Movie #2 - Django Unchained

One word review: Terrific

Full review:
Django Unchained is the latest film from Quentin Tarantino to reimagine history.  Where in Inglourious Basterds he had the Jews taking out the Nazis, in Django Unchained he has a black slave rising up against the white slavers in the late 1850s just prior to the Civil War. And he does so in the most violent, uncompromising and frequently hilarious way.

The opening scene is incredible, as slaves shuffle their way across a cold Tennessee while their white masters ride in warmth.  A cart appears and the driver, a dentist, approaches the slave traders to see if they have a particular man he is interested in purchasing.  A conversation ensues and then a gunfight, and we see that the mild-mannered, well-spoken, slightly eccentric dentist is not who he seems and not a man to be trifled with.  Christoph Waltz (so good in Inglourious Basterds that Quentin wrote this part for him) is absolutely perfect in this role as Dr King Schultz, German bounty hunter, and deserves every nomination and award he has received so far.  Oscar here he comes!

Jamie Foxx is the slave in question, and he too is very strong as Django, who quickly embraces the opportunity Dr Schultz gives him to be a free man (the scene where he gets to dress himself for the first time ever provides a few laughs) and starts a quest to find his beloved wife and free her from slavery as well.  It doesn't take long for Dr Schultz to get on board with the mission as the two become a very successful bounty hunting team and he figures it could be mutually profitable, but also when he discovers she speaks German thanks to a German mistress earlier in life.  Kerry Washington has a difficult role to play Brunhilda since she is basically a victim most of the time but she does well to show why Django would go through so much for this woman.

The mission takes our two heroes across a series of Southern towns and plantations where white was right and black was less than human.  It's definitely a period piece and doesn't shy away from depicting the way that black people were treated and spoken to, even by each other.  The 'n word' is used almost non-stop but to not use it would be inauthentic and pointless, so don't be offended.  The violence is strong from beginning to end, with bits of human flesh erupting into the air as bullets fly.

The situation comes to a head when Dr Schultz discovers that Brunhilda may be at Candie Land - a plantation owned by Southern dandy Calvin Candie (Leonard di Caprio) and ruled over by his black steward Steven (Samuel L Jackson in full ham mode as possibly the most evil character in the film - a black man who has served so long he thinks he's part of the white family and helps to oppress the other slaves).  Django and Dr Schultz hatch a plan to get into Candie Land under pretence of buying some 'mandingoes' - slaves forced to fight each other for entertainment of the masters.  It all starts quite well as Candie is fascinated with the idea of a free black man but things start to unravel as the suspicious Steven uncovers their true agenda.  And then all hell breaks loose!

Quentin Tarantino insists this is not another revenge movie (a definite continuing theme in his films) but rather a hero's journey to save the woman he loves.  I think it is a bit of both because there are definitely some pure "take that" moments in amongst the heroic action.  It doesn't really matter though, because in the end it is a terrifically entertaining story, well told and strongly acted.  There is a surprising amount of humour mixed in which helps lighten the serious subject matter - some of it is story related and others are just things that are funny for long-time QT fans.  Detracting points for excessive length (2 hours and 40 minutes - don't see it on a Friday night when you're really tired after 2 nights of bad sleep like I did) and a few cheesy moments, I'd still give this a 4.5 out of 5.  Let's hope this becomes another major success for QT and I hope to see him up on the Oscar stage getting a golden trophy for the screenplay (a strong possibility).