Three years ago, Quentin Tarantino made a glorious impression on Hall H by showing the attending audience a special extended trailer for DJANGO UNCHAINED that wouldn’t be seen anywhere else. Considering the fact that almost every piece of footage shown at Comic-Con nowadays immediately arrives online shortly thereafter, that’s a special occasion indeed. QT’s return to San Diego this year was no less cool, as the director brought along a 7-minute presentation from his latest film – THE HATEFUL EIGHT – that was for Hall H’s eyes only.
Before we got to footage from Tarantino’s eighth film, we were first treated to a video message, from Samuel L. Jackson of course, explaining the technical element that makes THE HATEFUL EIGHT so unique. The film as shot in ultra Panavision, only the eleventh film in history to utilize the incredibly wide format. In an age where digital video is almost completely taking over cinema, QT’s decision to make THE HATEFUL EIGHT this way should be considered a gift by film fans. And while not every theater will be able to project it in 70mm, THE HATEFUL EIGHT will be taken on a rolling roadshow, which will enable specific movie houses (and audiences) to see the film projected the way it was intended.
Here are some highlights from the panel:
– After he took the stage, Tarantino explained that he and his cinematography Robert Richardson used the same lenses to film HATEFUL that were used on classics like BEN-HUR and THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE. The very same lenses; they’re antiques. During the intro, Tim Roth said it’s a pleasure for an actor to be a part of a film like this, because you’re being captured on actual film, not being stored in a hard drive.
– Some people have wondered: What’s the point of shooting a movie that mostly takes place in doors with 70mm? Wouldn’t it make more sense to shoot exteriors? According to Tarantino, shooting this way actually makes the film more intimate; the scenes are more vivid and vital. You’ll be able to study the performances because you’ll be right up in their face.
– QT has apparently been coming to Comic-Con since ’88 and ’89, buying vintage videos and comics.
– As I mentioned, QT cut together a special 7-minute piece, just for Hall H. He siad it was still too early for a formal trailer, but one gets the sense he just wanted to do something special for this crowd.
– First of all, every performance seems to be just this side of over-the-top. Actors like Kurt Russell, Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tim Roth and Walton Goggins are all chewing on the scenery a bit, but in a fun, clearly-intentional way. (Leigh appears especially unhinged as a banged-up fugitive.)
– Meanwhile, you have two of the gruffest actors going – Bruce Dern and Michael Madsen – growling their way through the film like old junkyard dogs.
– It appears from the trailer that the film – which takes place among eight strangers as they hole up in a cabin during a blizzard – presents a scenario in which no one trusts anyone else. Everyone has a confrontation with everyone else.
– Samuel L. Jackson‘s character carries around a sled with at least two bodies atop it. He’s a bounty hunter, just like Russell’s character, who is bringing Leigh’s fugitive to the law. (She’s been roughed up quite a bit by him, but maintains a wacky sense of humor.)
– Walton Goggins‘ Chris Mannix says he the new sheriff in town, but there’s nothing remotely trustworthy about him, despite the fact he’s a very polite, smiling sort of fellow.
– Bruce Dern plays an ex-confederate general who obviously earns the ire of Jackson’s character. Yes, Dern shouts the N-word at one point; would it be a Tarantino film without it?
– Roth’s character, Oswaldo Mobray, is a highfalutin Englishman with a jolly disposition. From what I gathered, Roth might just end up being the scene-stealer.
– It would seem to me THE HATEFUL EIGHT shows off QT’s love of Sergio Leone even more than DJANGO did. It’s a little more over-the-top, performance-wise, a little more lighthearted. There would appear to be considerable suspense, yes, but there’s a playfulness to the whole endeavor. Think the alternately scary-funny Michael Fassbender sequence in INGLORIOUS BASTERDS and stretch it out to feature length.
– Back on the panel, Kurt Russell said QT called him last year about taking part in a reading, they did the play, then QT said he wanted to make the movie. “There’s nobody like this guy,” Russell said, talking about how QT is a once-in-a-generation filmmaker. “It’s a circus you want to be a part of.”
– In regards to casting Demian Bichir – who plays the role of mysterious “Bob” – Tarantino said he had originally written the character to be a Frenchman, but then changed it to a Mexican. (I got a sense of Tuco in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY.) He then called friend Robert Rodriguez and asked who the best Mexican actor working today was, and Rodriguez told him Bichir, who he had just directed in MACHETE KILLS. Rodriguez thought Bichir was a prototypical Tarantino actor.
– QT talked about the leaked script; the thing that pissed him off the most was that it wasn’t finished, it was a first draft. He ultimately ended up shooting the third draft. It would seem as though he’s gotten over the incident, however.
– Regarding KILL BILL 3: “Never say never. Uma wants to do it, we talk about it every once in a while. We need for Vernita’s daughter to get old enough to try to kill her.”
– QT plans on making one more western because he thinks you need to direct three of them in order to call yourself a “western director,” which is a status he desires.
– Quentin ended the panel with the wonderful announcement that Ennio Morricone would be providing the original score to THE HATEFUL EIGHT, his first western score in 40 years. As QT’s latest seems to be a genuine tribute to Sergio Leone, that’s more than fitting.
THE HATEFUL EIGHT comes out Christmas Day. Do yourself a favor and try to peep it in a theater projecting it in 70mm; looks like it’ll be worth it.