In my world, Quinton can do no wrong. I love everything he has released. But I find all of his work, from True Romance (script sold to fund Reservoir Dogs) to Django, to be very violent, almost for the sake of being violent. I fully understand that gratuitous violence is not everyone's cup of tea, but I am shocked that some people a can stomach Pulp Fiction (think the spider and the fly scene), but not Kill Bill's cartoon like blood (sorry Pruss, not trying to call you out).
Hey Neil, it's cool, we're all entitled to our own opinions.
I've asked similar questions myself. I was challenged by, and unhappy with, the violence in True Romance and shocked/struck by the violence in both Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. I was also in my teens when I watched those three movies and was, perhaps, a little more inured to this kind of violence then versus where I am in life now. Either that, or using extreme violence for shock value was still something that Tarantino was discovering in those earlier films, where as now it has become trope.
For me, the difference lies in how violence is used as a vehicle for story telling. The part of Kill Bill Vol. 1 which I struggled with was the psychological violence imprinted on Lucy Liu's character and the extreme on-screen violence required to tell that part of the story. It was, I thought, unnecessary.
I think that Tarantino employs violence in a sadistic way and that this has become part of his hallmark, something which I don't need and now avoid. I'll watch
Shaun of the Dead and laugh out loud throughout the movie, because there the violence is a lampoon. But when violence takes itself seriously and is used to evoke/derive pleasure then I take umbrage.
Back on topic, I hope that Hateful Eight marks a maturing of Tarantino as auteur and that he uses the wonderful cast he's brought together and allows them to deliver his sentiment through their incredible capacity.
-- Pat
