Tarantino's latest pic is another winner

Rating: 9/10 (28 December 2012)

Revenge stories are a dime a dozen in Hollywood, but Quentin Tarantino has tapped into the perfect scenario for the genre in his latest movie, Django Unchained. In this bloody Spaghetti Western, Django, a black slave, exacts his revenge on the white slave owner who bought his wife and the white people who tortured him. This scenario is so perfect for a revenge story it's almost surprising that nobody has tried this yet, but the subject of slavery is still incredibly sensitive even after 150 years. I think Tarantino has created the ultimate cathartic experience that forces the audience to look at slavery in new ways.
Jamie Foxx plays Django, a slave who was separated from his wife Broomhilda (played by Kerry Washington, and yes, her owner was German) and wants nothing more than to be reunited with her. He gets his chance to free Broomhilda when he meets the German Dentist turned bounty hunter, Dr. King Schultz (played by Christoph Waltz). Well, really Schultz tracks down Django, as he needs to identify three wanted men who used to be the overseers on Django's plantation.
Waltz is a typical eccentric Tarantino character- always one step ahead of everyone else and putting a humorous spin on violence. Schultz purchases Django from his captors but more or less treats him like a free man. Schultz despises slavery, but he is not above exploiting the system for his own purposes. The German bounty hunter teaches Django all of the tricks of the trade and eventually Django surpasses even him. Foxx gives Django a cool, confident, persona. We can see the anger bubbling inside of him and he struggles to keep it under control when he witnesses the atrocities on slave plantations.
In return for Django's services, Schultz offers to help him track down the man who bought Broomhilda. Their mission leads them to plantation owner Calvin Candie, a deliciously evil villain played by Leonardo Dicaprio. Candie possesses all the hallmarks of Southern hospitality, but underneath the surface is a crazed man. Candie's plantation is used for more than growing cotton- it is a place for slave death matches called Mandingo fighting.
Django and Schultz hatch a plan to pose as slaver owners who are interested in buying a top notch fighter, but their real plan is to purchase Broomhilda. Their plan would have worked perfectly were it not for Candie's stereotypical Uncle Tom slave Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson). Needless to say, there are several bloody massacres that left me rooting for the hero harder than any movie in recent memory.
Django Unchained might be Tarantino's most over-the-top movie yet with music from Ennio Morricone, rap artists,and shots that look like they were taken from Sergio Leone films. Like all of Tarantino's films, we are not spared from gore, as the first blood is spilt (more like exploded) within the first ten minutes. The racist jokes and the use of the "N" word are almost endless. Many people will find these qualities of the film hilarious, but some will undoubtedly be turned off.
I think the greatest achievement of this movie is how it can start a conversation about slavery while still delivering an entertaining experience. Slavery is an under explored subject for Hollywood and I hope Django will influence more directors to tackle the topic from a black character's perspective. Hollywood has made highly acclaimed movies about slavery in the past, but Django is probably the first strong slave protagonist since Kunta Kinte.
This movie should not be mistaken for a history lesson by any means. The depiction of the slave plantation has (at least) one serious problem in that Mandingo fighting is entirely fictional. But Tarantino touches on many elements of slavery in this genre piece. For example, even though the Mandingo fighting was fictional, it illustrated how people were desensitized to the horrible atrocities against African Americans in that time.
Django Unchained also illuminates multiple methods of slave resistance. The obvious example is through violence, but Tarantino demonstrates pretty well that the power of slave owners was mostly psychological. The mere sight of Jamie Foxx riding confidently on a horse is enough to spark fear in the hearts of Southern white men and pride in black people. Simply breaking free of the psychological hold of slavery was a great form of resistance.
Then there is Samuel L. Jackson's character. Resistance is not really the right word to describe his actions, but underneath his feigned loyalty is a man who is only concerned with his own stature on the plantation and uses every dirty trick in the book to rise up among his fellow slaves. He is exceedingly loyal to his Master, executing his rules like a prison guard, while pretending to be less intelligent and physically weak so people will underestimate him. Jackson might be smarter- and arguably more evil- than his own master. Django and Jackson represent polar opposites- the former working outside the system, and the latter working from within to achieve his own goals.
Finally, Django Unchained is the only movie that I have ever seen that mentions the subject of black slave owners. They were rare, but they were very real. Django is utterly repulsed by impersonating a black slaver, but he grows into the role so well that the black people around him despise him.
Django is not above criticism. I felt like the film could have been a little longer even though it was almost three hours. Parts of the film feel underdeveloped. Man did those three hours go by faster than The Hobbit though!
Still, Django is one of the best movies I've seen this year. If you can stomach the violence and the language, I would recommend this film in a heartbeat. I think this movie will make the slave experience seem less like a history book and more like reality for many people.