Review: Django Unchained (2012)

[Tim Skirvin]

While I should really try to avoid ranking this movie against the
rest of Tarantino's filmography, I should at least compare it to its most
obvious comparison: 2009's _Inglorious Basterds_ [1]. Both movies showed us
that the oppressed people could fight back; but while _Basterds_ reminded
us to Never Forget, _Django Unchained_ showed us pieces of history that we,
as a culture, have *already* forgotten.

_Django Unchained_ is a movie about slavery. Yes, it is billed as a
revenge flick, and there certainly is a lot of revenge in the movie; but
this revenge is against slavers and their minions. The elements of the
revenge flick form a frame around which we can witness and be reviled by
the racism, violence, and degradation inherent in the 1850s US South. And
what comes out is brutal, disturbing, and still entertaining.

As this is a Quentin Tarantino film, many elements of the film are
clearly set before entering the theatre. The direction will be stylized and
top-notch; the dialogue will generally heavy and speech-y, interspersed
with light and funny scenes and it will all be good; the quality of the
actors will be excellent across the board, save perhaps for Tarantino's
cameo role; and the violence will be integral to the film and over-the-top.
All of these things are true, and I will not dwell on them.

What is worth dwelling on is the actors themselves. Jamie Foxx
delivers an excellent and understated performance as the titular Django, a
freed slave that works as bounty hunter to free his wife. Christoph Waltz
is a German dentist/bounty hunter that frees Django, in a curious
juxtaposition to his role in Tarantino's previous movie, _Inglorious
Basterds_. Most impressively, Samuel L Jackson plays the aged head slave of
the Candyland plantation; to his peers he is in charge, and to his masters
he is quite simply a dog. The mix is fascinating. And these are only the
lead roles!

Many of the set pieces are top notch, and spoiling them would do a
disservice to those reading the review. The segment with the proto-KKK
sticks out in my mind as very Blazing-Saddles-y; the dinner-time
conversations were appropriately tense; Tarantino's character made me
giggle; and the opening scene did an excellent job of showing us what the
movie was going to be about. This is a movie that will survive multiple
viewings, if just to see a few of these scenes over and over again.

One point worthy of note was the soundtrack, which is a mix of 60s-
and 70s-style spaghetti western music with the occasional piece of gangsta
rap where appropriate. Even when played over-loud it added to the film; but
I still doubt I'm going to buy a copy of it any time soon.

At any rate, this was a top-notch, challenging, and stressful film.
It is both a stark reminder of the history of racism in our country, and an
excellent use of cathartic revenge. If you have the stomach for the blood
and violence, you should see it.

Rating: 9 (out of 10)

[1] http://wiki.killfile.org/reviews/movies/inglorious-basterds/

- Tim Skirvin (tski...@killfile.org)
--
http://wiki.killfile.org/ Skirv's Homepage <FISH>< <*>
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[notbob]

On 2013-01-06, Tim Skirvin <tski...@killfile.org> wrote:

> It is both a stark reminder of the history of racism in our country, and an
> excellent use of cathartic revenge.

Racism and revenge. Gee, I don't know how I can survive one more day
without a huge "carthartic" dose of both of those. But somehow, I'll
try and struggle through.

nb

[Mark Leeper]

DJANGO UNCHAINED
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

CAPSULE: Say what you like about DJANGO UNCHAINED, there
is a lot that works and a lot that does not. Quentin
Tarantino writes and directs his homage to the Spaghetti
Western. Jamie Foxx plays the title role as an antebellum
slave freed by a bounty hunter, played by Christoph Waltz,
to help find three wanted men. While a little overblown
and overly long, a wide range of people will find at least
something to like here. The pace slows down in the third
quarter, but overall this is an inventive, entertaining,
and even exciting film. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10

The year is 1858 and Django (played by Jamie Foxx) is a slave first
seen in shackles being taken to be sold. Their party is met by
Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) a German dentist now making a
career of bounty hunting. The doctor is a man who despite his
pleasant voluble nature should not be trusted. Schultz is looking
specifically for Django as the only man who has seen the notorious
Brittle brothers and whom the bounty hunter can get to go with him
to identify his quarry. In spite of having several hints that
Schultz is not a man to be trusted, Django overcomes his suspicion
and willingly partners with Schultz. Soon the two form a bond.
Django wants to find his wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), from
whom he was separated by a bill of sale, and the bounty hunter
agrees to help in the search.

The film has more rounded characters than those of Tarantino's 2009
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS. The dialog does not really do its part to
make the characters an attraction. There are comic pieces such as
when a racist, proto-Klan mob discovers one of the disadvantages of
wearing hoods. But while at times the Tarantino dialog is amusing,
too frequently it just pads the story out so that this can be a
long film. But a lengthy movie is not necessarily a film of
substance. At 165 minutes, DJANGO UNCHAINED drags at times,
particularly in the third quarter. In that quarter the two bounty
hunters pose as slave buyers. We know it is a pose and entirely
too much time is spent on a ruse that we know is not their real
intent.

Whether or not Django should be trusting Dr. Schultz, it is clear
that Jamie Foxx should not trust Christoph Waltz. Waltz is a
natural scene thief with his precise manner and diction, and in
their scenes together Foxx seems to almost disappear into the
background. Waltz could easily become this generation's James
Mason. Foxx is acceptable as an action hero, but he does not bring
much exceptional to the role. The real villain of the piece is
played by Leonardo DiCaprio as the oily Candie. Samuel L. Jackson
plays a slave looking surprisingly elderly.

For too many films no score is written and instead a soundtrack is
assembled of pre-existing popular songs. Tarantino also compiles,
but he borrows largely from classic Italian Westerns. His
soundtrack is a retrospective of familiar Spaghetti Western themes.
The song DJANGO under the opening titles and elsewhere is the title
song from the 1966 classic DJANGO. That film starred Franco Nero
in the title role, and Nero appears in a cameo as Tarantino pays
his respects to that film. Even flashback scenes of memory are
shot with a grainy saturated film stock evocative of films from the
Spaghetti Western genre.

DJANGO UNCHAINED has been the source of some political controversy.
There have been relatively few films that have taken a realistic
look at the horrors of slavery. Some films, like Richard
Fleischer's 1975 MANDINGO have exploited slavery with
sensationalism and sexual suggestion. Spike Lee suggests that it
is not proper to portray the excesses of American slavery in a film
with so much that is comic and so much that is fantastic
exaggeration. I guess my feeling is that I did not see any way the
slavery was treated that was inauthentic. It was portrayed as
sadistic and inhumane and the crimes of this system should be made
common knowledge.

While we are on the subject of historical accuracy it is odd to see
a title that says "1858--two years before the Civil War." That
scene is shown as cold with men wearing heavy jackets so presumably
was labeled takes place early in early 1858. That would have made
it three years before the war.

While it could have made at better film at a two-hour length, It
still rates a respectable +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10.

Film Credits: <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1853728/>

What others are saying:
<http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/django_unchained_2012/


Mark R. Leeper

Copyright 2013 Mark R. Leeper