The Hateful Eight - Film Analysis & Meaning [HD]

[Music] in Quentin Tarantino's course blooded Western whodunit the hateful eight there are no heroes just a room full of violent strangers but who's telling the truth and who's lying in this video I'll breakdown the film story its theme and will also explain its violent conclusion fair warning this analysis will contain spoilers so if you haven't seen the film I suggest you watch it first before viewing this video 2015's the hateful a came on the heels of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds in Django Unchained and both those films victims of the time or allowed a revisionist revenge and closure on the periods depicted but in his eighth release Tarantino would painfully remind audiences of the divided presence we'll examine how Tarantino's Western is an allegory for our current times but first let's take a quick look at the hateful eight cinematic influences in almost every review of the hateful eight the comparison to John Carpenter's The Thing is unavoidable a group of people are trapped in a desolate filled wasteland then claustrophobia slides into paranoia and paranoia concerns the atmosphere for the remainder of both films we also have an evil that's hiding in plain sight one of them cells is not what he says somebody in this camping when he appears to be right now that maybe one or two of us by spring it could be all of us finally there start Kurt Russell playing a major lead in both films but almost no American reviews brought up its comparison to the pessimistic 1968 Western the great silence directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Corbucci a major influence on Tarantino Italian westerns of Spaghetti Westerns were a new movement in the 1960s most theatrical westerns had faded out around the same time and cowboy stories migrated towards television but in 1964 beginning with Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars Italian westerns quickly became popular unlike Sergio Leone the other Sergio's films were less about opera and more about depravity if the westerns of John Ford were about triumph and justice then Corbeau choose westerns were brought the unjust and failed societies look hard enough and you'll see core pooches influence on Tarantino's work shot him down like a dog in the street yes that's exactly what I mean in quick easter-egg the saloon dr. King Schultz and Django collect their first bounty in his name Minnesota clays Minnesota clay is also the name of a 1964 Corbucci Western about a wrongfully convicted man who seeks vengeance after a justice system fails him but the hateful eight in particular uses similar motifs to Corbeau cheese the great silence there's the Bleak snow filled setting and an even bleaker view of a nation built on violence there's also a group of bounty hunters brought together by fate who share a stagecoach at both film's beginnings then there's composer Ennio Marconi whose musical scores complement first the great silence then the hateful eight both films also feature a strong woman of color in the hateful eight it's Minnie the owner of Minnie's haberdashery in the great silence is Vanetta mcgee who hires a bounty hunter played by john louie trenton young to avenge the death of her husband against a ruthless killer played by Klaus Kinski who hides behind the law while inflicting sadistic violence both films could be political allegories of the era they're produced in this interview Tarantino explains how most westerns are allegorical of the period they're made the Western has always been a really interesting genre in I think there's no other genre that reflects the decade in which it was made more than the westerns made during the particular decades any searchers yeah yeah well a good example is the 50s because probably the one the time when the westerns were the most popular they reflected an Eisenhower ideal of America they reflected a perceived American exceptionalism all right having from one having won the world war two and even the prosperity of America at that time and they took Western heroes and and and and and built them up as demigods you know whether it be even outlaws like Billy the Kid or Jesse James and the stories that were told at that period of time and then obvious teen characters like Buffalo Bill or a Wyatt Earp but then if you look at the westerns of the 70s and the very very late 60s that was a very cynical time in America and America had lost trust in itself and had lost trust in its heroes and actually the cynicism of movies back then actually confirmed Americans right to feel cynical about about their time period and the westerns reflected that the great silence is an incredibly bleak film I won't entirely spoil the ending but I will say it's a comment on the political era it was produced referencing both the assassinations of Che Guevara and Malcolm X there's the oppressor there's the oppressed and then there's what happens when the two meet if you want to learn more about the great silence there's many articles and commentaries from director Alex Cox which I'll link in the description we've seen how car boots use the Western as a political allegory so now let's see how Tarantino does the same with the hateful eight unlike most Oscar Beatty films Hollywood producers on racism the hateful eight wisely chooses not to basses audience over the head with political correctness instead we the audience are stuck with these eight despicable characters you either find something redeemable about them or you don't you're now an active participant in the story and whatever feelings you have towards the character you most identify is either proved right or wrong by the film's end so let's start from the beginning the hateful eight of the story about fate by faith these strangers cross paths by fate they're being chased by a deadly blizzard by fate some heard of or even know each other and also by fate they're all stuck in this one location it's manifest destiny that brought them here in one of the opening shots there's even a large cross looking down over the stagecoach setting the theme of manifest destiny a bounty hunter named John Ruth played by Kurt Russell escorts when wanted criminal Daisy Dahmer who played by Jennifer Jason Leigh the stagecoach stops for another bounty hunter named major marques Warren played by samuel l.jackson major warren negotiates his way onto the stagecoach but only after he disarms for John Ruth notice how major Warren's uniform consists of white gloves a metaphor for his character who writes and talks in the language of someone trying to survive in a white man's world then we have Chris Mannix played by Walton Goggins Maddox claims to be the new sheriff of Red Rock the town Daisy is to be hung but unlike major Warren know and that is status alone should be enough to board John Rhodes states coach it first appears Maddox has more in common with Daisy than with Warren and John Ruth the conversation quickly becomes political as Mannix a southern rebel feuds with northerner major Warren the two men are set up as adversaries for the remainder of the film the other threat besides the hateful strangers is the blizzard outside in John Carpenter's a thing the monster comes from outer space in the form of a