Quentin Tarantino is nothing if not dramatic. When he’s not reveling in the controversy surrounding his films or bitch-slapping irritating fucks with cameras, he’s making sure that his work gets the publicity it rightly deserves. In the case of his latest, Hateful Eight, he intends for the film’s release to be a true event, an homage to the glory days before digital projection came along. “If we do our jobs right by making this film a 70 mm event, we will remind people why this is something you can’t see on television and how this is an experience you can’t have when you watch movies in your apartment, your man cave or your iPhone or iPad,” he said, at the American Film Market.
As excited a notion as that is, it comes with a twinge of sorrow. This is to be his 8th directorial effort, and Quentin reckons he’ll be done with it altogether once he hits the big ten-o. “I like the idea of leaving them wanting a bit more. I do think directing is a young man’s game, and I like the idea of an umbilical cord connection from my first to my last movie. I’m not trying to ridicule anyone who thinks differently, but I want to go out while I’m still hard.” I can see his point, the star that shines twice as bright and all that. I’d still like to see him take a stab at a few other genres though, I’ve always loved the idea that he might turn his hand to animation, especially after that wonderful sequence from Kill Bill. Whether he’ll get out of the screenplay game is unclear, but it’s highly unlikely that he’ll retire altogether, currently he thinks he’ll probably end up “writing plays and books, going gracefully into my tender years.”
Not that any of this is completely set in stone, mind you. Several members of the Hateful Eight cast were in attendance and some of them were a tad skeptical, most notably Samuel L. Jackson: “What’s Quentin going to do with himself if he’s not doing this?” Even the man himself, wasn’t entirely sure, it seemed like the whole plan more or less hinges on the success of Hateful Eight, ” It’s not etched in stone, but that is the plan. If I get to the 10th, do a good job and don’t screw it up, well that sounds like a good way to end the old career. If, later on, I come across a good movie, I won’t not do it just because I said I wouldn’t.” If this simply means that, somehow, Tarantino is going to become even more picky with the projects he picks up, so be it, just a further assurance of quality.
Hateful Eight, meanwhile, is still looking rock-solid, with its mind-blowing cast and propensity towards tense, insular, dialogue driven narrative. Since it’s actually being shot on 65mm, which hasn’t been done in a long time, it should have a vintage, unique look unlike anything else Tarantino or anyone has made in years. “The last movie to use these lenses was Khartoum with Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier. We’re using those lenses for this movie. We’ve been testing them the last month and everything is A-OK. They look amazing. We are literally coming out with the biggest widescreen movie shot in the last 40 years.”
You can find the rest of what Tarantino had to say on Deadline. Hateful Eight will be dropping on November 11th, 2015, all things being equal. I cannot wait to see it, to say nothing of numbers 9 and 10.
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