Django Unchained - "I spent my entire life surrounded by black faces, I only had one question, why don't they rise up and just kill the whites?"
This isn't so much a film as it is an expedition, the 8th expedition into Quentin Tarantino's large and expansive film universe. Quentin Tarantino relishes in writing long intricate dialogue sequences that can create immense tension like no other screenplay writer working today. He also makes no bones about the fact that violence is so much fun to watch as long as it is done with a certain sense of "Panache". Django Unchained stars Jamie Foxx as Django with a silent "D" sold into slavery and separated from his wife Broomhilda played by Kerry Washington. As punishment for trying to escape their owners they receive the lash and like a flashlight, batteries are sold separately and Django needs his batteries back. As fortune has it a nomad bounty hunter, posing as a dentist by the name of Dr. King Schultz played by Christoph Waltz stumbles upon a chain gang of slaves and there two escorts and proceeds to delve into negotiations into buying Django because he has information he needs. Negotiations go south (ironically) and two white men on moral high horses are suddenly at the mercy of a chain gang of slaves and Django and Schultz begin their harmonious journey across America as bounty hunters.
Much is to be said of the script as it has garnered a lot of criticism for its use of the word "Nigger" but the year as stated in the film is 1858 two years before the civil war and "Nigger" was uttered nonchalantly as the time of day. The world in which the film is set has a hyper reality, showing you some truly brutal sufferings of the African-Americans in those days. Which speaks to the type of filmmaker Quentin is, he isn't censored by his longtime faithful producers "The Weinstein Brothers" and pretty much makes the film he wants to make. Django Unchained is like no other film Quentin has ever made and it would be a disservice to compare it to his predecessors. It's ultra violent as one might expect but it doesn't glorify it & it's never condoned. A noticeable aspect of the violence is that the blood sprays are practical effects, taking advantage of blood sachets and not lazily editing them in in post production with bad CGI like we see in most modern action films. It spans many genres but never muddles them up as the film evolves from a buddy comedy to a spaghetti western. It's a roaring good time if you can handle the violence. The script is so well crafted that it will horrify you whilst at the same time making you laugh.
Our two ambitious bounty hunters travel to Calvin Candies plantation aptly named "Candy Land" to rescue Django's wife & this is where the real fun begins. Our antagonist Calvin played by the terrific Leonardo DiCaprio is somewhat of a man-baby who has been spoon fed his entire life and enjoys such entertainment as Mandingo fighting and feeding slaves to dogs.....literally. Almost like a game of chess Dr. King Schultz must put certain pieces in place to achieve the ultimate goal, freeing Broomhilda. Only to be thwarted by the suspicious and malevolent "Stephen" played by an almost unrecognizable Samuel L. Jackson. Sam Jackson's performance in this film is so juicy and intriguing to watch as he waits on Calvin hand and foot in an almost loving fashion. Calvin successfully twisting Stephens mind into ratting on his own fellow slaves and doing his dirty work unconditionally.
The performances overall are terrific, except it was disappointing to see that Kerry Washington wasn't given any meaty dialogue to chew on which is contrary to Quentin's previous films that always feature headstrong and powerful female characters, if there were to be any criticism that would just about be it, other than that it's a perfect film that has a long running time but not once becoming tiresome or dull. My hats off to you Quentin. 5/5
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