Tarantino leashes out on American history in The Hateful Eight. But I rarely feel that this is a truly combative film that induces important thoughts about the dark history of the united states. It is, at times, a fun, violent film and Jennifer Jason Leigh is stunning (and grim) all the way as the prisoner of a bounty hunter. These two share the stagecoach with a sheriff and a war veteran. Trouble begins when they stop to rest at Minnie's Haberdashery. A storm roars outside, and inside the barn-like place, lies and deception abound and all characters go through a process of pain, suffering and accusation. The film seems to be about a foolish and dangerous process of truth-seeking - the pursuit of truth is hardly heroic.
But often I feel that Tarantino is re-using old tricks, that he knows too well what he is doing - as a technique, that is. But the references rarely come alive, the genre-playing does not rise beyond the sniggeringly self-conscious, i.e. does not quite spark a sense of new understanding. Even though I come to think of how much I love wintry western movies like Track of the cat and McCabe & Mrs Miller.
What lasts in my memory is the cinematography - wide-angled wintry plaines along with a claustrophobic cabin and the paranoia these pictures set off. The chemistry between the actors make an at times rather tiresome story effective.
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