The Hateful Eight (2015)

Quentin Tarantino’s 2nd western, and a much more traditional Western that Django Unchained. It follows the bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) who is trying to bring an outlaw woman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) in to hang. Early on he is joined by another bounty hunter (Samuel L. Jackson) and a racist ex-Confederate Sheriff who stopped fighting the civil war slightly late. To avoid a blizard, they stop at a stagecoach halt inhabited by a range of other shady characters (and nobody that they expect to find there) – a situation about which the two bounty hunters are immediately suspicious.

I enjoyed it. The majority of the film is spent holed up in the small stagecoach stop, which brings to mind the 50s classic Day of the Outlaw (where a band of Outlaws similarly end up holed up in the saloon of a remote town in the snow). The tension is built effectively: it’s never clear who is on who’s side, or who is to be trusted, and being Tarantino, it’s all resolved is a blaze of gory violence.

There’s an interesting examination of the civil war legacy through the two Confederates (the Sheriff, and an aging who was stopped at the station general) and their reaction to Samuel L. Jackson’s black bounty hunter. Although the post-civil war legacy is often dealt with in Westerns it is much less common for the racist, slavery aspect to be handled. In this case, both sides are of slightly dubious character: the two Confederates for their racism (and in the Sheriff’s case for continuing to fight after the war) and Samuel L. Jackson’s bounty-hunter for his brutality both in the film and in his recounted past.

The outdoor snowy bits are beautifully shot (although at times not entirely convincing with respect to the impending blizard). I saw the non-70mm version (which is apparently slightly shorter, and uses a few different shots in places); I couldn’t comment on what difference that makes. Unlike Django Unchained, this is a much more “straightforward” film, that does not attempt to feel like a ’70s exploitation film and in my mind is better for it (much as I did enjoy Django Unchained). Highly recommended.