When a Quentin Tarantino joint hits the big screen we all pay
attention. People like me get wildly excited and forget to wear pants to the
cinema. Other folks throw their hands in the air in disdain at the amount of
blood that will be spilled on-screen and worry about the direction in which our
society is headed. Add American slavery to the mix and you have Spike Lee
refusing to see the film.
Django Unchained,
set two years before the American Civil war, is pretty straightforward in its
premise: Django, brilliantly portrayed by Jamie Foxx (Ray), is a slave who has
been unchained. The unchaining is done by dentist-turned-bounty hunter, Dr.
King Schultz, the fastest gun in the South, played by the charming Christoph
Waltz, whose previous role in a Tarantino gig (2009's Inglorious Basterds) as
SS Col. Hans Lando was breath-yanking. Django and King team up to kill some bad
white folk and to save Django's wife Broomhilda, played by the oh-so-beautiful
Kerry Washington (Ray) from the evil clutches (I think that's an appropriate
phrase) of Mississipi plantation owner, Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Lots
of things happen in-between that - and that's where the fun is.
What makes Django
Unchained such a great picture is that even though the element of slavery is there
to jar your brain and incite a strong emotional reaction (and rightly so) it's
a terrifically good, if quite simple, story that just happens to take place in
an inhumane era of America's history. At its heart it's a Spaghetti Western and
pays homage to classic movies in the genre. The movie has some beautiful shots
of Django looking very much like Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's The Good, the
Bad and the Ugly (1966) - the movie Tarantino states is the best-directed film
of all time. He especially looks the part in the gunslinger shots in the
theatrical poster. Django Unchained takes its title from Sergio Carbucci's
spaghetti western, Django (1966) with Franco Nero as Django. Nero makes a cameo
appearance in this feature. The title also alludes to the films Hercules
Unchained (1959) and Angel Unchained (1970). Both these films also deal with
the themes of escape from captivity and revenge. By now, we all know that Tarantino is well versed in revenge and he doesn't skip a beat with it in this
feature. Django is angry and will gun down anyone who stands between him and
his woman.
The movie's musical
score's excellent and is one of its best elements. The scenes with Rick Ross'
'100 Black Coffins', John Legend's 'Who Did That To You' and 'Freedom' by
Anthony Hamilton are perfect.
Leonardo DiCaprio
and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) play their roles as Calvin Candie and
Stephen to a tee. The whole cast deserves a standing ovation though. If you've
not seen Django Unchained yet do yourself a favour and rectify the situation
today. This is Quentin Tarantino at his very best.
The only thing
really wrong with this movie is that Boba Fett isn't in it, what with being the
coolest bounty hunter in a galaxy far, far away and owning a ship called Slave
I. I really should write some fan fiction with him in it, a la Fifty Shades of
Grey.
P.S. At this rate
Tarantino should direct the films based on Stephen King's Dark Tower series and
Jamie Foxx play the role of Roland Deschain.
2 comments:
I wasn't interested in this movie, but now seeing the previews I am. Thanks!
It's a great film, Marcia :).
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