Tarantino is as fond of talking as ever

Rating: Null/10 (17 January 2013)

I suppose it's fairer to say "fond of dialogues" as the critics put it, but with Tarantino, the dialogue is really the screenwriter talking out aloud, his own monologue, so to speak. So, let's not split hair. The first thing you'll notice about "Django" is that it is probably the most main-stream Tarantino that has hit the market. Except for a few flashbacks (of which you'll likely see more in other mainstream movies), the story-telling is uncharacteristically linear, completely devoid of the auteur's trademark convolutions. The expected brutality and bloodbaths are still there (indeed, without them, it wouldn't be Tarantino) but somewhat toned down compared with his earlier works. But thank heaven, the delightful caustic (and on occasions outlandish) humor is still there, intact. And, of course, the dialogue.
Emerging from this 165 minute superb entertainment, I had a thought that it could very well use the "chapters" format as in many other movies, most notably of which, say, "The sting". But there is nothing wrong in not having that. Simply put, this is the story of a series of adventures of two bounty hunters. In the prelude, Doctor Schultz (Christoph Waltz), ethnic German bounty hunter working with the cover identity of a traveling dentist, seeks out Django (Jamie Foxx), a slave in-transportation and, failing in an attempt to buy him, shoots the slave traders and takes him anyway. The first chapter establishes the relationship between the pair: Schultz needs Django to identify the target of a lucrative assignment, three brothers wanted "dead or alive", which turns out to be the terms of reference for almost all of his assignments. Schultz is quickly established as a "good guy", sadistic and ruthless notwithstanding, offering Django freedom and a share of the bounty money, as well as the horse they took from the slave trader. Django, as it turns out, doesn't need any lure because the three villains were the ones who captured, tortured and branded him and his wife Broomhilder (Kerry Washington).
This first chapter also gives a little demonstration of the good doctor at work, coming to a small town and shooting down the sheriff who turns out to be a "wanted" criminal in hiding. This small job only paid him two hundred dollars but does give Django a feel for the profession. Quite predictably (I use this word in a neutral manner; we all know that if Tarantino wants, he can be as unpredictable as any director, dead or alive). The next chapter is an account of how this job is accomplished. Quite significantly, this time Django kills two of the targets, leaving only one for Schultz to handle, which he doesn't mind.
You can consider the next sequence a separate chapter, continuation of the same chapter, or some sort of interlude. Schultz takes on Django as a partner and gives him good training. The two working together accumulate a considerable fortune, as well as develop a brotherhood bonding. The final chapter is the longest, occupying maybe as much as half of the movie, taking its good time to develop how the pair plans to rescue Broomhilder from arch-villain plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) to whom she has been sold. The whole thing starts like "The sting" and ends like "Kill Bill". More I will not reveal.
That is the plot and story. As to the heart and soul, it is also quite straightforward: a manifestation against slavery or, more specifically, black slavery in the US. One prominent critic, half-seriously, suggests a double feature of "Django" together with "Lincoln" (and the two add up to 17 Oscar nominations), and that is a good way of putting it. One thing that really captures my attention is the development of Django the person, both mentally and physically, throughout the movie. At the start, he is a lowly, taciturn slave. Throughout his association with Schultz, he develops such self-confidence and character that at the end, he is not unlike one of those Western heroes usually played by John Wayne (except in skin color).
Tarantino has also given meticulous attention to details, anticipating the audience's likely question "How come a slave can shoot like John Wayne?" Tarantino first shows in an early scene how Schultz offers Django a rifle to get a feel of shooting at one of the rascals on horseback. While Schultz gets impatient, Django aims unhurriedly, and gets his man just before he disappears into the wood. Schultz is obviously impressed, "You are a natural!" Later, there is a brief scene of Django practicing shooting under Schultz's guidance. At the very end of the movie, after we have seen everything, there is a coda of a cryptic flashback to the earlier training scenes, with Schultz saying to Django "You are becoming the fastest gun in the South". Talking about fast draw, I notice two scenes which might have been tributes to "The magnificent seven". One is at the "prelude", when Schultz draws with lightning speed against the slave traders just the way Yul Brynner did at the graveyard entrance when he is blocked (although he didn't kill). The other is the long shot Schultz had on the last of the wanted brothers trying to get away on horseback, which reminds me of James Coburn's long shot (although again with a small difference as Coburn "was aiming at the horse").
Waltz has already won Golden Globe and I won't be surprised if he also gets his second Oscar. You would enjoy watching DiCaprio, delicious vile in his portrayal. Foxx is always dependable and handles extremely wellthe character development I mentioned. Washington's role as damsel-in-distress here is not as demanding as Della Bea Robinson in "Ray" (the film with which Foxx won his Oscar), and her performance here is solidly dependable. The one to really watch is Samuel L. Jackson as Cabdie's right-hand man. He really deserves a Golden Globe nomination alongside with Waltz and DiCarpio.