I remember being rather excited for the release of Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight; the announcement that the film would be filmed on 70mm film rather than 35mm or digital certainly resulted in the film gaining probably a bit more traction than it deserved. 70mm, while expensive to film on, provides a much higher resolution, with more colour and generally more detail.
In the case of The Hateful Eight, 70mm film didn't particularly benefit the film all that much due to a large portion of the film and its characters being confined to a small a cabin. There simply wasn't enough space or colour in the setting to really take advantage of 70mm's advantages. Technical issues aside, The Hateful Eight is, well, long.
Cutting in at just under three hours, the film follows a bounty hunter and his bounty seeking shelter in a cabin due to the harsh Wyoming winter. The cabin soon becomes filled with various other interesting characters, each secretive and hiding their own agendas from each other. It's safe to say that the film could definitely be shortened, and a large portion of it certainly isn't necessary to get the narrative rolling, and that's evident as the film begins to drag on, having you question when things are going to start wrapping up.
This is certainly a film that is focused around character development, with a lot of the narrative leaning on exposition to tell its backstory; and it's easy to slightly feel bored as a result. Things don't really get interesting up until the exposition ends and the tension within the cabin rises and things start to actually happen.
I think a lot of the film's issues are down to the fact that the script was leaked, Tarantino didn't really want to make the film as a result, and the script was modified. It would make sense that the film's weird pacing and focus on backstory is a result of snippets of narrative being cut and edited. The film, in the end, is certainly not one of Tarantino's best works, but I do believe that its faults heighten the experience overall; while I believe it has a few issues and is a bit too long, I appreciate its faults as they tell a story of the film's production and general charisma.
This movie was one of the most talked movie around here at a time, can't believe I still haven't seen this movie.
I liked the movie. But, for sure, it is too long
Thanks for the share. I still haven't seen this one. Want to. Tarantino's imagery has been so sharp recently. Robert Richardson is a pretty amazing cinematographer.
I have to admit that it was indeed the 70mm 'promotion' that made me feel like watching this film, having kind of lost interest in Tarantino's work after/ during the Kill Bill series. Also the winter western mix, that I love in Sergio Corbucci's The Great Silence, piqued my interest.
Eventually, it was both the length of the film and the price of the ticket (I wanted to see it in cinema in 70 mm) that made me decide not to watch it.
Having read the above, I actually feel like watching it, as my expectations are slightly lowered now.
Thanks for this valuable insight.
Yeah, 70mm felt more like a bragging right for marketing more than anything else.
it might have been.