The eighth film by Quentin Tarantino sees a group of strangers spend a couple of days in an inn in the snowy wilderness of 19th century Wyoming. There’s two bounty hunters, a bounty, a hangman, a civil war general, a sheriff, a Mexican and a gunslinger. What could go wrong? As the film progresses, we see a great deal of intrigue unfold, splitting the group apart, causing much tension and sowing distrust among themselves. This is done with some fantastically enjoyable performances from a stellar cast, featuring the likes of Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Bruce Dern, Channing Tatum (yes, in a Tarantino film!), and of course, Oscar nominated Jennifer Jason-Leigh, who provides a fantastically chilling yet entertaining portrayal of prisoner, Daisy Domergue.
The characters feel like a confused superhero team-up: a group of distinct personas competing with each other. Whilst there are a lot of stand-out characters who indeed create a wonderful atmosphere of comedic tension, Tim Roth’s Oswaldo Mowbray, Walton Goggins’ Chris Mannix and Kurt Russel’s John Ruth standing out, there are none who you find yourself particularly invested in. When the inevitable Tarantino explosion of violence eventually kicks into gear, we never have one particular side we find ourselves supporting. The only potential exception is the unmistakably charismatic presence of Samuel L. Jackson, which we’ve become used to in Tarantino pictures. That is not to say the chemistry between characters isn’t there or isn’t enjoyable, it just falls short of sustaining the almost 3 hour run-time sufficiently.
Ennio Morricone, after having a small input into Tarantino’s previous delve into the western genre with Django Unchained, returns as the sole composer for the score, and does a masterful job in creating a score that beautifully combines themes of his classic western scores, like those from The Man With No Name Trilogy and Once Upon A Time In The West, with those of classic spy thrillers or heist films. This is a masterful atmosphere enhancement, truly worthy of its Oscar nomination, if not win.
The majority of the film is set in the one room. It’s a bold tactic by Tarantino, especially as it was shot in ultra-widescreen, which was deemed pointless by many, but he manages to create such a varied ‘landscape’ (for want of a better term) within this room in its different sections: the chairs by the fireplace, the bar, the dining table, each aspect was meticulously designed to really bring out the architecture, and to be used in conjunction with the script, the dialogue, the characters to really create the atmosphere that is so prevalent throughout the film.
It certainly is a commendable effort by Tarantino at creating an environment and an ambiance – it’s just a shame that there just isn’t enough depth in the plot and development of the characters to justify it. The film is too long in total (with the option of viewing it with an interval taking the run-time to over 3 hours), and doesn’t provide enough beneath the surface to maintain it. If you enjoy other Tarantino works, there’s likely much here to get excited by – just don’t expect it to be his best.
Matt Bolland
Images: Allstar/The Weinstein Company