The Hateful Eight (2015)
However, I don't think I've seen a film from the past ten years that is more old-fashioned in its style than The Hateful Eight.
That's probably to be expected from a director like Quentin Tarantino. Every single film of his is an homage of some kind to a genre of film that either has gone under the radar or away entirely. He also is a film buff in the most literal sense, going so far as to pay for the installation of one hundred 70mm film projectors worldwide to show a special "Roadshow" version of The Hateful Eight that adds an overture, intermission, and six more minutes to the already long film. From the opening credits, I noticed two things that made me feel that this film was from a bygone era: the score by Ennio Morricone and the fact that this film was shot entirely in 70mm. I'll dive more into these elements later, but these enhanced this old-fashioned spectacle feel that The Hateful Eight gives off.
The story also makes the film that much more of a spectacle. The Hateful Eight follows bounty hunter John Routh (played by Kurt Russell) and his prisoner Daisy Domergue (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh) as they journey to the town of Red Rock. They pick up Major Marquis Warren (played by Samuel L. Jackson) and Chris Mannix (played by Walton Goggins) on their way to Minnie's Haberdashery, where they stop to take shelter from a blizzard. There, the film develops into a bit of a game of Clue, as Routh suspects that someone at Minnie's is going to try to steal Domergue, whose bounty is $10,000. Mystery films to me can either be awful and corny or perfect with not much room in between. Thankfully, Tarantino makes sure that we're kept guessing just as much as we have fun with it. The film's second half solves the mystery and turns into a somewhat violent showdown, giving us all that over-the-top action that Tarantino is known for.
Tarantino is also known for not telling his stories in chronological order, a device known as non-linear storytelling. It's something he usually uses for character development, though occasionally it can get out of control (I'm looking at you, Pulp Fiction). I was ready for some weird stuff to go down in The Hateful Eight, but this Tarantino gimmick is surprisingly mostly absent, similarly to his previous two films, Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained. There is one portion that is inserted into the film right after there is a major plot twist that serves to explain the twist, and it is handled perfectly. Some may want a more extravagant plot, but to me there comes a point where the film suffers because of its confusing on-screen story. The Hateful Eight is definitely not one of these.
Let's talk acting for a second. It's no secret that Tarantino is an actor's director and is able to coach incredibly good performances from his actors, and The Hateful Eight is no exception to that rule. Samuel L. Jackson is at his best since Pulp Fiction here and deserves consideration for a Best Actor nod (though I haven't seen The Revenant at the time of this review). Kurt Russell also reminds people that he's still around and still great. Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Bruce Dern, and Michael Madsen also turn in some stellar work, with Goggins potentially getting my attention for a Best Supporting Actor nomination. The one that to me is in the bag, however, is Jennifer Jason Leigh as Daisy Domergue. She is perfectly disgusting in her role and turns in one of the best performances I've ever seen. I'm not sure what can keep her from winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar (besides a film I haven't seen), as she is perfect as Domergue. There's not a single moment where I feel The Hateful Eight's acting suffers even a bit, and that's something I rarely say about any film.
Tarantino's direction is stellar as usual in The Hateful Eight, mostly due to the way he portrays the film's harsh setting. Filming entirely in 70mm is a weird thing to do for a film almost entirely set indoors, but it works quite well with the genre Tarantino works with, as it never allows the camera to focus on just one character to make evident who we the audience should be suspicious of. I can tell that this was quite an adjustment, as it surprised me as a viewer, but it made the experience much more involving of the audience in a way I don't know how to describe. His screenwriting is also spectacular, keeping the viewer riveted during long interchanges of dialogue because of its sharp wit and attention to detail.
The aspect of The Hateful Eight that takes it over the top for me, however, is Ennio Morricone's score. Being a music lover, the score is something that for me can either make or break a film's mood. Morricone's score here is eerie and gorgeous and harks back to many of his most famous Western scores such as A Fistful of Dollars, Once Upon a Time in the West, and his eternally known themes in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. What I love more than anything about this score is that it never retreads over old ideas from Morricone's past; this is something new and incredible. His score in The Hateful Eight is (sorry, John Williams) my favorite to win Best Original Score at the Oscars this year.
I think you can tell from my long-winded nature in this review that The Hateful Eight is quite an experience to behold. It's often a miracle that any film much over two hours can hold my attention, so when a nearly three-hour Western (a genre which I'm not terribly fond of) can captivate me from its opening credits until the screen goes black, I tend to take serious notice and figure out how this could happen with great detail. The Hateful Eight is the best film I've seen this year (it's still 2015 in the movie world) and is my second favorite Tarantino film behind Inglourious Basterds. Its impeccable acting, direction, writing, and score make it quite an experience to behold that is much benefited by the big screen.
My recommendation: See it in a theater.
Grade: 99
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