The release of a new Quentin Tarantino movie is usually accompanied by press that invariably addresses whatever the provocative premise or subject matter of the film is, whether it’s the writer-director’s casual use of racial epithets (Jackie Brown) or his flippant treatment of World War II (Inglourious Basterds) and slavery (Django Unchained). But with the release of The Hateful Eight—like Django, a political western—most of the hubbub isn’t about the film, it’s about Tarantino.
When I say “gradually,” what I really mean is “extremely slowly.” The Hateful Eight is more than three hours long with the overture, and the real action doesn’t start until just before intermission. Most of the dialogue in the first half of the film doesn’t feel like it establishes character or advances the plot—it’s more like a screenwriting professor showing off for his students. And once the action does rev up, mostly during the second half, the film becomes grotesquely violent—even for Tarantino’s standards.
And that brings us back to Tarantino’s comments on police brutality. His “bad apples” comment evinces his one-dimensional attitude toward people. All cops are “bad apples” because Tarantino can’t see people as more than stereotypes or caricatures; with all his talent for writing dialogue, he still hasn’t learned that people are complicated. The characters of The Hateful Eight aren’t ever really explored or fleshed out—they’re mouthpieces for Tarantino’s speciously clever screenwriting. That’s what makes The Hateful Eight an even more frustrating film than Django: it shows Tarantino thinking but not being thoughtful. People come to bloody ends in The Hateful Eight, but at least they weren’t bored to death. v
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
