The Hateful Eight: A Conversation Between The Geeky Three

Prologue

INT. DINER - MORNING

LESTER'S in Ft. Lauderdale is a typical, though large, diner filled with mostly older people and families having breakfast. It's about 10 am.

At a booth, near the counter, sit three geeks in their 40s, drinking coffee and lost in thoughtful discussion, almost unaware of their surroundings. Almost as if they were actually not in this diner at all, but rather miles apart, using Google Hangouts to have this conversation about Quentin Tarantino's latest film, The Hateful Eight. A conversation they've been meaning to have for some time but couldn't find the time.

GERRY

So where would you rank this?

ED 

Top five for me probably. But not best.

CARLOS

Well, Death Proof is the worst.

ED

Right!

CARLOS 

Even by his own admission.

ED 

This had a lot of depth.

CARLOS

Jackie Brown is #1 for me.

ED 

Loved that!

GERRY

I think for me it's likely top 5 as well. I might be rewatching them all soon and doing a full ranking.

ED 

Good idea! I'll bring the beer.

GERRY

Lugene!

CARLOS 

Then Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs, and then this one probably. Not sure.

ED 

Kill Bill is high for me

GERRY 

I'm not sure Kill Bill is that high for me. It might be, but I don't know. We'll see.

ED 

Marathon!

GERRY 

You know I met him once.

Chapter 1: Excitement! Passion! Archetypes!

EXT. MOUNTAIN TERRAIN - DAY

All is white. There is A STAGECOACH, pulled by 6 horses, with the door open. From inside, GERRY seems to be waiting for ED and CARLOS to come in. From their heavy coats, it's clear that it's cold as a motherfucker. ED and CARLOS look at each other and nod, confirming that it's safe.

ED

We all saw the full 70mm version. It was the hype that drew us in - the passion for the format.

CARLOS 

So let's start there.

All three now nod in agreement.

INT. STAGECOACH - DAY

The coach is wobbly as the conversation continues.

ED

I loved that excitement. It rivaled Star Wars, but in a different way. More tangible. I was excited for the program and I took a picture of the actual film in the projector.

GERRY 

Before we even get to the movie, though, I was really struck by the blue Cinerama screen at the beginning. Maybe that's a common thing with Cinerama theaters that still exist, but it really made the whole experience seem huge to me. Something about that blue reflected back in the theater from the screen took me back to how big and special movie theaters seemed back in the day. The most direct thing it reminded me of was actually this old attraction at Disney World called Circlerama-360 that surrounded you in a movie. It was kinda boring, but still felt enormous. I think that had a similar blue screen at the beginning like that.

CARLOS 

I love widescreen and would see everything in that format. Having said that, do you feel that this film in particular needed to be in 70mm?

ED

Yes. It was all in a room, but it was another level of storytelling: the format gave it more impact and a certain grandiose nature. It was about these people paying for their sins. And being a western, it's always a big allegory. So yes, wide format in a room made it larger than life. It's like, why not. I've always wanted to get away with it. Why waste it on beautiful empty landscapes when really what's interesting are the people in it?

Ed sits back with a satisfied look on his face, almost daring the others to contradict his point. Gerry casually packs and lights an old style pipe. Carlos looks out the window, longingly, considering Ed's point as the silence hangs there.

GERRY 

That's a good point on the landscapes. Wide screen humanity. I wonder how much of that is intentional though. I think of Tarantino as a movie geek more than a literary type filmmaker who is working with subtext or anything like that. Though some of that does always come through in his work.

CARLOS 

I agree with the whole impact of having it show the way they would big spectacle movies from the past: overture, intermission, extra footage in a special presentation. It really showcases Tarantino's geek passion for film. More than whether the story "warrants" such treatment, and you can argue it doesn't, the sheer joy Tarantino brings to it is infectious. The cinematography here is superb. Those close-ups of the characters' faces – Kurt Russell's mustache, Jennifer Jason Leigh's bloody face – are amazing.

ED 

He's all about his characters and all that gets said about them is just a reflection of him just bringing them to life. Love or hate them - and mostly you hate what they do - you're in it with them. Gritty and unforgiving movie. Maybe his most unforgiving?

GERRY 

His characters are usually more archetypes than real humans. Would you say that's true here as well? Did anyone come across as more "real"?

ED 

Whether or not they're archetypal, he makes them real. 

GERRY 

Sure, and it's not a criticism, but I never really feel like I'm connected to his characters in a meaningful way beyond them being characters in a movie. Nothing wrong with that, though. I just never forget it's a movie.

ED 

I don't know. I connect with many because they have nothing in common with me other than little humorous traits; however, you understand why they do the horrible things they do sometimes. I ended up liking the characters you're set up to hate at first: Walton Goggins' Sheriff Chris Mannix and Jennifer Jason Leigh's Daisy Domergue.

GERRY 

I think the format heightens the sense of what I'm saying about the characters. These are larger than life images more than they are people and to a certain extent the characters themselves know it.

CARLOS 

The only one of his films in which his characters seem more than archetypes to me and I connect in a more meaningful way is Jackie Brown.

GERRY 

Yes. It's why I think I tend to like that a lot more than most people. It shows range from him.

CARLOS 

I don't think he's been able to top that. It's his most mature work. Interestingly, it's the one he considers a bit of a failure because his fans don't seem to like it as much, which is perhaps why he went back to the more over-the-top stuff. 