shape-shifting alien but in the hateful eight the monster is a snowy blizzard that's used as a metaphor for itself then there's the horses one white the other black moving through what they've both been conditioned to tolerate so why would Tarantino decide to shoot his movie in a wide aspect ratio of 70 millimeter only to have it remained in the confined space with a few actors well there's a few reasons first Tarantino used confined spaces with wide-angle shots the same way Stanley Kubrick did with the shining in the shining Kubrick had several sequences where he uses wide-angle shots in smaller spaces this not only gives off a feeling of claustrophobia but it also desensitize 'as the audience as the environment swallows up its inhabitants second this is an actor's movie director John Cassavetes once said the greatest location in the world is the human face the hateful eight is a film that relies mostly on on performances in 70-millimeter you'll spot more details that the wide aspect ratio allows you to notice upon second and third viewings you'll notice details like Daisy laughing and as Waldo's proper English accent because later in the film it's revealed that he actually speaks with the working-class cockney accent so a federal ban eeeh fifteen fascism riot details within the frame are an important part of this story when major Warren spots certain details and minis he knows something bad has happened yet he still keeps his poker face in this group of strangers as the film progresses we the audience aren't given much to go on as to who's lying and who's being truthful after being prodded by Chris Mannix major Warren confesses the Lincoln letter is a lie this upsets John Ruth who says I guess it's true what they say about you people can't trust a [ __ ] word comes out of your mouth warned admit the letters alight but he also admits is that very a lie that's kept them alive only time black folks are safe that's when white folks is disarmed and this letter had the desired effect a disarmed and white folks it's no coincidence white Tarantino uses Abraham Lincoln in his film because it was President Lincoln who emancipated three million slaves in his Proclamation shall be then thenceforward and forever free [Music] in the following scene Ward again uses language to his advantage he spots general Smithers whom he remembers from the Battle of Baton Rouge for letting young black soldiers die in the cold after being captured major Warren has a reason to kill the general but if he draws on the unarmed man he's told if you shoot this unarmed old man I guarantee I will hang you by the neck until you are dead so Warren uses words like a weapon to engage the general in a shooting let's take a quick look at Tarantino's first produced screenplay true romance in true romance cliff Worley played by the iconic Dennis Hopper also uses words like a weapon cliff no Sicilian mobster vicentico kotti played by Christopher Walken is most likely gonna torture him until he gives up his son Clarence's location so cliff tells ducati a story that involves in salteena Sicilian lineage he'll part eggplant his words I used like a weapon to trigger the mobster into killing him quicker [Music] that scene is similar to this scene in that war manipulates the general into going for his pistol Warren is the ultimate strategist notice the black and white chessboard that's placed in the frame for good measure Warren plays on the generals emotions as he tells a story of his son's depraved punishment as the major speaks were shown him putting words into his victims mouth whether you believe this thing actually happened or not is up for debate but if I personally had to guess I'd say it's either a lie or greatly exaggerated either way the story has the desired effect as the general goes for his gun now let's talk about Daisy at the beginning of the film she's set up as the criminal yet you may even feel sympathetic towards her after she's handled violently by John Ruth why would this big strong man be so cruel to the Sun threatening looking woman but as the story progresses you begin to see why John Ruth take such drastic precautions Daisy is a cold-blooded murderer she's smart maniacal ruthless and cunning she has a high foul knee of $10,000 for a reason donggu ordem ingrate plays a big role in the film's theme throughout the films is referred to by all the characters including the narrator as da Magoo but by the film's end she refers to herself as Jodi domaine great gang same name different meaning depending on who you ask the same metaphor crosses in the major warn in Chris Mannix arc these two men couldn't be more different yet they're similar ones a northerner the other a southerner one's black the other white both are racist Mannix a Confederate repel both speaks and practices racism major Warren is also guilty of both when Mannix reminds him of his role in the extermination of the American Indian but by the film's end these men have more in common than they both think notice how similar their clothes look once their armor is removed and the truth is revealed they're both men of the law a world full of hateful people they've both been conditioned into thinking they're supposed to be enemies the theme of manifest destiny comes back into play in the climax of the film it's at this point we know Daisy and her gang are awful people they've hardly flinched while murdering a roomful of innocent people suggesting they probably done this before if we go back to an earlier scene Oswald Lowe gives a monologue about what civilized society calls justice versus frontier justice in an ideal society real justice should be delivered with dispassion the man who pulls the lever that breaks your neck will be a dispassionate man and that dispassion is the very essence of justice for justice delivered without discretion is always in danger Justice John Bruce was a dispassionate man who believed in the law the major attempts to shoot Daisy but his gun is out of bullets instead of facing a bullet Daisy will face a rope as Manifest Destiny mentor to in a final act of redemption the northerner and the southerner both come together for a brief moment and deliver real justice to daisy de Ming gray the hateful eight is Tarantino's comment on the United States of America it's the lies of hateful people who start wars causing bloodshed turning people who should be friends into enemies notice the staging of the scene the colors are red white and blue the northerner faces south while the southerner faces north they know they're both gonna die then Maddox reads in Lincoln later one last time there's an optimism in his words but as he reads a lie he almost sounds convinced that there might be a time when those words will become truth whether you believe that or not is all an act of perspective I'm Jeremy Hamley and if you like this video please like and subscribe thank you for watching you

Channel: The Auteurist

Views: 315,187

Keywords: The Hateful Eight, Film Analysis, Video Essay, Meaning, Explained, Quentin Tarantino, Spaghetti Westerns, Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci, A Fistful OF Dollars, The Great Silence, Ennio Morricone, Alex

Id: chPvBv-61e8

Length: 16min 26sec (986 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 21 2018