Review: Django Unchained (18)

Another reinvention from Quentin Tarantino featuring another colourful gallery of grotesques, eccentrics and cameos from familiar players, Django Unchained is unlike any western you have ever seen.

A blood-soaked homage to spaghetti westerns, revenge westerns, buddy movies and love stories, this ballet of blood outdoes even the late, great Sam Peckinpah with its glorious explosions of gore.

It is also deeply sadistic in its exploration of violence and, once again, throws up the question of Tarantino’s stance on race and racism via its enthusiastic (and provocative) use of the ‘N’ word, seemingly uttered in every sentence.

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Jamie Foxx plays the hero, a runaway slave who is freed by an erudite bounty hunter played by Christophe Waltz. Together they track down and kill a string of wanted men while keeping an eye on their ultimate goal: locating and freeing Django’s wife, Hildy.

En route they engage in some vicious gunplay while Tarantino allows the action to linger on random acts of violence. Cruelty reaches its height when they arrive at the home of psychopathic plantation owner Calvin Candie, played with relish by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Here the film goes into overdrive offering death by hammer, by guard dogs and whatever else takes the villain’s fancy. And make no mistake, DiCaprio is the movie’s embodiment of evil.

The introduction of Candie allows the film to break into two halves. In the first Django and Dr Schultz roam the southern badlands killing their quarry. In the second, intrigue and talk form the basis of the plot. Tarantino’s love of dialogue is as evident as ever and, as usual, is indulgent, making the film over-long. But his grasp of comedy – a band of Ku Klux Klan killers argue over their masks – remains strong.

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The Tarantino stock company also continues to grow. There is a guest spot for Don Johnson, a neat cameo for Franco Nero, tasty character roles for Walton Goggins and James Remar, and a delicious part for an unrecognisable Samuel L Jackson. In fact Waltz and Jackson appear to be in competition for the award for champion scene-stealer. Both are a delight to watch.

Once again relying on his love of all things retro, Tarantino has fashioned an extraordinary movie that takes the past as its inspiration to create a wholly unique 21st century western.

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