Where to Watch:
8.7/10
FilmFascination Rating
From the very beginning when the song Django, by Luis Bacalov and Rocky Roberts, started it set the mood of the film perfectly. The movie is a revisionist tribute to Western movies especially the Italian film Django by Sergio Corbucci, whose star Franco Nero also has a cameo appearance in this film. In the first scene, we are shown a line of shackled slaves walking wearily through all types of weather led by the Speck brothers. While commuting through a deep, dark forest we are introduced to Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), a dentist with a charming personality and the only white person in the movie who despises slavery. Schultz is instantly likable unlike Christoph’s character in ‘Inglourious Basterds’. For one thing, he is in a wagon with a tooth wobbling on top of it. He comes for buying a slave who has the knowledge of the outlaw Brittle brothers and is none other than Django (Jamie Foxx).
From then on Django and Dr. Schultz though very different from each other made a great pair of contrasting buddies. Django is stunned to see someone who treats him equally but once he gets the hang of being a free man, he gains some self-confidence and power. As described in the movie Django becomes ‘the fastest gun in the south’ and turns into the true himself. Schultz although a dentist by profession hasn’t practiced dentistry for many years and is now a bounty hunter. In Django’s words ‘Kill white folks and they pay you for it’.
Django turns out to have the inherent skills of shooting the gun. Schultz is persuasive and shows his expertise in bounty hunting in his first scene with Django. He is the one carrying the plot and seems to know what he is doing the entire time. He kills the sheriff of one of the towns and calmly removes the wanted posters which get him out of the messy situation he gets into. Tarantino made some entertaining scenes where Schultz drags himself into tight situations and then as an expert in his field of work, gets out of it.
Schultz was finding the Brittle brothers as a task of bounty hunting. Django on the other hand had a personal enmity against them as they were his previous owners. He and his wife tried to run away from the Brittle brother’s plantation together when they were caught, whipped, and branded (the horrific punishment is shown in a flashback). They were both sold separately intentionally. Due to this, he wanted to take revenge against the Brittle brothers. The Brittle brother assassination makes Django and Dr. Schultz great partners in bounty hunting and they make a deal of working together throughout the winter and then going together to find Django’s wife. Now, why would Schultz care about Django’s wife? I guess because he starts liking him.
After a chain of events to find Broomhilda von Shaft (Django’s wife), the duo land in the plantations of Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). The man having the fourth largest farm in Candyland and for his after-dinner entertainment watches his slaves have a bloody fight (Mandingo fight). He is a self-possessed, egoistic person who is the current owner of Broomhilda. In the Big house (Calvin Candie’s house) we meet a loyal black servant Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson) who is favored by Calvin and is treated better than the other slaves. But perhaps he turns out to be the most biased against the slaves and is even ruthless towards them. Samuel L Jackson is as expected-splendid. His glaring eyes are one of the most threatening ones I’ve seen. In one of the scenes, Broomhilda says “you’re scary” and he sure is.
In addition to Tarantino’s suspense-filled, witty and heavy dialogue scenes there are moments of pure silliness, like a gathering of hooded night riders and a late escapade (featuring Tarantino himself speaking in an Australian accent).
The camera shots where they focus on the character by zooming in was a way in which the movie catches the attention of the audience. It is a famous effect called the crash zoom effect and is something I always like in movies. The movie, though 2 hours 45 min long, does not make you weary. The movie is very entertaining with all the iconic scenes, classic dialogues, and beautiful action scenes. Quentin Tarantino has mastered the art of making action scenes. With the style of Django, the power of different guns shown appropriately, and blood splashing when pierced by a bullet- I really enjoyed the western-style fight scenes.
The movie is (as expected) pretty violent. It is ruthless in showing the punishments given to slaves but so was the world during that time. In a scene, one of Candie’s slaves is explicitly mauled by dogs which is awfully horrible. It shows the horrors of slavery but at the same time makes sure that the audience has a good time. The music and the songs used in the movie are excellent. The song selection is superb. They have chosen an appropriate song for every relevant scene. No song seems to be unnecessary or forced.
The cast of Django Unchained is top-notch. Everyone has done exceptionally well. Leonardo Dicaprio in a negative role was kind of fresh as it was different from his conventional roles. Christoph Waltz is a fascinating actor. When I saw his character in ‘Inglorious Basterds’, it was chilling and was of someone from whom you will be afraid if you meet him. I did not expect his character from ‘Django Unchained’ to be so likable. His way of speaking and his tone, make his presence on the screen enjoyable and entertaining. He even earned his well-deserved Oscar for his role as Dr.Schultz. Jamie Foxx in this movie shows his true potential. Django went from being a tired slave and someone whom nobody gives a shit about to a hero having his swag. He becomes a person that the audience couldn’t have imagined when he was initially introduced in the first scene. He has his own aura in the film.
The cinematography of the movie is splendid. The shots are beautiful. He takes the audience to Candyland with lush fields and slaves working on them. Even the snowy scenes where Django does his gun-slinging and shooting practice are beautiful. Tarantino loved the action scenes in the snow in the movie ‘The Great Silence’ and hence included a snow section in this movie to pay homage to the film. Even the colorful costumes of the characters added to the beauty of the film. Sharon Davis (costume designer) and Tarantino referred to the television series Bonanza for the western wardrobe. This is one of those films which show the beauty of cinema.
The final minutes of the movie seem to be kind of unrealistic. Although having good gun action scenes I somehow thought that the plot structure deteriorated a bit (although I say this, in no way do I want you to have a negative perspective about this film). I don’t want to give any spoilers but for the people who have watched it- the above comment was for the movie after the handshake scene.
Favourite Quotes
Dr. King Schultz: [aiming .45-70 rifle at fleeing Ellis Brittle] You sure that’s him?
Django: Yeah.
Dr. King Schultz: Positive?
Django: I don’t know.
Dr. King Schultz: You don’t know if you’re positive?
Django: I don’t know what ‘positive’ means.
Dr. King Schultz: It means you’re sure.
Django: Yes.
Dr. King Schultz: Yes, what?
Django: Yes, I’m sure that’s Ellis Brittle[Schultz shoots Brittle off his horse]
Django: I’m positive he dead.
Dr. King Schultz: How do you like the bounty hunting business?
Django: Kill white folks and they pay you for it? What’s not to like?
Calvin Candie: Your boss looks a little green around the gills.
Django: He just ain’t used to seein’ a man ripped apart by dogs is all.
Calvin Candie: But you are used to it?
Django: I’m just a little more used to Americans than he is.
Billy Crash: [after Django attacks one of Candie’s men, pulling him off his horse] Oh, you are one lucky nigger!
Django: You better listen to your boss, white boy!
Billy Crash: Oh, I’ma go walkin’ in the moonlight with you!
Django: You wanna hold my hand? [Billy Crash laughs]
Amerigo Vessepi: [Franco Nero played the original Django] What’s your name?
Django: Django.
Amerigo Vessepi: Can you spell it?
Django: D-J-A-N-G-O. The D is silent.
Amerigo Vessepi: I know.
Join the FilmFascination Club!
All the updates right in your Inbox! (We will never spam you with junk mails)
You will get a message on the top of the form once your subscription is successful.
Hello! Someone in my Myspace group shared this site with us so I came to check it out. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Terrific blog and amazing design and style.
I am glad you loved FilmFascination. Also thank you for tweeting and sharing this site with others. Keep visiting!