Twenty years ago a wunderkind filmmaker burst onto the scene with a movie about a jewel heist that managed to show both the events before and after, but never during the actual heist. Little did the world know them, that writer/director would go on to create seven (and counting) classic genre-based movies that would revolutionize cinema. Quentin Tarantino has become known for his pop-culture filled, fast-paced dialogue, time-jumping editing, fantastic soundtracks, women’s feet, and cartoonish violence and in Django Unchained (the D is silent, as Django will tell you himself) he does it all again, only this time as a Western. While now that we have grown wise to Tarantino’s style and tricks, there is something magical about watching it all fold out on screen. Perhaps it’s his choice to keep his films spread out (Inglourious Basterds was his last release in 2008) or maybe it’s just that it works. Regardless, Django Unchained came to theaters as one of the most anticipated original stories of the year.
The first shot is simple and perfect, a mountain range in the west as yellow title cards pop up. Combined with the score, the setting immediately gives you the feel of a 1960’s western. From there we are shown to be in rural Texas two years before the Civil War where we meet Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) and his horse Fritz, who will bow his head upon introduction as he pulls up to a couple of slave traders and their slaves looking for a slave named Django (Jamie Foxx) to help him collect a bounty. The scene is everything you expect Tarantino to deliver: Funny, violent so over the top it is also funny, witty, and just plain fun. King buys Django, despite being very much opposed to slavery and offers him an agreement: Help him find the three Brittle brothers and he will earn $25 per brother as well as his freedom. King does not Treat Django as a slave and cares not for the typical rules. They ride into town together and use the town’s shock at a negro on his own horse to their advantage in collecting one of the many bounties King is trying to collect. While it would seem that a manhunt for three brothers could easily be the main plot for the movie, instead they are found rather quickly, killed, and taken for reward. Where the film really picks up is when Django talks about his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). Immediately King is sympathetic to Django’s story of love and loss and due to their unique circumstances, is willing to help try reunite the pair. This decision brings us to Candieland, the plantation of Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). The film takes off from there and becomes more intense, funny, violent, and overall fun. Leonardo DiCaprio plays his part to perfection and gives one of Tarantino’s famous monologues so well that he completely steals the show from the marvelous Christoph Waltz. Samuel L. Jackson makes his obligatory appearance (having appeared in all but two of Tarantino’s films) as Stephen, the head house slave of Candieland and a man who looks out for his owner instead of his own race.
Tarantino has been quoted as saying that when he writes minor characters, he pretends that they are the star of their own movie, and we just get to see a small snapshot of it. This is definitely the case as all of the minor characters end up having their moments of complete brilliance. There is even a point where I couldn’t remember the last time Django, the film’s lead, had a line at one point. This gives the movie a much more rounded out feel void of flat characters. A lot of critics have been divisive on Django Unchained so far, often saying Tarantino is relying too much on style over substance. I think it is simply unfair to knock the movie down a few pegs simply because what he does works and he has become more natural. The last film that critics split on was Jackie Brown, which has since become his best reviewed movie not titled Pulp Fiction. While the film may not be his masterpiece, it is by no means a weak link in the chain of fantastic movies that make up his filmography. As long as you can stomach the violence and the liberal use of the N word (102 times by my count), then Django is a must see and one of the best films of 2012.
A
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