Western and the conventions of Cinema

Rating: 8/10 (25 January 2016)

Tarantino's the 'Hateful Eight' maybe a western but it constantly draws our attention to the conventions or mechanics of cinema. Why else would Tarantino film a movie in Ultra Panavision 70mm and comprise most of the shots indoors, a question that a lot of reviewers seem to be asking. The stunning music score by Ennio Morricone, apparently the first music score for a 'western' he has done in 35 years, makes us aware of the use of music in cinema from its dramatic opening score. Title cards that separate the film into chapters, make us aware of the conventions of the screenplay; and at one point a voice-over appears describing a characters motives. There is also the staginess of the film set within one area that makes us aware of the use of mise en scene (Tarantino may turn the Hateful 8 into a stage play); along with a couple of surprises in the latter part of the film that also draw our attention to the stage and the use of mise en scene. Most evidently though, Tarantino seems to have separated the 'plot' from the 'story', by making the first two thirds of the movie the 'story', and the last third the 'plot', creating a whodunit western! The Hateful Eight is an intriguing piece of cinema.