Django Unchained // Review
"Does Tarantino go too far? Hell yeah, and that’s why it works!" - Smiley reviews Tarantino's latest
Tarantino is one of the true greats of modern film. His penchant for the post-modern and a religious understanding of cool has enabled him to not just carve a niche in cinema, but to smash its back doors in and hold it at gunpoint, creating a mash-up of the historic and the fantastic, the righteous and the monstrous. Who else would re-write the death of Hitler at the hands of Brad Pitt, from a cinema balcony, with a machine gun? This time he is even less subtle as he pulls history’s pants down once again, and takes us to the (buck) Wild West for a story of slavery, racism and vengeance, against a soundtrack including James Brown and Tupac.
The resultant film is genius – violent, absurd genius! It’s Cowboys Vs Homeboy as Jamie Foxx plays the Clint-meets-Shaft Django of the title, a chained (not for long) slave who meets Dr. King Schultz (Christophe Waltz) a German ex-dentist turned bounty hunter who frees Django (told you) and offers him his freedom in exchange for identifying The outlawed Brittle Brothers, before the pair head off to rescue Django’s wife being held by the violent plantation owner Calvin Candie (DiCaprio) and his house slave Stephen (Sam Jackson). Cue serious, bloody revenge served on a bed of cool dialogue.
Does Tarantino go too far? Hell yeah, and that’s why it works! It may as well be set on Mars, because this is Quentin’s world, and whether it’s bumbling KKK clansmen (a brilliantly funny cameo from Jonah Hill) or Jackson’s anti-emancipation Uncle Tom, it revels in the exploitation, and to criticise this is to walk straight into his trap. It’s not Django unchained, it’s Tarantino Unchained. This film blasts into your existence like a .45 bullet, but that’s what he does best - he’s aiming it at Hollywood and he doesn’t take prisoners!
Smiley
