Hateful Eight (2015)

 

 

The Hateful Eight is one of the few films that take a critical lens to the Reconstruction Era. The film features a diverse group of people who are stuck in a lodge during a harsh winter. A former soldier of the United States Colored Troops, bounty hunters, a Mexican bartender, a female captive, a southern renegade, and others all struggle to survive a dramatic evening.

The Hateful Eight was originally supposed to be a sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, but after feeling unsatisfied with the direction of the film, Tarantino chose to make it a stand-alone production. The film addresses the legacies of the Civil War and reunification of the country by focusing on Reconstruction.

While the film did not receive the same praise as Tarantino’s earlier work Django Unchained, it also did not generate the same controversy. Critics praised the film for its balance of violence, humor, and commentary. Critics were also impressed with the technical skill utilized by Tarantino in his filmmaking.

 

FURTHER READING

Books

Paul Cimbala and Randall Miller, The Great Task Remaining Before Us: Reconstruction as America’s Continuing Civil War, New York: Fordham University Press, 2010.

Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, New York: Harper & Row, 1988.

G Ward Hubbs, Searching for Freedom After the Civil War: Klansman, Carpetbagger, Scalawag, and Freedman, Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2015.

Heather Richardson, West from Appomattox: The Reconstruction of America After the Civil War, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.

Articles

Stacey Smith,“Beyond North and South: Putting the West in the Civil War and Reconstruction,” The Journal of the Civil War Era 6, no. 4 (December 2016).

Hannah Rosen,“Teaching Race and Reconstruction, The Journal of the Civil War Era 7, no. 1 (March 2017).

Richard Walsh,“Now That Was a Nice Hanging: The Hateful Eight as Parable?” Journal of Religion and Film 21, no. 2 (2017).

Film Reviews

Matt Seitz, “The Hateful Eight Movie Review,” Roger Ebert,” December 22, 2015.

Mark Kermode, “The Hateful Eight review- Hard to Hate but Tough to Love,” The Guardian, January 10, 2016.

Peter Travers, “The Hateful Eight Review,” Rolling Stone, December 21, 2015.

A.O. Scott, “Review: Quentin Tarantino’s ‘The Hateful Eight’ Blends Verbiage and Violence,” New York Times, December 24, 2015.

Peter Debruge, “Film Review: The Hateful Eight,” Variety, December 15, 2015.

 

 

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