Django Unchained certainly isn't a masterpiece but it's bold and funny for sure.

Rating: 6/10 (10 February 2013)

I'm a cinephile but I wasn't looking forward to seeing Django Unchained. Still, since I had some time, I went to the theater where the film was being screened. Django Unchained is a long film. Its running time is 165 minutes. Some people say that Quentin Tarantino is a great filmmaker, so he must have filled this project with meat. But no. There's just not enough meat here to justify the long running time. Instead there's fat and plenty of it. After Inglourious Basterds (2009), which is one of his best films, Tarantino wanted to make a spaghetti western. But he wanted the setting to be the Deep South before the Civil War. So he called his project a "Southern." He's not the first filmmaker to twist the word. Russian filmmakers made Western-like films as far back as the 1960s. They called them "Easterns" or "Osterns." One of the best films from that genre is White Sun Of The Desert (1970). Tarantino also said that he wanted to tackle the issue of slavery in the United States because America hasn't dealt with it well. The plot of Django Unchained is a simple one. Tarantino doesn't shy away from showing some of the worst abuses that happened as a result of slavery. But he still keeps things entertaining. The actors deliver good performances, especially Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson. The film contains some of Tarantino's best written dialogue. The gunfights are some of the best ever committed to film. Despite all this the film is still, for the most part, a stylistic failure. For such a simple story it's too long and there are a number of scenes which serve no purpose. Tarantino gets good performances from the actors but his direction doesn't impress because he didn't do a good job at building scenes. He's known for including things that he likes in his films. Here he goes too far by including too many of his influences and too many songs that aren't really suitable for the material. Tarantino's previous editor Sally Menke knew how to cut his footage for a good result and when to reign him in. But now that Fred Raskin is the editor the film doesn't seem like the work of a great director. So, even though the cinematography by Robert Richardson is beautiful and even though the film is entertaining we still get something that seems average but bloody as well. With better direction and better editing it could have been a great film. Django Unchained is also Tarantino's funniest film yet. I recommend it but my recommendation isn't enthusiastic.