Django Unchained (2012)

- Tarantino Unchained!

I guess Mr. Tarantino couldn't resist to turn everything up to eleven when dealing in his most beloved genre - the spaghetti western. Like a hyperactive, young kid in the playground or maybe like an untameable, hungry dog breaking loose, he is running, jumping and kicking around his latest film in relentless pleasure while his hero Django, an obvious Afro-American reincarnation of 1966's Franco Nero, is riding, shooting and kicking around slavetraders in pre-civil war Mississippi. The result is a lot of fun and a lot of chaos.

Jamie Foxx plays the black cowboy, one of ten thousands of poor, suffering slaves, who is violently separated from his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). He is then freed by a german dentist-turned-bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz who needs Django's help identifying three criminals. Christoph Waltz gets some of the best lines in the film in a role similar to his Oscar winning personification of Hans Landa. A kind, eloquent man whose profession it is to kill people. When Django hears about the bounty hunter's working routine, he is delighted by the idea of getting paid for killing white men. But the only thing he cares about is saving his wife who is still enslaved and currently in possession of Calvin Candie, a heartless, sadistic business man, who invests in human flesh. In the name of love and justice Dr. King Schultz offers Django to join him on his trip to Candie's residence on Candyland. With his mentor on his side Django is on his path of vengeance.

What is essentially a simple, straight forward revenge story is put in a not quite so straight forward plot. Tarantino offers enough gags and one-liners to keep us entertained throughout and it is great to listen to his dialogue, especially when delivered by these actors. I especially want to praise Leonardo DiCaprio in a rather unusual role for him. Rarely before has he played a villain in his career and never has he been this evil and creepy. His nuanced, multifaceted performance of the insane Calvin Candie is the best in the film. But as usual he was overlooked by the Academy for an Oscar nomination.
But still, with its 165 minutes the film is clearly overstretched. The two crusaders are shooting their way through the states, while Django is preparing himself for the important stuff. A long time we are going through rather insignificant set-pieces before actually arriving at Candyland. Usually, Tarantino is a master in constructing these brillant individual scenes that work on their own as small cinematic gems. Remember the opening scene in "Basterds". The scene in the bar. Or almost any scene in "Pulp Fiction". In "Django" there are less memorable set pieces than in his best work which is quite surprising. But of course Tarantino is so in love with his own writing that he seemingly can't take any of it out to tighten up the film and get the plot going. Taking a look at the last draft of his script that had been around for months before the films release you can see that he actually cut some of it down already. But some of it is really unnecessary particularly in the film's grand finale. Once Django has tasted blood he can not get enough of it. For sure, all the cruelties of slavery have to be paid back many times higher. Some may cheer to see the screen covered in red. It's mostly white men's blood that often appears like artistic paintings on white surfaces. The bodycount comes close to "Kill Bill", I guess. But besides Tarantino's skillful depiction of carnage he is just not able to kill his darlings and get to the end of the film. The third act comes deliberately delayed but we didn't really need the extra round to be honest. But tell that to Tarantino.

His excessive violence and inflationary use of the N-word has already knocked off lively discussions again. In some interviews Tarantino got quite angry about this same old question pointing out that his attitude towards movie violence hasn't changed a single bit in the last twenty years. Does his film glorify violence, particularly towards white people? Well, it is Tarantino's retelling of history, empowering the supressed black race at that time. The film is therefore loosely linked with his previous one and supposedly part of a coming trilogy. But more importantly it is a revenge film and a cinematic nod to countless of genres, including blaxploitation, classics and Tarantino inspirations, that doesn't take itself too seriously, sometimes almost drifting into self parody. It is deliberately gross. But as he has stated in interviews the underlying theme is very important for Tarantino. His goal however, was not to portray the period historically accurate - which was much more brutal than he could apparently have ever done - but to simply get this dark topic of American history back out there into the minds of the people. Considering all the controversy, he suceeded.

The film is his own Candyland. With glooming eyes, the young kid in him obsessively tries to get a piece from everything he can possibly find. It may be too much. But as Quentin stated himself: revenge is messy. Django is the dark angel on judgement day. He won't back down. He won't show mercy. I, however, do forgive Tarantino for this fairly undisciplined but joyful ride.

TRAILER:

Watch the Trailer for 'Django Unchained' on Youtube