Thursday 11 January 2018

The Hateful Eight

Tarantino has said he'll only make ten films, and then retire. I don't know if he still stands by this statement, and if he does we won't know for sometime if he'll fulfill it. Either by choice or (probably knowing Tarantino) by design, The Hateful Eight is his eighth film. The gaps between his films have tended to be around three years, although the gap to Kill Bill was longer, and the gap to his next film will almost certainly be so as well. Given that, he can expect to have done ten films by the time he's sixty. Still young enough, certainly, but I think a lot depends on what kinds of films he gets to do over the next few years. As you may know, The Hateful Eight almost didn't happen after the screenplay was leaked. His turn to westerns after Inglourious Basterds wasn't too surprising. He could be trying to make the perfect film in each genre (somewhat like Kubrick). A science-fiction film could therefore be a possibility in the future, although we know his next film will be about the Manson family. This film certainly feels like an attempt to make a perfect, conceptually complete piece. The intensity of the setting, action and dialogue heightens this. It is, if anything, perhaps too contrived, but that is only on reflection. The experience of watching it is immersive. Your allegiance does shift through the film, as your suspicion lingers on different characters, but I wonder what this would be like on a second viewing. Why the narration halfway through, though? The fourth-wall is broken, but to what purpose? It’s almost as if he did it just to remind us we were watching a Tarantino film. Every time I think I understand Tarantino, however, he surprises me. His influences are so vast and peculiar than you can never quite know what to expect. This, perhaps, is his greatest genius.

Wednesday 10 January 2018

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

As I said about Rogue One, I will love almost any Star Wars film that gets released. I am virtually incapable of being critical of them, as a whole, although I do now look back on the prequels with a sense of regret - they could have been so much more interesting. These latest films are of course better, but, like a fine wine, we need to see how they age. Are they too contemporary? Appealing only to our particular interests now? The Last Jedi does this perhaps even more than The Force Awakens did. It hits right at the heart of globalisation, at nostalgia for a lost past, and at the lack of clear cut right and wrong answers. We're in a post-ironic age now, and Rian Johnson understands this perfectly. Beginnings are always the easiest to do, so J. J. Abrams didn't have as tough a job as some might have thought. Johnson's job, though, was particularly difficult. He had to continue, but not finish. He had to tag on to what had been left open in The Force Awakens, but also leave everything open for Star Wars IX. This has unfortunately led to a lot of criticism from fans. Strangely, though, critics have loved it. I am sure part of this is because critics (and I vaguely include myself in this group) tend to look at a film from the point of view of a director. They try to see what the director was trying to achieve, and ground their judgement on what he has or hasn't done in the past. Thus, having an understanding of Brick will really help you appreciate The Last Jedi. The humour and intelligence is very similar. The complex actions and emotions are there, and yet Johnson doesn't let go of the simplicity and pure exhilaration of a Star Wars movie. The opening sequence is still fantastic. The final battle on the salt planet (Crait) is visually stunning. And there are plenty of throwbacks to the old films (that battle on Crait itself evoking memories of Hoth). However, I fear it is because he is not faithful enough to the old films that he has drawn criticism from fans. He seems to disregard old notions of what the Jedi are. He dismisses any notions of the Force being purely hereditary. And he adds in some new notions, like being able to fly in space, or transporting an illusion of yourself across the universe, or running out of fuel but still being able to outrun Star Destroyers, or Porgs. Even though I think each of these criticisms can be countered, the most important thing for me was that the film just worked. It worked on the level it needed to work and, perhaps as important, I'm curious to see what's going to happen next.

The Hateful Eight

Tarantino has said he'll only make ten films, and then retire. I don't know if he still stands by this statement, and if he does we ...