Over the weekend I had the chance to go and see the latest film that extraordinary director/writer Quentin Tarantino has put forth into cinemas. It has been receiving tons of media attention and even seemed to ruffle the feathers of a few public figures because of the subject matter. Over the course of this review I will touch on some of the controversy and let you know how I felt about it. 
First off let me say that I am a fan of Tarantino and that I feel that he is one of the top 10 most influential filmmakers of our time. He has had hit film that have enjoyed commercial success as well as critical acclaim amongst the film community. His most notable projects that most of you may be familiar with are Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol 1 & 2, Jackie Brown, and Inglorious Bastards.
Django Unchained united a blockbuster cast of acting talent who did not disappoint at all on screen. Jamie Foxx did an excellent job of playing the lead role of Django — his portrayal of the slave turned bounty hunter was on point like bow and arrow equipment. He did very well capturing emotions and he had you on the edge of your seat rooting for him while at the same time hoping he didn’t over react in certain situations. I won’t ruin it for anyone who has not seen the film yet.
Jamie Foxx’s performance was very good but Christoph Waltz’s was one notch slightly above his. Waltz played the fast talking bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz who was formerly a dentist and has an even faster trigger finger. He recruits Django to help him find three fugitives where only he knows what they look like. After they complete this job the two of them form a partnership that creates all the adventure. Django expresses that he wants to find his wife and the story really takes off from there. Christoph won a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in Inglorious Bastards in 2010 and I suspect that he will be nominated again for his role in Django Unchained. He came off as very witty and comedic and immensely sly in his dealings and collecting of his bounty money. The scene where they are in the bar and he shoots the sheriff of the town when he shows up had me puzzled. It was one of those “I’d love to see how he gets out of this one” type of moments and sure enough– he got out of it with PURE GENIUS!
And the best performance in the film is split between two of the ALL TIME GREATS.
Leonardo DiCaprio as the slave master Calvin Candie. DiCaprio was so good in this role that you actually forget that it is him that you are watching. He gets so into character as this young slave master who has the world at his fingertips and comes across as a cold vile person who is only out for self gain. He shows no regard for his slaves as people only as property to be sold and purchased in business transactions. One powerful scene in the film where he has the hammer in his hand and is explain the human skull and dimples located in the dominate parts of brain and skull was especially tense. I knew something was getting ready to happen from what has just transpired and it kept me guessing. Another scene that left an impression on me was when he ordered the slave fighter that no longer wanted to fight to be eaten by the dogs. And he sat and watched the man be torn apart by several dogs and thought nothing of it and walked away with a smile. I was like “damn this dude is cold as ice.”
And the other best performance in the movie goes to Samuel Jackson!! I had no idea he was even in the movie until he showed up. He wasn’t shown in any of the trailers so when you see him and the role that he is in it will make you crack up laughing. Samuel Jackson as “Stephen” the “head of the house niggas”. He will make you laugh until you realize that this really was the mentally of the slaves that got to stay in the house of the master and felt like they were better than the other slaves. In only a few moments you go from laughing at Stephen to hating him and his distorted view and worship of the white master. I think Samuel EASILY deserves an Oscar nod for his acting as Stephen. Anyone who has seen the film already is very likely to agree.
The plot to the story is very clever as Quentin Tarantino’s film almost always are. And the way he told the story visually blended the genre of “Western” and “Revenge” and “Slavery” in a way that has never been done on film. This is truly an original piece of work that has all of the classic and expected things that a Tarantino film is expected to have like intense violence and bloody shootouts.
Now for the controversy that surrounds the movie. Tarantino’s usage of the word “nigger”. There was speculation that the word “nigger” appeared up to 400 times in the movie. I’m here to tell you that that is completely false. It was used more like 110 times in the film but lets be serious– this is only being brought up as an issue because he is a white director. I refuse to believe that if F.Gary Gray, Spike Lee, The Hughes brothers or John Singletary wrote and directed this movie that this would even be discussed or expressed as an issue.
I have no problems at all with him using the word as much as he feels is necessary given the subject matter and the fact that the story takes place in 1858. It would be false to assume whites didn’t openly use the word “nigger” openly whenever they felt like it so in order to give an accurate true depiction of the time period and era– yes “nigger” needs to be said in abundance. Spike Lee was very public in his protest of the film and Tarantino using the n-word– but I’m here to tell you Spike Lee has done a good movie in many many years so does his opinion really matter? Or is he just trying to get some attention by being negative and playing the race card against Quentin’s movie?
The only con that I can think of with the movie is that the ending felt like it was a little rushed. I would have like to have seen more of what happened after Django got away from the mining company but the movie is already 2:45 mins so I’m sure they didn’t want the movie to eclipse the 3 hour mark because that can turn audiences away from purchasing that ticket.
Overall, Quentin Tarantino has done it again producing a very entertaining film that is a success both financially and a hit with the critics.
MindBender Movie Meter Score
Django Unchained…….94%
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