Clash of the Westerns: The tough choice between Tarantino's 'Hateful Eight' and Innaritu's 'The Revenant'

Everyone has been eagerly awaiting Quentin Tarantino’s new film The Hateful Eight. But the fans have a much more difficult task at hand this Christmas than just buying tickets for the latest offering from their favourite director. Not one but two major Hollywood Westerns are releasing together (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s The Revenant also hits theatres), and if you thought the glory days of Westerns ended in the 1960s, you could not have been more off the mark.

Now, Tarantino’s cult status is undeniable, but who can ignore Inarritu — who walked away with the Academy award for Birdman last year? On top of that, one can’t deny the star power of Leonardo DiCaprio, who is still known as ’that guy from Titanic’ in India, the most Bollywood-esque blockbuster ever made by Hollywood.

So, if you are yet to make up your mind, here are a few more reasons why you should give up the thought of making a choice, and just go for a Western marathon this Christmas:

- What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Westerns? Yes, arid landscapes of the Wild West. However, in the 1960s, Sergio Corbucci broke the mould with his masterpiece, The Great Silence, with its epic chase through the snowy landscapes of Utah. Tarantino explored such ideas in his previous film, Django Unchained too, in some scenes. This time he seems to have embraced the idea in totality. On the other hand, The Revenant also is set in atypical locations, but is based on a true story of a man who survives a bear attack and goes after his backstabbing friends. Both of them promise to take the Western genre to the next level.

- The visual splendour expected from both the films is not just because of the locations, but also because of their cinematographers. Emmanuel Lubezki is on an Oscar hattrick this year. After Gravity and Birdman, will he win a third one with The Revenant? On the other hand, Robert Richardson of The Hateful Eight is also no stranger to big laurels. In fact, he already achieved his hat-trick of Academy awards, with JFK, The Aviator and Hugo.

- Just like Lubezki, director Inarritu is also the defending champion at the Oscars. He has come a long way from his realistic portrayals of the last decade and is now exploring much more exotic themes. On the other hand, Tarantino is a cult favourite, who is often seen as too quirky to win the favour of the conservative jury.

- Keep an eye out for the directors’ own political consciousness and ideology which is likely to be at play in these two films. Tarantino has already tackled issues of slavery through Django Unchained while Inarritu, a Mexican , has spoken on behalf of the immigrants in the past. So, through the turbulent, 19th Century adventures, they will surely make a comment on the present state of the nation and the world in general. Through the turbulent, 19th Century adventures, they are sure to make very different comments on the present state of the US, and the world in general.

- And finally, can DiCaprio finally win an Oscar? Along with Johnny Depp, he is probably the most acclaimed actor of his generation who has fallen short of the coveted crown, despite being nominated several times. This trailer promises another towering performance from him: