Django Unchained (2012)

Director: Quentin Tarantino                           Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Music Supervisor: Mary Ramos                    Cinematography: Robert Richardson
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio & Samuel L. Jackson

He’s done it again, folks. Another feel-good movie from Quentin Tarantino. I have to say, as someone who came to Tarantino late, I’m a big admirer. His directorial vision and direction have grown steadily from the brute force of Reservoir Dogs to the much more confident Pulp Fiction, through a low period that included the Kill Bill films and Grindhouse into what can only be called his mature period beginning with Inglourious Basterds. His latest film, Django Unchained, picks right up with his uncompromising directorial vision, this time taking on the western.

The film begins with a great, late-60s style theme song and bold red titles right out of a Clint Eastwood western from the same period. This is important in setting the comic tone early because two things have been happening simultaneously in Tarantino’s recent films. The first is realism. The way that he makes his humor work is that it's almost comedy relief, and the only way THAT works is if the film is very realistic to begin with. The slaves, the old west towns, the plantations and characters, are all so incredibly real that the verisimilitude is almost overwhelming. In doing this, however, the humor injected into the reality is not only welcome, but appreciated that much more. The second thing is the violence. Now, of course Tarantino’s films have always been violent, but he seems to be developing a new sensibility about it. And in the same way he relieves the realism with comedy, the comedy also helps to undercut the extreme violence by going over the top with humor. In the end, this refinement of vision has come together brilliantly in a way that his earlier work didn’t quite achieve.

The story of Django, a freed slave played with masterful restraint by Jamie Foxx, is truly compelling. The film, I’m sure, would have even worked without the humor because Tarantino’s script is that good. Django becomes a bounty hunter and partners with the de facto star of Inglourous Basterds, Christoph Waltz, who never makes a serious threat to steal this show, only because there are just too many other great performances. Leonardo DiCaprio, whom I have never really liked, is the only person I can even imagine doing justice to the role of Calvin Candie, drawing no doubt on his role in The Man in the Iron Mask but vastly improved with age. I think it's his best film work, perhaps ever. Don Johnson is used to great effect in a small part, and his hooded clansmen-ride borders on Mel Brooks territory. In fact, the first time Jamie Foxx is seen in his cowboy garb it brings to mind Cleavon Little in Blazing Saddles. But this film is light years away from Brooks in terms of sophistication and subtlety. The confidence Tarantino displays is masterful and worthy of a lot more serious critical attention than he'll probably receive.

To understand the greatness of this film you can start with the fact that there are just way too many analytical aspects to the film than can be discussed here. Christoph Waltz’ role as Dr. King Schultz is particularly pivotal. There is an aspect of acting within the motion picture that is actually Shakespearean. There is an aspect of the undercover cop duality as Django allows a slave to be ripped apart to prove his veracity. There is Schultz’s warning to Django that if he kills someone not a criminal that he will become a criminal himself, wanted dead or alive, which also mirrors the ending in which our own need for revenge as an audience is satisfied in a way that makes us all criminals by implication. It’s a magnificent work and one that demands repeated viewings and is deserving of much more critical acclaim than it will no doubt earn.