Quentin Tarantino is a fearless filmmaker. He is not shy of swearing or racial slang, all in the cause of the artistry he gives his works. His latest endeavor is this violent and often hilarious western that plays upon the backdrop of a two year precursor to the American Civil War. Its also his second installment in a new theme of altered visions in history, sporting a new school attitude within a periodical landscape. Accompanied by confidently placed musical anachronisms, the crazy kid from Tennessee by way of Manhattan Beach has constructed another shining film to add to his glowingly impressive resume. While I still have a touch more love for Basterds, Django Unchained is one hell of a film that succeeds to entertain its general audience and fanboys of the director alike.
Present is QT’s usual knack for fascinating characters, whether on screen for two hours or two minutes, most people you come across in a Tarantino film are rather memorable, despite the fact that quite a few are vile beings. This adventure brings us into the lives of Django, our title character and man on a mission, out to rescue his darling wife Broomhilda, whom he lost to the slave trade. His trusty partner and rescuer is Dr. King Shultz (masterfully played by Christoph Waltz), a former dentist turned bounty hunter out to catch a few baddies with a price on their head. Waltz is the more enjoyable of the two, showcasing a man who can talk his way out of just about anything, where as Foxx holds the more serious, sly and down to business look. On the other side of the spectrum, we have Leonardo DiCaprio as the charming but ruthless Calvin Candie, the owner of CandieLand, a plantation where widely immoral practices occur and where Broomhilda is believed to be. The always excellent when working with Tarantino Samuel L. Jackson comes around as Stephen, Candie’s head house slave and a man suspicious of Shultz and Django’s purpose for coming to the plantation. Jackson is amazing, not only with his verbal, but also his physical performance. I can honestly say that Samuel L. Jackson is worthy of awards recognition for his portrayal of the house slave, especially after his royal screwing for Pulp Fiction at the Oscars back during the 1995 ceremony. Although Martin Landau did a great job, do people still talk about his performance the way they do Jackson’s?
Tarantino is an auteur at heart. When you watch one of his films, you know he made it. With Django, we explore a very modern state of idealism towards the traditional western. At 165 minutes, this is Tarantino’s longest single-released film to date (Kill Bill as a whole clocks in at 247 minutes, but it was released into two films). Another major surprise is that this is his film with the least amount of pop culture references, if any. A lot of which most likely has to do with the film’s time period. Much like Basterds, the musical anachronisms make their presence known. Where as in his previous effort Tarantino placed Spaghetti Western compositions in a World War II film, this time he takes a risky leap by placing modern hip hop in a Southern-set Western. Quite frankly, it works nicely for the value of fun and entertainment.
This is also one of QT’s more intense features, bringing out some tough scenes that showcase the horrors of the slave trade. But within the tense structure stands a sense of humor, one which has brought the director a touch of controversy since the film’s release on Christmas Day. Its not to far from Basterds, which placed a sense of humor on not only one of the most gruesome wars in history, but also a time when many innocent lives were taken during the holocaust. Not many things were said about that, thus i think it should be understood that QT is not attempting to make a joke out of slavery, but more so putting his stylish touch of filmmaking into a time period that brought out a lot of darkness in human nature. Much of the satire is aimed at slave owners and ignorance. One particular scene involving bag heads will have audiences in a riot of laughter.
There is a reason why Tarantino changed the way I looked at movies when I was twelve years old. The way he writes dialogue for his characters is just phenomenal. Especially since he can make twenty straight minutes of chatter beyond interesting, even when the conversation has nothing to do with the plot of the film. He is one of the best writers of his generation and it really shows in every word spoken in his films. Django is a further representation of this director’s new wave of filmmaking, which culminated with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, two back to back films that shocked audiences and introduced them to a modern twist on such influences such as the neo noir, French new wave and Hong Kong action cinema. I look forward to what Tarantino has in store for us in the future and as always, I will be there to see it as soon as it is released.
-ADAM KEITH.
