The Hateful Eight

Cast: Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Rated:  6.5/10
When with Quentin Tarantino, you’ve got to be in the mood — in the mood for extreme but artfully constructed violence. In this one, the eighth one from this master director’s stable, violence is more vocal than action oriented. And, for most part of the film, it has been shoved into a single room of a back of beyond haberdashery in remote, snowbound West.
Decked with flashbacks and chapters, all the blood and gore is mostly showcased on the lone woman in the film (Jennifer Leigh) who gets badgered with such nonchalance that you cringe at every blow she gets on her battered, blood oozing mouth. As violence goes, such extreme forms, as Quentin might say, flowers best on a woman.
The rest of it is mostly suggestive and not really in your face till Jackson decides to narrate to an old, “white” father how he killed his only son in cold blood, making him crawl naked in the snow, compelling him to do unimaginable things while begging for a blanket. Other than this absolutely intolerable (read delightful) sequence, there’s more talk than walk in the film which comes with great expectations.
The journey of this Tarantino mount has been less than smooth, what with the script getting leaked and Quentin throwing up the idea of the film for close to two years before settling down with an ancient camera technique to get back to shooting.
As all his films go, this one too is an elaborate soiree of slow moving drama, this time more monologue than hand or gun action in the conservative kind of way. Samuel L Jackson as the main protagonist carries the film mostly on his shoulders though fellow bounty hunter Kurt Russell does help in bits and pieces. The other characters, like the renegade posing as the sheriff and the regional hangman do their best to enhance the ambience of the inn standing tall — and warm — in the middle of an endless blizzard.
To Quentin’s credit, only he could have managed to give personality to the snow all around, the crackling fireplace, the rustic coffee jug and even the stew that his characters savour in the middle of an unending chat about themselves and their situations.
However, The Hateful Eight is only for those who can understand Tarantino and his grade of cinematic violence, this time in a rather hushed format — for a change.
Source: 17, January 2016, The Sunday Pioneer

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