The Hateful Eight, a movie by Quentin Tarantino

The Hateful Eight, a movie by Quentin Tarantino

The director’s reputation sets up the viewer’s expectations of violence a gore, and on that score it doesn’t disappoint.  I felt like I needed to take a bath in case any of it has splashed on me.  Like his earlier movies, the violence had a tongue-in-cheek feel, so over the top that its realism was unrealistic, which is nice because it doesn't lead to nightmares, at least not for me.  Actually the violence didn’t really get rolling until very late in the film, which by the way was almost three hours long.  I did miss a few minutes of it for a necessary break.  

Before the real violence was some pretty intriguing dialogue between the eight hateful characters, about their past, their recognition of each other’s infamy, and how they shared previously unknown connections.  The acting was excellent, the sets realistic, the details meticulously attended to, the premise and plot completely water tight.  

The socially significant aspect was the setting--post civil war--the characters, former fighters from both sides including a black Union officer (Samuel L. Jackson), and the liberal use of the n-word.  Ten or fifteen years ago the word was almost totally out of bounds in movies.  Books too.  Which gave the word enormous power.  Tarantino may have done more than anyone to disempower the word and show it to be a pathetic racist outcry when used with its hateful intent.   An attempt to make oneself feel superior...that falls obviously flat.