The Overdue Django Review

Well, when i first started this blog i did a short form post on the controversy surrounding Quentin Tarantino's western, and looking at the Django Unchained poster reflected in my computer screen it occurred to me that i had untill now failed to give this film a full blown review, so here goes. Django is an epic homage to spaghetti westerns of the 1940's, hence the title. The film comes after Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds, and is the second of what he refers to as his rewritten history trilogy, to be completed.

The film is about the antebellum south during the 1880's, and is a story of slavery, freedom, racism and a quest for justice. The film won 2 academy awards and was nominated for a further three nominations including best picture. I have also on this blog commented on the proverbial screwup of the best director category at this years Oscars, Tarantino like all other worthy directors this year (namely Bigelow and Affleck) failed to be nominated for an Oscar for directing, and Ang Lee won, enough said!

The film is a stylized visual treat, with a great soundtrack that combines modern hip hop music with old TV western style score, that manages to be nostalgic yet for some reason modern. The films visual identity comes in part due tho the fact that it is filmed on traditional film, of which Tarantino is a huge proponent, giving the film a sharp yet somewhat hazy quality, and a nostalgic look, which harks back to period westerns such as 'The Dollars Trilogy' and 'The Good The Bad and The Ugly'. Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio have true star turns on the film as the quick talking Dr Schultz (Waltz won an Oscar for his role as the doctor) and as the cruel slave owner and sadistic ruler of Candieland, Calvin Candie (despite deserving it, Dicaprio failed to garner an Oscar nomination, admittedly this was a tough year, given a large number of good performances, however given DiCaprio having also failed in previous years to garner nominations for worthy performances, I can't say that this oversee was anything of a surprise).

I spoke rather recently about my loathing of aggressive films that attempt clout you round the face with their do good messages, its a little like being slapped in the face with a fish. The great thing about Unchained is that even though the messages of slavery and racism are there, in the subtexts and subplots of the film, and in the imagery of the film, memorable images include blood spattering on white cotton bolls evoking the slavery and blood behind the cotton industry in the American south, and the startling imagery of scarlet blood on crisp white snow.

Overall this film truly is great and most importantly of all devilishly entertaining, and is in many senses better than other Oscar nominees (Lincoln I'm talking to you!) in that it manages to sustain its audience  throughout the length of it's trajectory, and leaves the audience wanting more, yet feeling that all the ends have been tied up, it has a great message, without being overbearing, and features great art direction and a fantastic visual style, and leaves the viewer a little anxious for whatever opus Tarantino will give birth to next. Rating: A+

Django: Django. The D is silent.