Al dente

Rating: 9/10 (27 December 2012)

In many ways, Django Unchained is very similar to Inglourious Basterds. They both are derived from European B-movies and are set in times where the world wasn't on the top of its game. But whereas Basterds worked precariously around the mass armed conflict at the time, Django fires six shots into the heart of the issue that has generally been turned away from in cinema: slavery. And where Basterds was a decidedly more dramatic film with only small bits of humour, Django is usually less serious but with select instances of pure pain. In a year of blockbuster disappointment, Django Unchained stands tall and free, delivering almost 3 hours of cinematic goodness.
Right from the first frame it's apparent that there's another very important influence on this film, and that is the spaghetti western. From the font of the opening titles to the throwback theme songs, Django is a movie about slavery with the style of a certain Italian filmmaker. This "neowestern" as I shall call it doesn't contain long stares in ghost towns, but has plenty of shooting and flair. And with a name like Tarantino's attached, you know it's getting the double dose of brutality.
I mentioned earlier the humour is more apparent than in Basterds. The shootouts are ridiculous, the characters zany, and it's always a pleasure to hear Samuel L. Jackson saying m*****f*****. I want to especially point out the scene with the KKK for being especially hilarious, and the audience agreed with me that Django is fairly light considering how the topic could be taken. But, like the famous "How am I funny?" scene in Goodfellas, the South as it is often presented to us in films such as Gone with the Wind (for the record, this film affects my opinion of that one negatively) is quite ridiculous. Sure, we can laugh at the old white folks being astonished to see "a n**** on a horse", but things like that happened. People were horrible and slavery was one of the great abominations in human history. And on two occasions, like Tommy deVito, Tarantino drops the facade. Two scenes that still play in my mind, gut-wrenching scenes highlighting the cruelty of man. Django Unchained is violent, but only in these two scenes is it truly disturbing.
But after the scenes hit home the dresses get put back on and you are graciously welcomed to Candyland again. The writing is expectedly top notch, able to return to a warm place after unflinching brutality. The dialogue is laden with profanity and wit, complimenting the action scenes for a very briskly paced film that feels much shorter than its 2 hours 45 minute runtime.
The characters tentpole the film though. Django, the slave reborn as a vengeful killer, has all the style, moves and flair of a gunslinging hero. Although it's his name in the title the film belongs to DiCaprio and Waltz. Leo's Calvin Candie is a despicable man who relishes what he does, and leaves all traces of prettyboy hero Leo at the door. And Waltz as the bounty hunter Dr. Schultz is a quirky and good natured man. I think it's the beard. Very much unlike his last role in a Tarantino film.
Samuel L. Jackson plays a curiously loyal house slave though character is never really fleshed out, and though he gets a lot of great lines his presence feels a bit off. Likewise, Django's wife Broomhilda gets very little to say despite being the subject of the film's quest. She was mostly just... there.
Without a doubt Tarantino's films are incredible, movie lovers' movies. And Django Unchained is no exception- little references and unmatched style make a fantastic ride. But a problem that I have with them is depth. The only message that is really taken away is that slavery was brutal, but that isn't really treading new ground. The characters also see little development: Django goes from an angry slave to an angry hunter and Candie's is a functioning monster the whole way through. Only Schultz really changes and it's great to see, so I wonder why he didn't give Django any more transition. Nonetheless, Tarnatino and Western fans won't be disappointed by this, one of the best films of the year. 8.7/10