The Hateful Eight

Set in the dead of the Wyoming winter, Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight (Tarantino 2015) delivers what seems to be a classic Western story of bandits and bounty hunters. However, as the film progresses, the lack of typical Western characters in addition to the film’s unique ending sets it apart from classic Western films. At first glance, The Hateful Eight shares many elements with classic Westerns The beginning of the film is scattered with extreme long shots of snowy Wyoming mountains, white capped evergreens, and thin birch trees nestled in the background of six horse stagecoach. The bounty hunter John Ruth, is en route to deliver his prisoner, Daisy Domergue, to be hanged at Red Rock. According to his personal code, John Ruth brings

Instead they disguise themselves as random patrons of Minnie’s Haberdashery. This choice alone makes them vastly more complex villains than seen in previous Westerns. However, focusing in on Daisy’s brother, The leader of the Domergue Gang, reveals a cruel and ruthless man willing to murder the inhabitants of an entire cabin just to rescue his sister. Nevertheless, it is that love he has for his sister that sets him apart from classic Western villains who are motivated only by greed and brutality. Daisy herself is the closest fit to the classic Western villain. She is rotten, savage, and racist. However, as a female character she clashes with the classically male dominated role. In an almost upside-down way she fits both into the role as the antagonist as well as the damsel in distress, creating an interesting duality not typically seen in

By the end of the film almost every character is either dead or dying. In an ironic turn of events, the racist Ex-Confederate sheriff of Red Rock teams up with the black Ex-Union bounty hunter to protect themselves from what’s left of the Domergue gang. With both having already suffered mortal wounds at the hands of the disguised bandits, they discuss the fate of the last of The Domergue Gang, Daisy. Sheriff Mannix is partial to shooting Daisy in the head. However, Major Warren reminds him, “John Ruth could’ve shot her anywhere, anytime along the way. John Ruth was The Hangman, and when The Hangman catches you, you don’t die by no bullet. When The Hangman catches you. You hang” (Tarantino). In a pool of their own blood, the two unlikely friends string up Daisy by the neck and watch her die. The film’s final scene zooms out as Mannix reads Warrens fake letter from Lincoln. Tarantino’s ending plays out like a shakespearean tragedy, which is almost the antithesis of a satisfying classic Western. The lonesome underdog does not escape into the sunset. Instead, every single character dies. While thrilling in its own right, Tarantino’s ending is a far cry from the satisfying conclusions typical of