There Won't Be Many Coming Home

Rating: 8/10 (3 March 2018)

It is surprising just how many negative reviews the movie gets. Some of them I can understand but qualifying it as "garbage" is shear nonsense. It is true that the movie demands a considerable effort for comprehension and seeing the length, those who miss the main thematic point are doomed to be disappointed.
Well, the final song sums it up pretty well in fact. When you make war, you are probably to get yourself killed. So did all the characters. Had they stood a chance in the first place ? Yes I guess, at least one of them : the old veteran. He did what he could but the provocation got just beyond what he could stand. In fact, on a second thought he may as well ignore it, the experienced though guy he is. Nevertheless, as Oswaldo says : Gentlemen, I know Americans aren't apt to let a little thing like unconditional surrender get in the way of a good war...
Now that we dealt with the very nature of war, let's look at another issue brought up by the movie : The nature of justice. At this point, I find it useful to resort once again to Oswaldo's lines :
" Oswaldo Mobray: John Ruth wants to take you back to Red Rock to stand trial for murder. And, if... you're found guilty, the people of Red Rock will hang you in the town square. And as the hangman, I will perform the execution. And if all those things end up taking place, that's what civilized society calls "justice". However, if the relatives and the loved ones of the person you murdered were outside that door right now. And after busting down that door, they drug you out in the snow and hung you up by the neck, that, we would be frontier justice. Now the good part about frontier justice, is it's very thirst quenching. The bad part is it's apt to wrong as right!
John 'The Hangman' Ruth: Not in your case. In your case, you'd probably have it comin'. But other people, maybe not so much!
Oswaldo Mobray: But ultimately what's the real difference between the two? The real difference is me, the hangman. To me, it doesn't matter what you did. When I hang you, I will get no satisfaction from your death, it's my job! I hang you in Red Rock, I move on to the next town, I hang someone else there. The man who pulls the lever that breaks your neck will be a dispassionate man. And that dispassion is the very essence of justice. For justice delivered without dispassion is always in danger of not being justice.
John 'The Hangman' Ruth: Amen! "
Hence, for justice to be made in an honest way, it should be delivered by a law man. For law man, we had Chris the new sheriff. As the story approached its culminating point, he and Marquis Warren got "in kahoots". Which was surprising. Who in that little haberdashery got more reasons to hate each other ? But I guess it was the shared dignity of being "soldiers" not just random busters that got them together. Well, as far-fetched an idea as it may seem to some, I believe one could see there an apology to the old good days when ennemies knew how to exchange cigarettes and get friendly-like; as opposed oblivously the today's world that conventions of old times have deserted long ago. Chris and Marquis sealed the veracity of their status as lawful men by hanging Domergue, just as a law man par excellence would do.
In a nutshell, from a dramatic point of view, it was a clever plot and eventhough I generally dislike long movies, this one I regard as an artistic preference. Now, from a cinematographic point of view, I very much liked the gloomy yet snow-white atmosphere. Tarantino does his job and he does it duly.
This movie is not garbage. It opens with the isolated and snow-covered cross. So be ready to make some effort to get something out of it.