Review backlog entry no. 1. Originally written in 2013.
Django Unchained
Django
Unchained is quintessential Quentin and it delivers in a way only Tarantino can
deliver.
As with all of his directorial endeavours, Tarantino fittingly
adopted a shackles are off, anything goes mentality. This mentality in the case
of Django Unchained effectively translated on-screen to a
gripping, extravagant, bloodthirsty, perfectly paced, often-humourous
escapade with a serious political undercurrent that is thoroughly enjoyable. It
is most definitely history altering, indulgent, audacious
and continually outrageous, but it does make for spectacular viewing.
Django Unchained is a Spaghetti Western
genre mash-up written and directed by Quentin Tarantino set in America’s Deep
South in the year 1858, two years before the Civil War. It follows Django, a
slave given his freedom by a German-born dentist-turned-bounty hunter, Dr. King
Schultz, due to Schultz requiring Django’s assistance in identifying the
murderous and ruthless Brittle brothers. Whilst sharpening up on his bounty
hunting skills, taught by Schultz, Schultz comes to learn about Django’s wife,
Broomhilda and his desire to track down and rescue her from captivity. Their
adventure eventually steers them in the direction of a plantation, Candyland
and its brutal proprietor, Calvin Candie, who Django and Schultz come to learn
to be Broomhilda’s current owner. Masked with an entirely fabricated charade,
Django and Schultz gain access to Candyland but a bitter and hateful house
slave called Stephen becomes wary of their true intentions.
Christoph Waltz
as the witty bounty hunter with a history in dentistry, Dr. King Schultz is the
standout performance of the film, on top of several other excellent character
portrayals, notably Leonardo DiCaprio's portrayal of brutally villainous
yet subtly charming plantation owner, Calvin Candie. It is important
to add however that the heavyweight performances given by Waltz and DiCaprio do
in no way over-roar or overshadow Jamie Foxx’s slave-turned bounty hunter,
Django, he more than holds his own when it could have been so easy to have
slipped under the radar and be forgiven, given that the cast assembled for this
movie is so stacked. Samuel L. Jackson is the despicable, bitter and
foulmouthed bootlicker house slave Stephen. Jackson and DiCaprio characterize
a certain rapport between one another, this tells of a significant backstory
between Stephen and Candie, which adds even more to the movies already
substantial intrigue. However, Kerry Washington seems at times slightly insipid
and a bit bland as Broomhilder, especially for a Tarantino movie, but she ups
her game when necessary.
With historical emphasis placed
on Quentin Tarantino's last outing in that of Inglourious Basterds
and on his latest project, Django Unchained, what immediately springs to mind
is this guy would have been a cool history teacher. Only Tarantino could
address Nazi Germany and pre-Civil War human trafficking so elaborately in
successive films. Django unchained similar to Inglourious Basterds is a quirky,
unconventional somewhat peculiar look at Quentin Tarantino's view of
history. This movie provides an alternate depiction of the unapologetic
world of human trafficking and slavery in the Antebellum Era of America’s Deep
South. Tarantino constantly reinvents fictional story-telling and takes it to a
whole new level, Django Unchained is no different.
As the film progresses it does
not suffer from its 2 hour 46 minute running time. Given the considerably
lengthy running time you would think your attention and will-power would be
tested, however Tarantino has an ingenious way of making often
over-the-top and sometimes excessive erudition engrossing and absorbing; a
character building ploy that can be hit or miss, but Tarantino seems to hit it
out of the park more often than not.
The landscape of the movie is
changed with a single handshake but the dynamic remains consistent, with the
conflicting motives of love and revenge driving the film to an ultra-violent,
blood-soaked conclusion. In this midst of this, Tarantino injects himself into
proceedings just as it is conceivable that the movie is calming down somewhat,
however, it manifested to be that this was simply the calm before the blood
drenched storm. In addition to this, just as you think the movie is reaching a natural
plateau, it immerses you in yet more blood-splattering action that will keep
you hooked until the end and will leave you devilishly wanting more when it's
over. It is important to profess nevertheless that the more pedestrian moments
do not hurt the movie in any way attributable to Tarantino's knack of
being able to gradually build tension and intrigue.
On the contrary, it is also
understandable that this movie may not be to everyone’s taste, given its
uncompromising and unrelenting in-your-face nature. Riddled with racially
charged profanity it is easy to see why some people may take offence, and therefore
not engage fully with what the film is trying to convey. Does Django Unchained
transgress and at times cross the line? Certainly, but Tarantino has made a
career out of crossing the proverbial line, and his expertly placed humour
helps to soften the blow so to speak.
When all is said and done, it
ultimately boils down to a significantly important movie about pre-Civil War
slavery, executed in a cartoonish, unorthodox yet alluring fashion befitting of
the movies outlandishly eccentric dialogue, extraordinary settings and
charismatic character portrayals.
As with the other screenplay scripts
Tarantino has penned, Django Unchained’s dialogue is uniquely erudite and
provoking in the best sense of the word; and also intelligently witty
particularly for Dr. King Schultz’s dialogue. The cinematography is outstanding,
the lighting is fitting to each scene, and the satirical, parody-like whip
sounds and sudden zooming in that are customary with old school westerns are
just brilliant. Django Unchained is also stylistically revolutionary; the
striking costume designs are daring and radical but all unquestionably add
to the originality of the film. The soundtrack is superb; it captures the
essence of the movies unabridged flamboyance and greatly compliments the ambiance
and mood of each scene. Django by Rocky Roberts & Luis Bacalov, and the
original song, 100 Black Coffins by Rick Ross that was composed specifically
for this movie are the standout tracks of the Django Unchained soundtrack.
Django Unchained can justifiably
be considered as one of Tarantino's best, perhaps on par with Pulp Fiction, but
what is unquestionably clear is that he still has the ability to make a film
that gets people talking; controversy creates cash, and in Tarantino’s case a
lot of cash. The D may indeed be silent, but the voice of Tarantino’s
filmmaking craftsmanship is as loud as ever.
9/10
Written by Matthew Todd
