brilliant. poignant yet funny; and one of Tarantino's best.

Rating: 8/10 (24 November 2013)

Tarantino is one of those writers/actors that whilst you sometimes abhor what they bring to the screen, in terms of things you don't want to see, you can't deny they are geniuses. I hate the bad language, gratuitous violence and most of the subject matter in his films but I have to admit his films are brilliant (albeit I have to look away occasionally). Django Unchained is one of his best, in my opinion. The story is interesting, gripping and really poignant... it's about slavery and addresses it boldly and holds a light up to it without mincing it's words. The injustice of slavery is portrayed to graphic effect but I was expecting the atrocities to be a lot worse, and so was pleasantly surprised by this film being so comedic. It was really really funny, even the cringeworthy bits have humour, which is very unusual. Tarantino has a gift; he stares deplorable acts in the face and still sees the humour in storytelling without detracting from the power or importance.
Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx were brilliant together; Waltz was a lovely character, and there was great chemistry between them and I'm sure they had fun with their scenes. Foxx inhabited Django fearlessly and was really committed giving a very physical performance. Di Caprio's Francophile Candie was dreadful but well played, with shades of Johnny Depp all the way through, and was hateful despite there being humour, even when he was at his most despicable. Kerry Washington took on a brave and exposing role and was predictably superb. Everyone in the cast was incredible and gave grade A performances which in turn gave the film such added star quality... but I think Samuel L Jackson(almost unrecognisable) employed the greatest transformation for his role. A trouble with all of the characters was that they were all so horrible (except Schultz, Django and Broomhilda) that you really didn't care about the awful ends that befell them - in many cases they weren't untimely enough! Brilliant acting, great story, but as it was Tarantino there was lots of animation-style blood special effects which were overblown and unbelievable (not realistic) and one particularly shoot out was a little ridiculous. However, that added to the comedy 'One Night at McCools' kind of finale which added to the entertainment of the film and was hallmark Tarantino!
There was much that was playful and homage to old films and art-direction, which gave it an older style look, and more serious. Lots of nasty things happened to horses, which I didn't like, but I was happy to see a "no horses were harmed in the making of this film" note at the end. The scenery was fantastic and the soundtrack awesome - loved the John Legend track amongst others.
Overall, great entertainment, gripping and well written, well worth all the plaudits, and praise, for the actor's portrayals. Whilst largely a drama that was highly comedic, intentionally or not, it was a stark reminder of America's past in terms of the brutality of slavery and some of the scenes - as such - were quite distressing, and difficult, but could have been a lot worse given what went on and what Tarantino (look out for his cameo - his brief and explosive performance) has done in the past. Also look out for a cameo from Franco Nero, the original Django in the 1966 film - a cameo and homage.