Our entertainment writer takes on her first Quentin Tarantino film, The Hateful Eight, which might very well be the acclaimed director’s last
In university, I was introduced to the name “Quentin Tarantino”. Professors gushed over him, and my friends spoke of him in almost hymn-like worship. In the film and literary world, this “Tarantula” guy is a god.
When I admitted that I’d never seen a Tarantino — not the classic Kill Bill series of the early 2000s, not Pulp Fiction (1994) and not even the acclaimed Django Unchained (2012) — you’d think that I’d confessed to cheating my way through school.
I haven’t gone on to watch a single Tarantino film. Until The Hateful Eight.
The Hateful Eight stars Samuel L Jackson (right) and Kurt Russell as two of eight travellers stuck in a blizzard.
The story of The Hateful Eight follows eight strangers who seek refuge from a blizzard at a rest stop, some time after the American Civil War. The film is rated R21 here — unsurprising, given Tarantino’s notorious propensity for gore and dark humour.
Trying to keep spoilers to a minimum, here’s how my virgin Tarantino experience went.
Ooh, pretty
Heavy snow and white landscapes feature prominently in the first half of The Hateful Eight.
Tarantino is a killer cinematographer. He knows it, and he shows it off.
The first few minutes of the film comprise shot after establishing shot of snow and mountains. A lone horse carriage appears in the distance. A jumpy score, coupled with no atmospheric sound, conjured memories of the old silent movie Nosferatu (1922).
Everything is white — a bit too white. I get it, Tarantino, you want cowboys to make snow angels. Hash tag not-all-who-wander-are-lost. Let’s move on.
Who are all these people?
We are introduced to some characters, one of them played by the renowned Samuel L Jackson (Pulp Fiction, The Avengers, Snakes on a Plane). A familiar face, but I’m not quick to trust.
Jackson plays a bounty hunter trapped in a blizzard with seven strangers.
They chat; something about bounty hunting, rewards for turning in wanted criminals and a letter from Abraham Lincoln.
Swearing, spitting, racist slurs and punching ensue — a preview of why this movie is rated R21 and titled “The Hateful Eight”. I don’t like any of them so far.
Tarantino, the big tease
The first (and very long) hour of this movie has shown that Tarantino loves to tease. He gives you the big picture with a few grasps at clues hinting at a mystery but then shuts it down with banal banter.
Jackson (left) in a barn with a Mexican barn-hand (played by Demián Bichir).
In the scene depicted above, Jackson’s character lends a hand to the Mexican barn-hand at the rest stop. With no prior indication of anything awry, he begins to interrogate the poor amigo. I begin to like Jackson more, because he seems like he knows what’s going on.
“I haven’t called you a liar though,” Jackson quips to the Mexican in a subtle Southern drawl.
“No one’s calling anyone anything,” I thought bitterly to myself, “Because nothing has even happened!”
But, okay, you got me. I’ll bite. Something’s afoot. Now tell me what it is already!
I regret this decision
Everyone heads into the cozy rest stop. There are now eight people in there — the stars have aligned! The title motivation has revealed itself! And absolutely nothing continues to happen.
Lots of talking, insulting and general shifty glances at the invisible elephant in the room.
Jackson’s character slowly reveals more to the story than we see.
Then, like a filmmaker who can read my mind and make me eat my words, Tarantino turns things nasty. Jackson rears his ugly head, and I’m sitting there with an expression as horrified as his victim’s.
But there is a whole lot more to this, and Jackson’s outburst is just a cherry bomb in a room full of ticking explosives. The film maintains a heavy, almost suffocating, aura of suspense and secrecy that made me constantly fidget in my seat.
Whoomp, there it is
Then, with an unexpected and jarring interjection, the narrative kicks off. We are awarded an insider’s glimpse at an incident that goes unseen by the characters, like a wink-and-nudge from Tarantino that we’re now in on ‘the secret’. In retrospect, we were still fools to his game.
Violence bursts forth in the rest stop. Above: Jackson (left) with co-star Walton Goggins.
As the plot thickens, so does the blood on the floor and on the characters’ faces. I begin to appreciate why Tarantino started with blinding white landscapes of snow, because now there is nothing but red.
Tarantino doesn’t shoot his guns like he shoots his film; his violence is sudden, explosive and all up in your face. If he could splatter blood and cranial matter all over you, he would.
Laughter, the bitter medicine
Despite its comical moments, many of which are dark, the film maintains a heavy aura of suspense and secrecy.
I never thought I’d be laughing as brains were being splattered before me but, then again, I never thought I’d be watching a three-hour long Tarantino film.
“What is Tarantino trying to say here?” I asked myself as I laughed hysterically at a mangy cowboy begging for his life in slow motion.
Perhaps he was making a statement about racial humour. I found it hard to find comedy in the many “n*****” jokes tossed around, like: “The n***** in the barn has a letter from Abraham Lincoln?”
And yet there we all were, chuckling when Jackson (aforementioned “n*****”) curtly brushed off a white Sheriff with, “Go yee-haw somewhere else.”
But, at the end of the day (or night), I think I’ve got the gist of the quintessential Tarantino. One part violence, one part inappropriately-timed comedy, all-round impressive cinematography. This might be Tarantino’s swan song, and I’m glad I caught it at the Singapore premiere.
Its soundtrack, a tense and frenzied score composed by none other than the legendary Ennio Morricone (The Mission, Once Upon A Time in the West) deserves every win it’s bagging at awards now.
Also read: We think these movies deserve to win at the Oscars. Do you agree?
I’m still not going to watch any of his other works, though. I have a feeling the three-hour bloodbath that was The Hateful Eight was a watered-down version of his usual gory antics, and it already left me feeling queasy. If anyone needs me, I’ll be way over here with the likes of Finding Dory.
The Hateful Eight releases in Singapore on Jan 21. It has a rating of R21.
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