So I haven’t been a huge fan of Tarantino in the past. YES, Pulp Fiction is cinematic gold and utterly legendary but since he veered into the Kill Bill’s, I’ve found Tarantino trying. Against my better judgement, it has to be said that Django Unchained is his most entertaining piece of filmmaking since Pulp Fiction and this Little Miss thinks it is worth the praise and buzz it has been given this Awards season.
“The D is silent” (Django)
The film is almost in two succinct parts – one is a pastiche of a spaghetti western, complete with trite and comic imagery of the swinging salon door, the shoot-out and the ‘wanted’ posters with a bounty hunter hot on the tails of the criminals. Taking under his wing, the astonishingly funny Christophe Waltz as King Schultz(with a nod from the Academy Awards cementing his brilliance) kidnaps slave Django (Jamie Foxx) to help him in hunting down the wanted ‘Brittle Brothers.’ This first half of the film really is excruciatingly funny, complete with images of Jamie Foxx horseback in full jet blue suit with frilly lapels. Somehow, he manages to pull this look off too.
The second part of the film takes the part of a revenge drama and it’s here that the film really focuses on the slavery elements of the film, farcical in parts towards the end, where we follow Django to the ranch of Calvin Candie (played by Leo DiCaprio) to rescue his long lost wife (Kerry Washington).
“Gentleman, you had my curiosity. Now, you have my attention” (Calvin Candie)
Playing a character he described as ‘the most deplorable character in any screenplay I’ve ever read’, this was Leo’s first collaboration with Tarantino and he does a masterful job at keeping up the pace of the tail-end of the movie (at nearly 3 hours long, this is not a film for the faint-hearted or numb bottomed). A scene involved Leo, a skull and a saw is particularly gripping.
The soundtrack is also worth highlighting as it forms a perfect partner to the over-the-top feel of burlesque merriment that purveys the film. Jamie Foxx even penned one of the numbers himself (look out for the scene where they are all en route to Candie’s ranch…).
The film has not only been pitched against Awards-buzzing Lincoln for its depiction of slavery, but also criticised by reviewers and viewers alike for its treatment on the subject. In my humble opinion, the issue isn’t smarted over or mocked at all – in fact, some moments of the film are horrendously poignant showing the vulgarity and absurdity of the violence of the era. However, Tarantino also provides a comic reaction to the subject matter in some skit-type scenes involving the Ku Klux Clan (with a random cameo from Jonah Hill) where they all complain about not being able to see properly out of their eye holes in their white hoods.
Samuel L Jackson’s portrayal of Calvin Candie’s housekeeper is also a genius stroke of casting. Almost unrecognisable with the use of prosthetics, Jackson is back on full force after his Snakes on a Plane days and plays the part to perfection. With just enough humour and knowing irony in his portrayal of an Uncle Tom-style house slave, he’s perfection.
See below for the trailer if you are yet to catch this in cinemas. DVD will be released in a few months time:
In short: Tarantino’s silly, witty and fabulously funny portrayal of the Western genre is one for the film lover. It’s long length makes it feel slightly overstretched towards the end and the violent scenes filled with literal fountains of blood are not for the faint hearted. But it’s Tarantino back on form.
“D’Artagnan, motherf*ckers!” (Django)
LMNH rating: 4*
