The Hateful Eight

Written and Directed By: 

Quentin Tarantino

Starring: 

Samuel L. Jackson as Major Marquis Warren

Kurt Russell as John ‘The Hangman’

Jennifer Jason Leigh as Daisy Domergue

Tim Roth as Oswarldo Mobray

Michael Madsen as John Gage                         

Walton Goggins as Sheriff Chris Mannix

Bruce Dem as General Sanford Smithers

Demián Bichir as Bob

Zoe Bell  as Six-Horse Judy                              

James Parks as O. B Jackson

Original Music Composed and Conducted By: 

Ennio Morricone

Cinematography:

Robert Richardson

Running Time:   

187 min

Set in the middle of a Wyoming winter, a bounty hunter, John, The Hangman (Kurt Russell), is forced to take shelter with his prisoner in Minnie’s Haberdashery, along with six other dubious characters, making a total of 8 hateful (seeming) strangers.

This is a great movie to show in Ultra Panavision 70mm film as it’s all about the snow, the horses and most importantly, the facial expressions of the characters who tell the story.

There’s some amazing dialogue here (particularly well expressed by Walton Goggins as Sheriff Chris Mannix. Boy does Walton have a silver tongue!), but it’s also about what’s left unsaid, what the wink of a bruised eye can express, that words cannot.

Jennifer Jason Leigh’s expressions were so convincing, Daisy Domergue could be mistaken for a reptile disguised as a human.

Director, Quentin Tarantino in an interview on Triple J (18/01/16) described Daisy as, ‘Hiding in plain sight’. Samuel L Jackson playing the part of Major Marquis Warren is shown to be noticing and clocking all that is not right. Tarantino states – ‘Taking it all in and staying silent with his hand on the butt of his gun because he’s in a room full of white people he doesn’t trust’. And with the rich detail of the 70mm film, every expression is captured and shown to the audience.

I liked the Overture with the stark black and red stencilled image of the six-horse drawn stage coach slowly becoming more vivid with the build-up of music composed and conducted by Ennio Morricone. A great way to settle the audience and slowly capture their attention before the beautiful wide screen scene of the image taking life, of the stage coach been driven through the falling snow.

The first 2 hours went by surprisingly quickly. There’s not a lot of action here. But the dialogue between the characters is hugely entertaining. The depth of thought put into the characters: Samuel L. Jackson as Major Marquis Warren, Walton Goggins as Sheriff Chris Mannix and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Daisy Domergue was particularly impressive.  And the not so subtle gallows humour and O. B’s bad luck is gloriously funny.

After the Intermission and release of tension, the buzz in the bathroom, you come back to be taken in for the film’s dramatic conclusion.

Not for the light-hearted. There are some truly terrible scenes and brain been blown into people’s faces, etc. This is an R rated film for a reason.  Not that I don’t mind a bit of stylised blood and guts.  But the film wasn’t perfect. I wasn’t convinced by the addition of Zoe Bell as Six-Horse Judy with her New Zealander accent… in the middle of Wyoming… in the 1870s… But I was pleasantly surprised by the humour.

The acting and writing of this movie is enough to rate this film highly. The 70mm film, program and special screening are Tarantino showing The Hateful Eight in its absolute best making the viewing an event.

Really, what fun. I’m still smiling.