Money for flesh

Rating: 10/10 (25 January 2013)

Set two years before the Civil War, when the German Dr. Schultz(Waltz, kind(yet determined), showing that he can do that just as well as that) frees the slave Django(Foxx, hardened(with a heart), you're not going to agree with everything he does), he asks his help in exchange for being his mentor, training him in his own field: bounty hunting. And along the way, he agrees to help free his wife... but that will not be easy, because she is being held by the flamboyant Calvin Candie(DiCaprio, playing it as an insidious psycho, shining in his first villain role, and shattering his fluffy, romantic image utterly; at one point, he caressed a horse, and it literally sent a chill down my spine... that is how despicable he is), and his "spy", Stephen(Jackson, as a manipulative traitor to his ethnicity), and they are not to be taken lightly. This is tense throughout, with us constantly worrying that our titular anti-hero(who is soft-spoken, both fulfilling the spaghetti Western trope and convincing you that he's been kept down his entire life) will suddenly just draw his gun and unload on the awful people abusing his kind - we know that they outnumber him, and that is not the way to successfully accomplish it. The action is incredibly tightly packed when it is there(keep in mind that this is a drama-thriller), and the rest of the time, we're either expecting it to erupt any minute, or catching our breath. Humor is impeccable, and I spent more than most of the 2 hour, 44 minutes(not counting end credits; ever self-indulgent, and could have been cut down to less? Sure. And the pacing does suffer a little, all entirely forgivable if you're into the director) of the running time doing one of three things: tapping my foot to the music(including both Ennio Morricone *and* modern rap music... and yes, somehow, it's always perfectly fitting; the mix of very different cultural elements is complementary), laughing uproariously, or with my heart pounding. It's shot beautifully on film, capturing every detail of the carefully designed props, costumes, sets, and the gorgeous exteriors, including snowy mountains. Tarantino(who packs minor roles with cameos from people we've seen in other of his pictures, and everyone cast looks the part, with unknowns missing teeth or speaking in a strange accent(the Southern is strong in this one) imbues this with his usual wordy, quotable dialog, though not much chronological jumping or complex plotting. There is pervasive graphic violence(brutal and bloody, highly unpleasant and disturbing to watch... not only because of the subject matter, although that does make it appropriate... well played, Quentin) and language(not big on the N-word? It's every fourth of fifth word spoken, here), and brief nudity(full frontal male, and topless female) in this. I recommend this to any big fan of his(if you only "like" his films, wait for a rental... and those who don't already enjoy his work need not apply at all). 10/10