In Review: Django Unchained

Directed By: Quentin Tarantino

Stars: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Kerry Washington

What I Liked

Tarantino's signature all over it: gleeful violence, bold storytelling, commitment to a tasteful exploitation movie style. Waltz, Jackson, and Dicaprio were spectacular in their roles, with Foxx trailing not far behind

What I Disliked

The switch to linear narrative focused the character development on Django and Schultz, while leaving the other interesting characters under-exposed.

Gist

Gleeful in its violence and frenetic in its execution, Django Unchained is another artful showcase of bloody (dis)taste and B-movie spirit from Tarantino and his great cast.

Django (Foxx) and his wife, Broomhilda (Washington) were once working together in a cotton plantation but has since been sold separately after being severely whipped when they attempted to run free from their owners. Django, now owned by the Speck Brothers, is rescued by Doctor King Schultz (Waltz), who identifies himself as a dentist, and a bounty hunter with a distaste for slavery. In need of Django's assistance in identifying the Brittle Brothers, Schultz freed Django and makes him a partner in his bounty trips. Django proves to be a natural and valuable partner, aiding him in finishing the Brittles and Smitty Bacall. After a couple of bounties, Schultz and Django decides to rescue Broomhilda who is purchased by the menacing Calvin Candie (DiCaprio), an entrepreneur with a sophisticated taste for violence.

Django Unchained's directorial style is another step in the exploitation film directorial route that Tarantino built his career upon. This time, he chooses to do a Spaghetti Western, and sadly, he abandons his non-linear narrative where individual characters are given a task of developing the plot. One thing to note is that for this film, a linear narrative would work better, it is about Django after all and not about the Candie Land slaves or outlaws.  While I would have appreciated a better look into the life of Calvin Candie, he is after all, a really interesting character or that of Doctor Schultz, the movie chooses to focus on Django who could've easily been outshone by his supporting cast. Though I do miss the wit of a non-linear narrative that Tarantino often pulls. That is to say that the narrative is the least interesting in Django, even if it's not even bad to merit a reprimand.

Going back to Candie, kudos to DiCaprio. His is another Oscar nod in-the-waiting. His Candie is powered by a frenetic anger that calms down with a maniacal smile that only Leo could manage. He is charming and scary at the same time, and that maniacal lust for bloodshed demonstrated in the Mandingo sequence paints the sort of psychotic he is.

Waltz's Dr. Schultz is another interesting German he has played in a Tarantino film. His previous German role is in 2009's Inglourious Basterds' primary antagonist, Col. Hans The Jew Hunter. Schultz is an exact contrast to Hans, where Hans is a relaxed psychotic who choked Diane Kruger to death, Schultz is a charming dentist who's seemingly harmless until he shoots you in the head. Thing with Schultz is that he discriminates who he kills. He is a vigilante with a penchant for disposing of people not in line with his moral compass. Unlike Hans who punishes the innocent Jews, Schultz is a nourisher of the innocent. And Waltz's capacity to perform a detestable Nazi who you'd want scalped to a mild-mannered traveling European who you'd root for is a testament of Waltz's traction as an actor.

Another performance worth seeing, and fury-inducing at that, is Samuel L. Jackson's jealous 70-years-a-slave Stephen. His look of suspicion and envy is spot-on.

Foxx's Django is a typical tough guy, quick on the draw and high on dark humor. But as to how he transform to a merciless gunslinger from a slave who knew nothing but begging for mercy over a change of seasons and several bounties was explained as simply as that he was a natural at it--cementing the premise that Django is a bad boy (aka the 1 niggah in 10000). Assuming that's true, how he managed to speak good English (as with the other slaves)  and even read   was quite puzzling. Plus he knew how to ride a horse--and even without reins and a saddle! (Was he a stable boy in his previous owner, did I miss that explanation?) But then again, why do I bother for historical accuracy, which is not in the movie's agenda anyway. The movie moved quite slow though for me to wonder about those things.

Tarantino shot Django beautifully even if you can find fault on the exaggerated blood splatter--which Tarantino can't do without. Django... has an unflinching resolve to elevate B-moviemaking--using a soundtrack that belonged to that era of B-movie explosion, to the opening credits' use of 70s graphics. Traditionally, B-movie or not, Tarantino's violence is more of the gleeful peppered with dark humor rather than that of a straight out crime noir (as in, say Refn's Drive or Kim Ki-duk's Pieta). The violence is not as brutal as it is fake and often ridiculous, more ridiculous than in Basterds.

Tarantino's B-movie-styled films are exploitations of the exploitation genre--a zooming in on the exaggerations that propel the genre. If you inspect Django... close enough, you'd think it's a curious parody with a very dark tone rather than a homage to the era. Django Unchained's choice of aesthetics and the powerful performances from it's brilliant cast however makes us question our standards and ask why we box the genre and file it as subpar--assigning the letter B to denote its inferiority--if the genre can be made as gleeful and engaging as Django.

Judgment: This film won't be hitting Philippine cinemas this January, and might only get here when it's on DVD and Netflix--which blows. Then again, you have a choice of HD Home Theatre for 15 to 20 USD or a 250PHP/head affair. Chances are, you'd choose to get the screener online, but we'd suggest against it as a movie like Django Unchained is worth paying for at full price. 4.1 out of 5 stars.

For this movie, I'm willing to pay: 250 to 300 PHP.