The Hateful Eight
2015 · Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Original language: English
- drama
- mystery
- western
The story
Bounty hunters seek shelter from a raging blizzard and get caught up in a plot of betrayal and deception.
What it’s like
Snow-blown exteriors in wide, bleached Ultra Panavision frames give way to a single claustrophobic room lit by a smouldering fireplace, lantern glow and the flat grey daylight that seeps through cracked boards. Tarantino's camera settles into long, slow dolly moves and held tableaux, with rich grain and the warm, saturated colour of 70mm stock doing as much work as the staging. Its sound is a ticking, creaking hush of wind and stove-crackle broken by a score of ominous strings and a lot of talk, the dialogue drawn out into tense, rhythmic standoffs. The vibe is wintry, suspicious and darkly playful, a cold-room whodunit that builds slow dread and then turns bloody, with brief but graphic violence, several sudden gunshots, and a steady undercurrent of racist slurs and cruelty. It suits a snowy night when you want a talky, atmospheric puzzle, and it is for viewers who enjoy long, mannered scenes, ensemble menace and a western that takes its time before it erupts.
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