Tarantino Unchained

Rating: 8/10 (22 January 2013)

Quentin Tarantino once more provokes discussions and sensation with his pretentious, violence-glorifying work. Besides the usual intensity of brutality visualized in Tarantino's movies, slavery is almost ludicrously staged in Django Unchained. As overambitious slave owner, Leonardo DiCaprio shows how acting may outwit our perception by presenting himself as Francophile plantation owner who does not even have command of the French language. Christoph Waltz is not only inconsistent concerning his profession, but also his role. Formerly a dentist, now a bounty hunter, the German Dr. King Schultz roams the Wild West and seems to transcend from the role of the leading lecturer to the sidekick. By introducing Djamie Foxx ("The D is silent") as Django, Tarantino caps it all off. This is only overtrumped by the bizarre coming together with the original Django protagonist Franco Nero. Nevertheless, with a vast amount of action, surprising twists and a sensational cast, Tarantino's homage of 165 minutes does not seem one minute to long and can easily compensate for the exuberantly visualized violence.