Stars Jaime Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington with Walton Goggins, James Remar, Michael Parks, Don Johnson and Samuel L Jackson. Special appearances by Zoë Bell and Franco Nero Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino Quentin Tarantino movies tend to play with references, particularly to the genre the director enjoys. As one would expect, his films tend to be rather 'talky', filled with dialogue that drips like honey. When any bit of action does happen, it's usually explosive, brutal, in-the-moment and fairly bloody. It's the kind of action that truly does belong in the Spaghetti Western genre, which Django Unchained pays homage to. Classified more as a 'Southern' than a 'Western" by the director himself (because the movie takes place more in the Southern United States than the typical Western locales), Django Unchained plays to the conventions of the hero's journey, going so far as to spell out the sequence about a third into the film. After Django (Jaime Foxx) is liberated from slavery by bounty hunter, Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) and assists him in taking down a trio of wanted men, Schultz learns of Django's wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). Schultz then very briefly relates the tale related to Broomhilda's namesake (The Ring of the Nibelung or some earlier fairy tale version) before he decides to assist Django in his quest. Shot very much like a Spaghetti Western, the cinematography is quite gorgeous in the first half as our heroes travel to and fro to collect their bounties. The occasional odd zoom shots here and there might remind you of the time in which such movies were made, and might seem a bit distracting to younger viewers - who may not be likely to watch this movie in any case) - but then, Tarantino loves to 'homage' such things. Even the use of music range from Ennio Morricone classics (and a new one too), to the original Django scores and music by Luis Bacalov to some current tunes. Jim Croce's "I Got A Name" also pops up. For most of the film, despite being the lead star and character, Jaime Foxx is overshadowed by Christoph Waltz (deserving his recent awards) who, despite his line delivery, is miles away from Hans Landa. Waltz obviously loves the dialogue he's got and pretty much carries the movie, dominating every scene he's in. In comparison, Foxx barely manages to keep up until the second half, but by then, he's got to go against the double act of Leonardo DiCaprio's Calvin Candie and Samuel L Jackson's Stephen, Candie's head-of-the-household slave. DiCaprio in particular plays Candie with such menace that this is person you wouldn't just hate but love to utterly loathe. It would be interesting to see if DiCaprio can actually top this. And It's not that Foxx doesn't deliver - he manages, even with his dialogue and delivery - it's just that he seems utterly out-classed. When he gets his moment, he know how to shine, particularly with the action, but in most scenes… One in particular that felt so odd to me was the same scene mentioned above, when Schultz is relating the tale of Broomhilda. Django sits himself down to listen to the tale, constantly interrupting with questions and such. I couldn't tell if he was meant to be inquisitive or naive or being childlike in fascination with Schultz story. It's a minor quibble in an overall excellent movie that holds your attention through it's over two and a half hours run time. The performances in particular are solid and engaging while the action is bloody and violent as one would expect of the genre (and a little funny in some parts, disturbing in others). Some scenes are meant to turn your stomach tho, as it should given the period the movie is set in and the topic of slavery being prevalent throughout. After playing in a Django movie (Takeshi Miike's very odd Sukiyaki Western Django), it's nice to see Tarantino tackle a Django movie with aplomb and pull it off superbly.
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