**Spoiler Alert**
Director: Quentin Tarantino/Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Tim Roth, Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir and Zoe Bell
Happy New Year folks! And what a way to cross the threshold into another 365 with Quentin Tarantino's new film The Hateful Eight. The release of any Tarantino film is always a much-anticipated event. Tarantino's films guarantee a good time and his new western is anything but a snoozer.
It's axiomatic that westerns, particularly Sergio Leone's variety, occupy a prominent place in Tarantino's movie pantheon. Even his crime films contain allusions to Spaghetti westerns. Though his new film doesn't feel entirely like a Spaghetti, it nevertheless nods in that direction at times. The most conspicuous connection to the Italian westerns is in the soundtrack; an exceptional score by the man who helped make that western subgenre famous; Ennio Morricone.
Things we can expect from every Tarantino film are: colorful characters, colorful dialogue, violence; often times very graphic and his penchant for showing a sequence of events from different perspectives. And none of these indispensable Tarantino elements are crafted without his keen intelligence, which help mold these disparate features into something compellingly cohesive.
Subtitles tell us The Hateful Eight is Tarantino's eighth film, which is followed by a seque to a shot fit for the 70mm format proudly advertised in trailers: the white, wintry mountains of Wyoming (Colorado in actuality). In long shot, moving against the inert, silent surroundings is a stagecoach struggling through the deep snow.
Up close, we see the coach stop for a black man blocking the road who stands near several bodies, piled high. When the coachman stops the coach, the black man asks if he might ride along. The coachman tells him only the man who has hired the coach can decide. When the coachman turns to shout toward the interior of the coach, a heavily mustachioed man sticks his head out and inquires about the identity of the prospective rider. He makes the black man, who introduces himself as Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), walk slowly to the side of the coach but not before asking him to lay his his pistols down on a rock. Warren explains to the man, who introduces himself as John Ruth (Kurt Russell), that he has bodies he intends to collect a bounty on and is in need of a ride. Ruth tells Warren, in a forceful manner, that he intends to take the woman sitting in the carriage; Daisy Domergue (an excellent Jennifer Jason Leigh) to Red Rock to hang and isn't partial to having company along. The sight of Daisy's face; ragged and black-eyed, isn't mitigated by her gruff manner, which she extends to Warren in the form of racist comments. After further cajoling, Warren convinces Ruth to allow he and his bounty bodies a ride to Red Rock.
Along the way, Ruth and Warren get better acquainted; having met casually once before in the past. In their conversation, which is tinged with mutual suspicion and distrust, Warren tells Daisy about Ruth's reputation for bringing captives to hang, thus earning him the nickname John "The Hangman" Ruth. Warren's past is also revealed when we learn about his role as officer for the Union in the Civil War. Their conversation moves along and is only disturbed periodically by Daisy's comments, which elicit Ruth's violent responses; one being a hard elbow to the nose. Though she is slated to hang, we don't learn of Daisy's crime until the latter part of the film though we know murder is involved; which seems likely, given her rough appearance and rougher tongue.
In their ride through the Wyoming snow, they see a man waving to them from a distance who is also in need of a ride. Ruth is immediately suspicious; believing the man to be a secret associate of Warren's but changes his mind when they make his acquaintance. The man, with whom Ruth is more than familiar, is Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), who explains that he is en route to Red Rock where he is to become the sheriff. Ruth scoffs at the claim; explaining to Daisy and Warren that Mannix belonged to a Confederate guerrilla party whose airs of legitimacy were challenged by those who say the unit were no more than marauders. While Ruth eyes Mannix suspiciously, the would-be sheriff rankles Warren with his southern, racist comments.
After reluctantly taking on Mannix, the blizzard worsens until the group is forced to stop at a place called Minnie's Haberdashery; a lonely establishment serving as a kind of outpost.
Upon entering we see the name of the establishment is kind of a joke, as no haberdashery is anywhere to be seen; only what looks to be a crude version of a country inn. Seated in the establishment are a few men who are scattered about the place. The ferocious, cold winds makes it necessary for the occupants to nail small, wooden planks on the door to keep the door from bursting open. The fact that everyone entering the haberdashery must first bust open the door then nail planks to keep the door from opening becomes a running gag throughout the film.
As Warren, Ruth, Mannix and Daisy become situated, they (and we) meet the mysterious gathering who have also become thwarted by the storm:
• Bob (Demian Bichir); Minnie's Mexican employee, who informs the arrivals his boss has gone away on business; a statement Ruth finds more than a little suspect.
• Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth); an English executioner, who is to serve at Daisy's hanging.
• General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern); a former officer for the Confederacy, who looks upon Warren and his Union blue with disgust.
• Joe Gage (Michael Madsen); a cow puncher who is as dubious everyone else.
Held captive by the weather, animosities emerge, such as that between Warren and Smithers, which eventually escalates into violence. Smithers finds an ally in Mannix, whose esteem of the officer reaches obsequious proportions.
Unsure of the other lodgers, Ruth investigates the identities of those already in the Haberdashery. And not long after Ruth begins to suspect that one or more of the lodgers are in cahoots with Daisy, which only intensifies his distrust of all present.The film then becomes a mixed-genre of western and mystery as the riddle of who might be Daisy's collaborators becomes the narrative focus. A killer locked in a sealed room with other people is a well-worn plot device peculiar to mystery novels, but it works well here. Tarantino is a master at drawing tension and drama from such situations as he did in Reservoir Dogs, where a near-empty warehouse becomes a stage in which criminals try to identify the cop in their gang.
After Warren's showdown with Smithers, we learn the coffee has been poisoned, which claims the lives of two characters. Who the culprit might be becomes the mystery within the mystery and as we draw closer to learning the identities of those who might be Daisy's accomplices, the film becomes more violent and bloody. Later, another character emerges at which point all mysteries unravel and a savage climax is ushered into the narrative.
Very few directors can keep a 168 minute film enthralling. Tarantino seems to have few difficulties accomplishing this feat. How he manages this is yet another mystery, though the answer seems deceptively simple. Considering most of the film is dialogue and exposition, one might think the story would become monotonous but in Tarantino's hands I found my attention fully engaged.
The beautiful exterior shots of a pristine, white snowscape stand as a terrific contrast to the Haberdashery interior; particularly later, when blood seems to splash over all the characters and nearly every surface. Tarantino's long-time cinematographer; Robert Richardson, does his profession proud with the 70mm palette he is given to work with.
Ennio Morricone's scores are always memorable; his music here is no exception. At 87, his compositions show no sign of becoming stale.
Jennifer Jason Leigh doesn't have much dialogue but she manages to be a forceful presence, nevertheless. The sight of her bloodied, maniacal face is one of the more memorable images from the film. Samuel L. Jackson, the real scene stealer of Pulp Fiction (not Travolta), commands our attention early and holds it.
Tarantino says he will retire after his tenth film. After seeing The Hateful Eight, I felt his retirement target to be premature. I hope he reconsiders. His new film demonstrates his edginess is still intact and robust.
Tarantino would have been a great playwright. What is an essentially a chamber piece feels like a really exciting play.
His film is one of the last significant movie releases of 2015. It is a helluva way to end the year and an exceptional film to have as a first blog-post for 2016.
