Review by Debbie Lynn Elias
Christmas Day. Winter Break. After all the office parties, the opening of presents and enduring relatives, the holidays scream for one thing – movies! And there’s nothing hateful about this latest outing from Quentin Tarantino. THIS is how you make a movie. Cinema befitting legends like DeMille, Hawks, Ford and others who came before him, Quentin Tarantino goes above and beyond with a 70mm viewing experience by shooting with Ultra Panavision lenses, the very same lenses used to shoot Charlton Heston in the chariot scene of “Ben-Hur”. The result is nothing short of glorious! Complete with overture and intermezzo, The Hateful Eight is a viewing experience bar none in its roadshow version opening Christmas Day.
Calling on many of his usual suspects for casting – Walter Goggins, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Samuel L. Jackson among them, we are set in post-Civil War Wyoming and for various reasons, everyone is heading to the town of Red Rock in the middle of a blizzard. Bounty hunter John “The Hangman” Ruth is on his way to turn over fugitive outlaw Daisy Domergue. Major Marquis Warren, in resplendent uniform, is another bounty hunter,“just heading that way.” Due to the severity of the storm bearing down on them, against Ruth’s better judgment, they pick up a straggler who claims to be Sheriff Chris Mannix, on his way to be sworn in as the new sheriff of Red Rock. Forced to stop until the storm passes, the stagecoach they are sharing stops at the fine establishment known as Minnie’s Haberdashery. Seems Warren and Minnie are old friends. But on arriving, Minnie is nowhere to be found. A Mexican named Bob claims to be looking over the place for her. Already warming by the fire is a group of strangers who also claim to be seeking refuge at Minnie’s, among them, the foppish Oswaldo Mobray, quiet rancher Joe Gage and Confederate General Sanford Smithers.
And so, a woman, a Black Man, a Confederate General, a Mexican, a Brit and a few others walk into a haberdashery. . .in a Quentin Tarantino western.
Ultra-violent and period perfect ultra-vulgar, it is an embarrassment of riches into which to sink ones cinematically hungry senses. From a story that is lush (and filled with red herrings) to well crafted characters to the richness and beauty of lensing in Ultra Panavision, this is the best of the best in Tarantino’s arsenal. I love the story in and if itself but then add the complexity and ambiguity of the characters and the film soars as a western murder mystery. Story structure with doing a backstep and flashback via “Daisy’s Secret” well into the third act of the film is outstanding and unexpected, keeping the audience on its toes and mentally engaged.
Performances are rock solid, with Walton Goggins electrifying! His take on Mannix is one of the best of his career. As John Ruth and Major Warren, Kurt Russell and Samuel L. Jackson, respectively, slip into their personas like well worn shoes…or bloodstained chairs. Key to their performances in particular, are longer takes and monologues that are dynamic and riveting; especially with Jackson. Disappointing however is Tim Roth. While his performance as Oswaldo is fine, the look of the character, the cadence, pacing and storyline feels duplicate or imitative of Christophe Waltz in “Django Unchained.”
Visuals are spectacular. Quentin and cinematographer Robert Richards dazzle with the ultra-panavision, using it to its best advantage. Vistas stun while the detail afforded inside Minnie’s is meticulous. The blizzard scenes could be Christmas cards with the textured white on white and simple black and grey contrast. The stage travelling through the White Birch trees is breathtaking. The B&W metaphor goes far on fueling the story for as we soon see once inside Minnie’s with color, fire, layers upon layers, nothing is black and white in this tale.
Kudos to former Culver City resident, of costumer Courtney Hoffman, who has created a palette of fabrications and furs that tell their own stories, not to mention that waist coat and tight – yet period perfect – pants on Channing Tatum (Thank you, Courtney!), complimented by some nice lens work by Tarantino. Enchanting is Demian Bichir’s piano playing “Silent Night” performance (he learned how to play and does so in the film) which goes hand in hand as a plot point and is skillfully edited by Fred Raskin with the collateral ensuing action.
The bloodshed is simply to die for deliciousness with each kill more entertaining than the last.
Ennio Morricone’s score is nothing short of incredible. Given Tarantino’s chapter format of storytelling, standout are to chapter scores that harken to Hitchockian “Psycho”. Sweeping. Epic. As if Morricone’s body of work isn’t impressive enough, this one score is worthy of being ranked with the classics from the like Steiner and Hermann.
There’s nothing hateful about THE HATEFUL EIGHT!
