Once upon a time...

Rating: 10/10 (23 August 2019)

This one has Tarantino at his most melodramatic and linear narration, with the N - word being uttered atleast 100 times in its runtime of 165 minutes, precisely 110 times. Set in 1858, during the times of American slave trade, the story takes us through the horrors of the same. A black slave is freed by a mysterious bounty hunter who then help each other fulfill their personal motives. As it is a Tarantino movie, achievement of a motive isn't easy for anyone. Plans are bound to go wrong.
Despite the layered performances by Jamie Foxx and the prodigy Christoph Waltz, the show - stealer for me is Leonardo DiCaprio playing his evilest character, the Missisippi plantation owner with an ironic name - 'Calvin Candie'. The iconic dining table scene of him breaking the glass while confronting Django and Dr. Schultz is my clear favourite - that explanation of phrenology, and breaking of wine glass act! There is an air of romance midway and some comic relief too, with the climax being the obvious violent : gunshots everywhere and 'Unchained' by James Brown playing in the background. Not everytime can Samuel L. Jackson be the male lead for a black guy in a Tarantino movie, though he too plays his significant part being his usual audacious. Having watched this movie, 'Inglorious Basterds' for me still remains the best period drama by Tarantino.