mystery unfolds, unravels and then explodes.
His dialogue is as nimble as ever, whether the characters are talking coffee, war, or the benefits of transporting prisoners dead or alive.
Tarantino and cinematographer Robert Richardson shot the film in Ultra Panavision 70, a dead widescreen format that was used on only a handful of films, including Lawrence of Arabia and 2001: A Space Odyssey. It's hard to see how that's not simply film-buff posturing, as most of the film is set in one room.
Still, we need Tarantino to go all out in whatever ways he deems necessary, even if we don’t always understand it. If he didn’t he wouldn’t be Tarantino and we’d be missing out.
* Lindsey Bahr / AP
