Not quite a masterpiece but moments of brilliance

Rating: 8/10 (1 January 2014)

One of the things that I love about the films of Quentin Tarantino is the clear love of cinema that permeates all of his movies. Tarantino at his best (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, parts of Kill Bill 1 and 2) can remind you how exhilarating cinema can be. In his less successful works (parts of Kill Bill 1 and 2, the parts of Inglourious Basterds featuring the 'Basterds') his inability to resist allusions to other works or to resist characters that 'strike a pose' can lead the films to cross the line into pastiche. Although he's still guilty of these weaknesses in Django Unchained, they don't prevent it from being one of his best films and one that despite its faults, and there are few, maintains the viewers interest for most its near three hour length.
A remake of a 1966 Spaghetti Western Jamie Foxx plays the title character, a slave taken on by bounty hunter King Schultz (Christophe Waltz) in order to help find his former overseers. Once free Django joins Schultz in a professional capacity and is Django is able to embark on a more personal search.
Jamie Foxx gives a fine performance but ends up overshadowed first by the sheer charm displayed by Waltz and then the showier and unsettling, but highly effective, turns of both DiCaprio and Jackson (as slave owner Calvin Candie and his head slave, Stephen respectively). Tarantino, while usually having primarily male casts, writes strong roles for women so it's perhaps a little surprising that the stunning Washington (as the wife of Django) has relatively little to do. Most of the remaining cast is roll call of cameos from icons of 80's TV and film along with an appearance from the original Django (Franco Nero) as well as slightly more bazaar appearances by Quentin Tarantino and Jonah Hill.
This film will not be for everyone. Western purists may find some of the dialogue a little incongruous (to be fair, I'm not an historian and it's entirely possible that 'mother******' was widely used in the 1850's Old West) and the manufacturers of fake blood may go the wall if Tarantino ever stops directing. For those who like the film, 'Enjoyable' is perhaps still the wrong word for this movie. The film has come in for criticism for its depiction of slaves, and the brutalities visited on them, but since the horrors on display are apparently historically accurate it could be considered more offensive to gloss over these events in favour of a more palatable viewing experience.
For a director almost exclusively associated with urban landscapes Django Unchained is without doubt Tarantino's most visually beautiful film and it's well chosen soundtrack only re-enforces this. As with previous films, Tarantino has largely eschewed original music in favour of music used in previous films along with well chosen contemporary music that despite its apparent incongruity provides an arresting background to the events on display. Tarantino has always had the ability unearth songs that have gone a little out of vogue and, in this case, Jim Croce's 'I Got a Name' is particularly effectively used (and sent this viewer to straight onto Youtube to find out more about the song).
I'm not sure that Tarantino has managed a completely successful film since Pulp Fiction, but Django Unchained is the closest that he has come to that achievement since then.