In 1858, just before the American Civil War, a slave by the name of Django (Jamie Foxx) is freed by disarming bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) in exchange for help on his latest assignment. As Schultz is one of the few white-skinned fellas in the region who doesn’t put much stock in the slave trade, the two form an unlikely but powerful bond and Schultz decides to aid Django in rescuing his wife (Kelly Washington) from her current master – plantation owner Calvin J. Candie (Leonardo Di Caprio).
Although this film has been generally well-received by other critics, its overall delivery left an unwelcome taste in my mouth and it’s easy to see why anyone sensitive about slave history – e.g. Spike Lee – would boycott this particular Tarantino outing. Black men are forced to kill each other in Gladiator-esque battles. Others are whipped extensively and eaten alive by dogs. Should such a story be punctuated by cheesy close ups, slow-mo sequences and gun slingin’ action? Should it have a glossy, $80m+ Hollywood sheen? Probably not. I understand the blaxploitation edge that Tarantino was shooting for here but I regret to report that he has totally missed the mark.
This said, Django Unchained is not without merit and something that Tarantino does right every single time is cast the right people. Waltz boasts a magnetic charisma as the overtly-logical marshall and maps his character out clearly through comical verbal and physical ticks. Foxx, in contrast, expertly understates Django, balancing out Schultz’s more flamboyant moments and giving the audience space to sympathise with him as a protagonist. DiCaprio is simultaneously despicable and captivating as the landowner who has a seemingly conflicted attitude towards his slaves. In some scenes his actions betray a love, perhaps even a paternal instinct towards them and in other moments he doesn’t hesitate to – quite literally- throw them to the dogs. Samuel L. Jackson deserves further note – he boldly portrays Candie’s chief manservant Stephen who has an unshakable allegiance to his employer despite the sincerely shocking treatment of his kinsfolk.
Ultimately the cast do a lot to dissolve Tarantino’s innate lack of subtlety, but even the enviably aloof Foxx can’t temper Tarantino’s baffling and unnecessarily distracting cameo or his inability to make much-needed cuts to the runtime. Sally Menke knew how to edit a Tarantino movie. If only we could bring her back.
Helen awarded Django Unchained 3 Torches
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Helen,
‘A nigger on a horse’ This is Tarantino’s blazing saddles with more laffs. Quentin is a bigger blow and without the beans. Can discuss further over a woodbine behind the bikesheds.
Thumbs up for Django Unchained,
Graham.
Hah. Will totally be taking you up on this discussion. I did think there were laughs there, you’re right, I just don’t think that using the exploitation style in this manner was very sensitive and it was a shame because there were a lot of great acting performances in there.