Django Unchained

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Forget all the so-called "controversy" over this movie because it doesn't glorify slavery, it doesn't make light of the situation, and the use of the anagram of "ginger" is historically accurate--not using it would have been disingenuous and would have broken the suspension of disbelief required for proper movie-watching.

Now to describe what the movie is. It is an excellent depiction of a typical Western--how many of those movies featured a man seeking revenge on those who have wronged him and/or his loved ones? Many of them. It is also a fascinating parallel in that Django is freed from the system of dealing in live human flesh and inducted into the system of dealing in dead human flesh--for bounty hunters, in those days when the wanted were wanted either dead or alive, it is easier to kill the target than to try and subdue him and transport him back for justice.

Once again, Mr. Waltz's on-screen presence is wonderful to watch. The man is able to portray a charisma that makes him charming even when playing a character who shouldn't be. The character of Dr. King Schulz isn't a dislikable or despicable man, unlike Hans Landa, but he isn't a "good guy", either. Anyway....the relationship between Django and Schulz is both mutual friendship and mentor/pupil but it turns into a case of "the pupil surpasses the teacher".

The cinematography is excellent, the scene locations are often breathtaking, and the action is typical Tarentino, which lets you remember whose movie you are watching.

Yes, it is a fantasy revenge movie just like Inglorious Basterds only this time the topic is slavery in the Antebellum South. We wind up cheering and applauding people who commit foul deeds.

I didn't notice any glaring anachronisms but the supposed geography in the vicinity of "Dougherty, Texas" is not accurate--that is a real city located near Lubbock and it would be generally flat except for mesas here and there. I doubt Django's ability to become that skilled with a gun in the course of only a few months but, on the other hand, if you were up in the mountains with all that free time on your hands you could get in lots of practice with quick-drawing and target shooting.

Anyway...go see it.

[peter]

Can't wait. I'll report back in due course when it has been to my town (fairly soon I think). Can't find any reference to this being a remake or redux of an earlier story so I'm guessing it's a Tarrantino original screenplay. QT doesn't normally flinch from causing potential offense so I'm guessing his use of the n word was not a question that worried him too much. I think the word made pretty frequent apperence in *Pulp Fiction* as well if I remember correctly - similarly appropriate given the underclass culture the film portrayed. Off to see *The Life of Pi* tonight and hopefully pick up some *Les Miserables* tickets for next/the following week.

[Cail]

Very enjoyable film. Tarantino indulges more in his love for trashy '70s movies, but it works here (far better than it did in Death Proof).


Funniest KKK scene since Blazing Saddles.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Can't find any reference to this being a remake or redux of an earlier story so I'm guessing it's a Tarrantino original screenplay.

This screenplay is original, yes, but the character of Django is not. The character was originally used in low-budget spaghetti westerns, as noted [urlwww.imdb.com/find?q=django&s=all]here on IMDB[/url]. Strangely, the original character is white so making him a slave does appear to be a Tarantino original. Still...it works and works well.

[peter]

Finnally got to see the movie last night and Hashi's 'review' above hits the spot exactly fo me. Nothing I can add exept re the anachronism point. For me there seemed to be a couple of points where the music moved from the 70's almost country style (which somehow just seems to fit) briefly into a 'rappy' style, which I found odd in that setting (but neither unpleasant or spoiling in it's effect). And did they really have those round sunglasses back then (but again, who cares! This is Tarrentino for God's sake.)

Was there a brief nod to Tarrantino's favorite film 'The Good, The Bad and the Ugly' in Saumel L Jacksons final line.

Finally - was Alexander Dumas black? (I know I can go to Wikipedia and find out, but it's more fun to remain in suspense by asking you guys). How good if he was!

[Cord Hurn]

I realize that I have in the past complained to many people about movies being quite violent, but at the risk of sounding hypocritical I would like to say some words of praise about Quentin Tarantino's western Django Unchained. The violence is pretty over-the-top with villains that are shot gushing small fountains of blood from their chests, and rooms where where gunfights have just occurred have walls that look like they were splashed with ten-gallon buckets of red paint. So "out there" with its depiction of bloodshed as to be ridiculous.

Yet there is a really compelling story here, and the direction has real style to it that is as entertaining as anything Sergio Leone ever did. Jaime Foxx as Django Freeman can help bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Walz) identify three brothers wanted for murder, so he frees Django. After several profitable manhunts together, they search for Django's enslaved wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), who turns out to be owned by cold-hearted plantation master Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Django and King pretend to be interested in one of Calvin's wrestling slaves, but Calvin's head slave Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson) lets Calvin know they really want Broomhilda, and all heck breaks loose shortly thereafter, when Calvin demands lots of money for Broomhilda or else he will kill her.

Admittedly, I don't like the frequent use of the N-word, here. I understand that it was used a lot in those days for dark-skinned people, particularly in the old American South where most of the movie is set, but so was the words "slave', "colored" and "darkie". Yer Tarantino has his characters just say "n!&&er" over and over again, like he relishes hearing it, and I can see why a fellow director like Spike Lee finds the use of it here excessive and offensive. (A confession: I also like another Tarantino film that uses that word a lot, and the acting and suspense in it makes me like it a great deal despite the frequent use of that word: Jackie Brown, a flick I may review in this subforum before too long.) That said, I find this flick still has something going for it besides shock, drama, and suspense. Slavery is depicted in all its horrors, so the violence at times depicted has educational value. Not for family viewing with young kids around, granted, but an entertaining movie all the same.

It's hard for me not to like the winners as depicted by Foxx and Washington. And the acting by Jackson, Walz, and DiCaprio is absolutely excellent!

[sgt.null]

Tarantino is a favorite director of mine. Love the film.

Love westerns.

The language doesn't bother me, as I believe he is is holding a mirror to us and forcing us to confront our past.

The violence doesn't bother me. It is essentially a cartoon.

Strong acting all around. Walz especially.

I rank this just below this Hateful 8 for Quentin's westerns.

[StevieG]

There are a lot of Quentin haters out there. I can't comment on him as a person, but as a director and storyteller, he's up there with the best.

Django, like most of his movies, has incredible heart, realism combined with outrageous over-the-top action, blood, gore, style. He honours genres, and brings the best out of all actors. Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Uma Thurman, Samuel L Jackson, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Amanda Plumber, Ving Rhames, Rosanna Arquette, Eric Stolz, Christopher Walken, George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Salma Hayak, Michael Parks, Leonardo Di Caprio, Margot Robbie, Margaret Qualley, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Luke Perry, Al Pacino, Martin Kove, Kurt Russell, Zoe Ball, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A Fox, James Parks, Michael Bowen, Hin'chi Chiba, Julie Dreyfus, Pam Grier, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton, Robert de Niro, Chris Tucker, Woody Harrelson, Robert Downey Jr, and a whole host of others that I can't recall.

Like him or not, he's an incredibly influential director. I like him. Inglorious Basterds was spectacular, in my opinion. Pulp Fiction was ground-breaking. Reservoir Dogs was stylish for 1992. Jackie Brown had passion and heart. Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2 was outrageous and a tribute to the genre. The Hateful Eight was brilliantly suspenseful. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was an impressive recreation of the time with a new twist.

What were we talking about?

[sgt.null]

That he has promised one more film then to retire.

[StevieG]

One more would be nice.

[sgt.null]

I wish he would just keep directing and not cut himself off at ten. He is still going strong.

[StevieG]

He's also a fairly unusual character. I imagine he's had ten in his mind since Reservoir Dogs.