Vintage Tarantino

Rating: 10/10 (24 September 2013)

If you're a fan of Tarantino's work, then you will enjoy Django. If you are not a Tarantino fan, then why are you even watching this movie? It's a Tarantino film, so you pretty much know what you're going to get.
You're going to get a highly stylized film with great cinematography, an awesome soundtrack, some graphic violence and a lot of well written scenes with tons of great dialogue and top notch acting. In short, if QT isn't your thing, then you should look elsewhere because there isn't a director working today whose films are as easily identified just by watching a scene or two than Tarantino.
Luckily, Tarantino happens to be my favorite director and I thoroughly enjoyed Django. After seeing Inglorious Basterds, I started scouring the internet to see what his next project was. I heard he was doing a Western and I was instantly excited because Westerns happen to be one of my favorite genres.
For those unfamiliar, Django is about a slave, played with brooding anger by Jamie Foxx, that is freed and then hired by a German-born bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz. The bounty hunter is played with infectious energy by Christoph Waltz, who won an Oscar for Inglorious Basterds. There should be a law that Tarantino must put Waltz in every film he makes from here on out. They are a match made in cinema heaven. You can tell QT loves writing for Waltz and I'm not sure another actor could bring QT's words to life like Waltz does.
The unlikely duo soon head out to find a trio of murderous brothers. Once that is done, Schultz promises to help Django find his wife, who was separated from him and sold to another slave owner.
The subject matter in Django is very serious and is certainly a hot button issue. In fact, Tarantino has been under fire for directing a film portraying African Americans being brutally assaulted and murdered. As a white man, most feel that Tarantino can't properly handle such subject matter. Many people are also upset because the "N" word is used over 150 times. Like some of the violence, it sometimes feels a gratuitous.
With that being said, I felt that Django is the kind of film that might be seen as empowering for African Americans, much in the same way Basterds was empowering for Jews. You can't help but cheer as the slave owners get what's coming to them.
Tarantino isn't trying to make a historical documentary. He proved that with Basterds. He's only concerned about making an entertaining film. I'm not sure there's a director today that continues to be a box office draw, but at the same time, continues to turn out critically acclaimed work.
About half way through the film, we are introduced to Calvin Candie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio with a sort of Southnern sleaze that makes you want to strangle him every time he opens his mouth. This is the first villainous role that DiCaprio has played and I was interested to see if he could pull it off. Saying it was a success is an understatement. Every time Candie is on the screen, you can't take your eyes off of him. As the film moves on, it's apparent that Candie's Southern charm or smarm is about to wear off and when it does, all hell breaks loose.
Samuel L. Jackson also turns in a good performance as Stephen, Candie's house slave, that adores his owner. Stephen is easily the most hated person in the film. He's a trader to his people. A sin that's worse than anything a white man can commit upon a black man. Jackson's character borderlines on cartoonish, but he's still highly entertaining.
My favorite thing about Tarantino's work is how passionate he is about film. His passion can really be felt while watching his movies. Django is no different. It's easy to see how Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns have influenced him. The expansive wide shots of the terrain, to the extreme close-ups of a face or a gun.
Django is a perfect companion piece to some of QT's other works like Basterds and even Kill Bill. It's about revenge and setting the record straight. The violence is sometimes over the top, but you can't help but crack a smile as justice is being served. Like the opening slate says in Kill Bill, "Revenge is a dish best served cold." In Django, Revenge is also a dish best served bloody and screaming.