Django Unchained

Mandingo. D'Artagnan. Slave abuse. Tarantino's technique of capturing the painful discrimination against blacks head-on and, on the contrary, making it cathartic in the final scene is brilliant. Starting with the impressive theme song, nonstop violence replaces it, giving us a glimpse into the kaleidoscope of horrific American society. Leonardo DiCaprio's monstrous performance and Christoph Waltz's near-perfect supporting turn are the main reasons for the film's appeal, but Quentin Tarantino's screenplay, which deliberately intersects revenge and black racism and ends up making us sneer at those who looked down on the slaves, is nothing short of brilliant. Next to "Pulp Fiction" this is Quentin's best film.

Django Unchained entertained me, for sure, with its taut storyline and its lack of predictability, but it doesn’t rise to the level of my few favorite Tarantino efforts. The trademark violence is present, sometimes to the point of it being cartoonish to me. It would have been easy to present many of the characters as stereotypical, but the script avoided that. The DiCaprio slave owner is vicious and cruel, but there are flashes of flexibility concerning the status quo with his slaves. And his elderly house slave seems to act more like a slave owner than he does. A chemistry develops between the two lead characters as they work as bounty hunters, and that is satisfying to see. There are the usual sometimes subtle nods to other films, and I felt the influence of Spaghetti Westerns here and there. As I said, I enjoyed the film, even though I won’t be watching it multiple times as I do with other Tarantino movies. If you have the stomach for violence and portrayed extreme And presumably historically accurate racism, give it a look.

When Django is unchained (pronounced JANG-oh, not Duh-JANG-oh) Released in 2012 and directed & written by Quentin Tarantino, "Django Unchained" stars Christoph Waltz as an ex-dentist who befriends an ex-slave, Django (Jamie Foxx) in West Texas a couple of years before the Civil War; they team-up as bounty hunters once they realize how good they jell. The second half focuses on their attempt to infiltrate a Mississippi plantation owned by pompous Southerner "Monsieur" Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) in order to rescue Django's wife (Kerry Washington). Samuel L. Jackson plays Candie's overly loyal house slave. This is an excellent American Western with Spaghetti Western elements featuring Tarantino's typical artistic flourishes. It takes place in the West AND in the South, which is reminiscent of the underrated "Nevada Smith" (1966), one of my favorite Westerns. Waltz is magnetic as the nonchalant protagonist and he & Foxx have good chemistry. There's a nice mix of interesting dialogues, amusing moments and over-the-top action. Unfortunately, but to be expected, Tarantino goes overboard with the 'n' word and the blood-letting, the latter to the point of cartoonish-ness. Nevertheless, this is an original Western that is vibrant with creativity, including stunning locations, cinematography and a great amalgamated soundtrack/score, which includes cuts by Ennio Morricone, like the excellent "Hornets' Nest," the imaginative "The Braying Mule" and the moving "Ancora Qui." It's all-around superior to "The Hateful Eight" (2015) because it's not limited by a one-room whodunit plot (although "Hateful" has its unique points of interest). The movie runs 165 minutes and was shot in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; Evergreen Plantation & New Orleans, Louisiana; and several locations in California (Lone Pine, Alabama Hills, Semi Valley, Melody Ranch, Santa Clarita, Independence & Los Angeles). The cast includes numerous peripheral notables, e.g. Ato Essandohs, Don Stroud, James Remar, Bruce Dern, Ato Essandoh, Franco Nero, Don Johnson, Amber Tamblyn and several others. GRADE: A