By Hipolito Munoz, Managing Editor/Publisher

So I decided to go watch Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight” because I really like Demian Bichir’s work. I have met him several times and he has always been very elegant and very accessible. Well, he was no disappointment in the film and the film has made me rethink my understanding of Tarantino’s work. I have avoided films like “Django Unchained,” and many of his other films, because of the violence and language, that has always bothered me. May be because I understand why he uses it, it entertains and hooks many folks into the story, to them it feels more “real.”

The film provides a tremendous glimpse into a world that only few directors can articulate. Where the Star Wars films require a whole galaxy to tell its story, this film only requires a room and a couple of outside scenes to create the type of story that we all understand and does provide an experience that many wonder about.

It seems that many filmmakers, especially young or first time filmmakers, have forgotten that a critical aspect of storytelling is the interior world of the character, her background. Syd Field the legendary screenwriter and teacher wrote: “character is the essential foundation of your screenplay,” this film is a study on character leading to action. Every one of those characters on Tarantino’s film is a world on itself.

I went to see it at the Arclight in Hollywood, the place that Tarantino supposedly meant for the film to be seen in all its 70mm glory, well if you have a theater that can screen the 70 mm reel, go see it, if not, go see it anyways. This film revels in all aspects of filmmaking; the music, the customs, the language, the accents, and although the violence seems gratuitous, if you delve into the characters of who these folks are supposed to be and the time they lived it, it may just make sense to you. You will also be glad to never meet any of them. It seems I sat in the packed house with mostly folks that work in this industry and the conversations were very telling. There was an energy that buzzed about after the film, conversations about their own work, and its deficiencies. Tarantino is the artist they look to for their own expression; hopefully they will also have his understanding of the human condition.