Quentin Tarantino’s latest effort ‘Django Unchained’ is all that one expects from him. Tarantino is obsessed with the schlocky genres of his youth and not only creates great works of art out of these forgotten formats, but relishes trying to cross the line of decency doing it. His work is nostalgic, ultra-violent, action packed, cool, and surprising... incredibly funny. If you are a Tarantino fan, then ‘Django Unchained’ doesn’t disappoint even if I don’t feel it’s his best effort. This time Tarantino visits the Spaghetti Western genre in what can only be called a ‘Southern’ as most of the action takes place in the pre-Civil War South instead of out West.
Christoph Waltz is cast as bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz. He is hot on the trail of three fugitive brothers he has never seen, so he frees a slave who once belonged to the brothers so he can have someone identify them. Django (Jamie Foxx) is that slave, but once free, Django has an agenda of his own; to free his still enslaved wife, Broomhilda (played by the stunning Kerry Washington). Despite himself, Schultz is moved by Django’s plight and promises to help Django find his wife if Django agrees to help him track down bounties over the winter. Django agrees and proves to be a natural at bounty hunting and, despite society still not accepting him, finds his niche.
Once Django and Schultz track Broomhilda’s whereabouts to a Southern plantation owned by a malicious man named Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) the fun starts. Schultz hatches a plan to rescue Broomhilda, where they must go in under the guise as slave traders and negotiate her release. Of course, it can’t be that simple and there are the trade mark twists and turns that mark every Tarantino film. The situations are painfully tense, gruesomely gory, and incredibly funny all at the same time. Who else can do that as good as Tarantino?
Much of the film is an exercise in revenge anger and white guilt. Tarantino relishes too much in using words and setting up situations that would leave him reviled by the general public if he were anyone but Tarantino. Many of the situations are exaggerated with no basis in historical truth, but hey, as Tarantino says, he is God when he is writing, he can create anything he wants. Just like ‘Inglorious Basterds’ didn’t follow WWII facts closely (or at all), ‘Django Unchained’ follows it’s own path. It’s still a great ride.
There are so many things that are fun in Tarantino movies. Most of the soundtrack could have been taken right out of a 70’s Western as well as the retro fonts used in the credits. The rest of the music would seem to be wildly inappropriate, but Tarantino makes it work. Who would have thought you could play rap music while riding horses in the mountains and have it fit perfectly? It’s also enjoyable to try and recognize actors from the 70’s and 80’s that Tarantino is obsessed with sprinkling throughout his films. Everything from Tom Wopat as the Marshall to Don Johnson as Big Daddy. I think I even spotted Bruce Dern in there. Michael Parks is a supporting actor that Tarantino uses frequently in his films and I don’t know how this guy isn’t more famous. Probably one of the best unrecognized actors out there. He plays two roles in the film ‘Kill Bill’ and you would never know he was the same actor. One of the most gifted artists out there.
If you like Quentin Tarantino and/or Spaghetti Westerns, go see this film. You will have a lot of fun. It’s a tribute to the past genre while stepping over boundaries in a modern way as only Quentin can do. Like I said, it’s not his best work, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good film. Despite how I described this film, it’s also not a bad romance story. Christoph Waltz proves himself again and Jamie Foxx might want to try to find more Western roles as he makes a great cowboy.
I give this film ***1/2 stars
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