Eight people are congregated in a stagecoach stopover ( resting place for people on long journeys in stagecoaches ) seemingly by a coincidental snowstorm in the northern part of the USA sometime in the 19th century---years after the American civil war . But the owner of the stopover is missing and someone else is temporarily in charge of the stopover . And all of them seem to be violent people with guns . Everyone has some story to tell about himself . Two of them are bounty hunters ( people who capture or kill people wanted by the government ) with their bounties---some bounties are dead and one is alive . One claims to be the newly appointed sheriff of the town . By their own admission or by others telling of their deeds , we come to know that many of them have done rather inglorious things that might bring them disrepute in the past . And while one of them is a black man ( Samuel L . Jackson ) many of the others hate black people as their all too frequent use of the n word for blacks clearly indicates---the use of the n word frequently in a film being a Quentin Tarantino ( director of the film ) hallmark by now .
So is it mere coincidence that such characters have been assembled at the same place at the same time . Or is it something else ? Something is not right about the whole thing....
The first half is not violent but still there are enough indicators of oncoming violence . And violence or no violence---it is still interesting . The conversations are peppered with funny dialogues as the movie goes on in a self mocking tone . The lone surviving bounty who is a female ( Jennifer Jason Leigh ) seems to be too quirky to be real .
But the real fun is reserved for the second half where the proceedings explode into violence when they are not getting outright depraved---both the violence and depravity being Quentin Tarantino hallmarks . Guns boom with the regularity of firecrackers during festivals , blood is spattered all around , and the twists and turns in the fighting keep the audience rooted to the seat all along . You don't know who is going to fire next---you just have to wait and watch .
One thing is sure---their is not a single likeable character in the situation , thus justifying the title of the film . But that is what is likeable about the film ---I hadn't come to see any do gooders anyway . Mean people doing mean things is what I had come to see---the meaner the better . And I got what I wanted to be sure . Fighting was rarely more glorious...
While writing I realised that I was reviewing a western for the first time . The atmosphere of the american west in the 19th century has been created in so many films before---but not in a snowstorm . And the howling winds outside give a different background to the proceedings .
Photography is good and background score is decent too . Without too many special effects and on a relatively lower budget Tarantino makes great films . And once more he has come out with a winner .
Four stars
So is it mere coincidence that such characters have been assembled at the same place at the same time . Or is it something else ? Something is not right about the whole thing....
The first half is not violent but still there are enough indicators of oncoming violence . And violence or no violence---it is still interesting . The conversations are peppered with funny dialogues as the movie goes on in a self mocking tone . The lone surviving bounty who is a female ( Jennifer Jason Leigh ) seems to be too quirky to be real .
But the real fun is reserved for the second half where the proceedings explode into violence when they are not getting outright depraved---both the violence and depravity being Quentin Tarantino hallmarks . Guns boom with the regularity of firecrackers during festivals , blood is spattered all around , and the twists and turns in the fighting keep the audience rooted to the seat all along . You don't know who is going to fire next---you just have to wait and watch .
One thing is sure---their is not a single likeable character in the situation , thus justifying the title of the film . But that is what is likeable about the film ---I hadn't come to see any do gooders anyway . Mean people doing mean things is what I had come to see---the meaner the better . And I got what I wanted to be sure . Fighting was rarely more glorious...
While writing I realised that I was reviewing a western for the first time . The atmosphere of the american west in the 19th century has been created in so many films before---but not in a snowstorm . And the howling winds outside give a different background to the proceedings .
Photography is good and background score is decent too . Without too many special effects and on a relatively lower budget Tarantino makes great films . And once more he has come out with a winner .
Four stars