ED 

I felt this wasn't a foray into anything new by him.

Chapter 2: Carlos.

TIGHT CLOSE UP: CARLOS'S FACE

CARLOS 

I have always liked Jennifer Jason Leigh. She's always been underrated in my opinion, and here she delivers a performance full of fury.

INT. HOME OFFICE - DAY

The room is filled with shelves of DVDs, CDs and books. There are framed movie posters on the walls: Tarantino, Carpenter, Scorsese are all represented. Carlos sits at a computer with a large monitor, his face appears large on the screen as he speaks directly to the webcam.

CARLOS 

For a while you think she's a bad apple, yet you feel kind of bad that she's being taken to her death. Then you realize she's a really bad apple. And even then at the end I still felt kind of bad at the horrible way they kill her, deservedly or not.

He pauses, visibly shaken by the memory. He takes out a pack of Red Apple Cigarettes, removes one from the pack, puts it to his lips, lights it with a Zippo lighter and takes a calming drag. He holds it for a second and lets it out.

TIGHT CLOSE UP - CARLOS'S FACE

CARLOS 

That moment - when she plays the guitar and sings that song, fully aware of the fact Kurt Russell's character is about to die -  that is probably one of my favorite moments in the film.

Chapter 3: Incorrect.

INT. CAR - DAY

Carlos is driving a mid 70s sedan, with a large interior. Gerry sits in the passenger seat, fiddling with the radio. Bits of different types of music including surf, soul, country, blues and pop play before Gerry settles on "A Uma Gina" by Sergio Borges and Conjunto Joao Paulo. Ed is in the back, flipping through a Hateful Eight program.

CARLOS 

Gina!

GERRY 

How did you guys like the whole thing where Sam Jackson's character, Major Marquis Warren, tells Bruce Dern's General Sandy Smithers the story about killing his son?

ED 

Mixed from me.

GERRY 

Why is that?

ED 

Not sure they needed the visuals to keep the tension.

CARLOS 

I thought that was great.

ED 

It felt Pulp Fiction-esque. It was comical. Which isn't inherently bad. . .

GERRY 

It was supposed to be comical, though.

ED

But it made me like Sam's character less.

CARLOS

It was funny and filled with suspense.

ED 

It took us outside though.

GERRY 

He's clearly making most of that up and, as a matter of fact, when he's telling it, he says "are you getting a picture?" while looking directly at us.

ED 

The pretty landscape shot was this tortuous fellatio. I felt it was through the eyes of the old man.

GERRY 

This Tortuous Fellatio is my favorite emo band.

CARLOS 

Yeah, I had no issues with it. I'm not sure Sam Jackson is supposed to be likable anyway. None of them are, really.

ED 

Right. It reminded us not to like him

GERRY 

Ed is incorrect.

Carlos stops the car suddenly, turning around to look at Ed, then at Gerry.

CARLOS 

He was incorrect in our review of Star Wars too.

ED 

Fuck yourselves, you must.

CARLOS 

Why do you keep inviting him?

GERRY 

I thought you did.

ED 

It's the band names I come up with.

Carlos turns back to the wheel, apparently satisfied. He starts driving again.

GERRY 

One thing that stood out to me as something Tarantino should try to stop doing is the chapter break thing. I get it, and it's not like it doesn't work, but enough.

CARLOS 

Agreed. He has overdone that a bit. Another thing that seemed very interesting to me in this film is Tarantino's handling of race, which to me comes across as more thoughtful than some of his other films. I think all his-

 ED 

Maybe that's why I felt it was a rehash of ideas he has already presented.

CARLOS

The chapters?

ED 

Yes.

CARLOS 

What was I saying?

ED

 Race relations.

CARLOS 

I think all his movies are preoccupied with race relations up to a point, but his commentary here regarding racism is both in-your-face and kind of nuanced at the same time.

ED 

It was a great backbone to their intentions. They had their own preconceptions and followed through with them. At first, Sheriff Mannix came off as one note, but in the end, showed to have the most depth.

GERRY 

Agreed on race. I think the commentary is incredibly nuanced. By the end of it I'm not entirely sure what, if anything, he ultimately wanted to say about it, but it made me think of several things along the way. The main one that stands out is the issue of trust and safety between white and black America.

ED 

Agreed. Nothing was summed up.

GERRY 

It winds up being that the black guy and the most racist character there are the only two who can ultimately trust each other in the end. But it's not as simple as that either.

ED 

They weren't friends. They were only together from circumstance. And they're both fucked at the end anyway.

CARLOS 

That's a brilliant intro to the two characters, seeing their hate of each other while they ride the stagecoach.

Carlos parks the car.

EXT. LESTER'S DINER PARKING LOT - MORNING

Ed, Gerry and Carlos exit the car, and walk towards the diner, while talking.

GERRY 

But at the end of the day, they were both duplicitous, though. Warren had the letter which Mannix was never fooled by. And Warren was never fooled by Mannix's smiling routine.

ED 

They never trust each other. Felt like an old movie on the study of character in circumstance.

GERRY 

They don't, but they trust enough to know not to trust which means they do.

CARLOS 

Did you feel the movie was too long? Or just the right length?

ED 

The movie moved very quickly. Right length.

GERRY 

I never felt bored.

ED 

Me neither.

They enter the diner. 

INTERMISSION