Super talent's next hate-struggle.

Rating: 7/10 (31 January 2016)

Tarantino is for so many reasons an interesting filmmaker. But for me his most appreciated characteristic is his constant struggle with form.
'The 8th' is divided in two, like Death Proof. An unusual choice in storytelling. It works for me in Death Proof. The car chase is so much different then the dialogue sequences before, plus, the set-ups in the first part work up to the pay-off in the second part. In The 8 there are set-ups too and they, for sure are payed off in the second part. But The 8 has more to tell then just revenge. It has a statement to be payed off. And there, Tarantino leaves us empty handed.
The first half of the movie is a grim tale. It's the absolute anti-Epic Story. It's not a Schindler's List, with beautiful photography, epic hero's and well-handled photo-shopping. It's not a Coulor Purple, with dramatic despair, revelations, friendships and enemies. Both movies - randomly picked - are strong and ever-lasting in its kind. 'The first half of 'The 8' is epic too but slightly different. In this sinister story we shift from epic movie-stars to Tarantino's 'gang', his actor-friends, whose careers, btw, show more talent for acting then picking the right production, until, of course, they appear in a Tarantino flick again and blossom under his hands. We also shift from captivating, epic music to the uneasy score of Morricone, flirting with the underlying expectations of horror. We shift from great visuals to the harsh and unavoidable reality of Tarantino's characters who talk a lot, but always meaningful, humorous and painful. and we shift from the epic scenery of sunlit plantations in the Color Purple or huge concentration camps in Schindler's List to....nothing more then a small hangout hut in the middle of a snow-storm. In this small, claustrophobic hut, with the snow-storm as a metaphor for inevitability, nevertheless, starts a series of discussions of epic proportions, discussions on the most essential problem America faces these days, the quintesse of Americanism: racial inequality. No terrorists from the middle east, no enemy from Russia or China, no danger from outside. The very danger within, naturally entangled with the American experiment on which this nation was founded; global multi- cultural-ism; the great experiment of the people's of the world becoming one. But..this is Tarantino...No friends here, no moving words of freedom and forgiveness. No escape. Here, in this aggressive, almost sacred cooking pot, a bunch of people have to survive....each other.
Tarantino makes two rather entangled statements. First of all, America's biggest challenge is not outside but inside it's borders. Defining an enemy outside helps defining awareness for togetherness. But that is not enough. That, we see in the hut. And the second statement of course is that America is far from racially equal. A statement that the director not just ventilates artistically but also as a private person in interviews. The conflict in the hut over this issue finds its climax, at the end of part one, in a reversal of the most shameful, ridiculous, cruel-some example of racial dominations. But this time it's not the black man on it's knees but the white man. And the black man opens it's zipper. His gruesome laughter fills the hut....
So, what do you do, as a filmmaker, when you are halfway your movie and you reached this sadistic peak of narrative ? How to continue if your hateful, powerful, cynical statement is made? The best way is to switch gears and go to a completely different set of emotions. Shock your audience with an unexpected revelation that deepens the experience before. The worse, though, is to continue the hate into the realm of unavoidable blood-splashing horror. The worse? Yes, what you constructed as a perfect building, in which form and content complement and strengthen each other will be destroyed by the power of exaggeration. The building pushes open it's doors, the blood streams out and what is left, is an empty building.
The 8 ends sadly as an empty house.
But, then again, i wanna say this. i love Tarantino for his daring approach, never compromising, always searching and struggling. Therefore I prefer this troubled feature over a safe tale dealing with safe issues.
But for next time, mister Trantino.... Why not dare forgiveness?