Rating: 2/5
Cult Movie Challenge 2024 | 27/52 | Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone’s contemplative score paints a snow-caked landscape with a sense of dread. Christ on the cross, his head encumbered by a snowdrift. Straight away, you sense an indulgence rare even for Tarantino as we meditate on this wooden cross for 4 minutes before a stagecoach rolls by. The carriage, driven by O.B. Jackson, races against an incoming blizzard as it drives to Red Rock, Wyoming.
Jackson comes across Marquis Warren, horseless and atop three frozen corpses. Warren intends to take the bodies to Red Rock for a reward. Jackson and Warren know they cannot outrun this blizzard, so they mean to hide at a midway point, Minnie’s Haberdashery.
Jackson might accommodate Warren, but the passengers inside may differ. The passenger, a fellow bounty hunter named John Ruth, has handcuffed himself to “Crazy” Daisy Domergue, whom he intends to hang at Red Rock. They cycle through as many racist remarks as they can muster at Warren before allowing him onboard. Domergue speaks once out of turn, and Ruth gives her another punch and bruises to add to the one on her face.
This exchange of Domergue using the n-word and Ruth assaulting her continues a couple more times. Even Warren gets in on the action and assaults Domergue. To remind you that you’re watching a Tarantino movie, Apple Blossom by The White Stripes plays.
And that’s usually when I stop giving a rundown on the movie! We’re twenty minutes in… but go through a similar song-and-dance routine as we meet Chris Mannix. Everyone seems to know everyone by reputation and we hear backstory after backstory. After around 40 minutes, we meet the rest of the eight: Oswaldo Mobray, Joe Gage, and Sanford Smithers.
Everyone has ulterior motives and criminal tendencies, so what we’ve heard is probably a blend of rumors and lies. The remaining two hours of the film are the backstabbing, eliminating, and truth unveiling. Who will be left standing? Why should I care?
Part of what has made Tarantino’s obsession with Sergio Leone fascinating is how he transcribes Western language into non-Western movies. Here, he gives up the ghost and makes a full-blown Western. He also abandons the pretense of action or plot and gives us wall-to-wall Tarantino dialogue.
The movie’s stars are Robert Richardson’s cinematography and Ennio Morricone’s score, although the score is underutilized.
Fred Raskin’s editing is fine but lacks the editorial intuition of Sally Menke’s work, which made good Tarantino movies great.
I would not praise a single actor’s performance in this movie. Everyone is hammy and one-note.
The racism and unambiguous misogyny, while in line with the historical period, do nothing but give a certain subset of the viewership something to keep them invested. Yes, Domgergue is a killer, just like the rest of them, but nobody gets the shit beat of them with zero repercussions like her. And thinking up every synonym for the n-word you can muster isn’t creative writing, just like constantly using the word isn’t world-building.
Many people love this movie. I won’t say they’re wrong about it. I’m not fond of Tarantino’s schtick as much as they are. From where I’m sitting, three hours later, this experience sucked.