- The wild west and the savage south
clash
While I'm not a huge Quentin Tarantino
fan unlike, seemingly the rest of the world, I understand he has a
huge following and I always try to see his movies (I believe Jackie
Brown stands as the only full feature film of his I have not seen).
Before you start the lynch mob, I'm not hating his films, they
usually garner between 6 and 8 from me, but from the fans I speak to,
I am missing something that is so profound and life altering that I
just don't get his films like everyone else. But finally Tarantino
is hitting up the west and a story that I can fall for and so begins
my trial with Django Unchained.
Django Unchained is up for five Oscars this year, Best film, Actor in Supporting Role, Writing, Cinematography, and Sound Editing. While (as of the writing this review) it's probably the best film I've seen in the best film category, I hardly think the Academy judges would see eye to eye with me, due to (although not entirely for this reason) the harsh racial slurs thrown about. I'd love to see writing and sound editing get the nod along with best supporting role. But I'll err on the side of caution and say it will probably pick up two but I'd be blown away with excitement if it grabbed all five.
The story unfolds after the original
Django (1966) movie theme plays with new 2012 Django (played by Jamie Foxx) being a slave on route from one owner to another when the ever
amazing scene stealing Dr. King Schultz (played by Christoph Waltz)
comes and frees Django for a job. Schultz needs a trio dead as he is
a good old bounty hunter. Django knows what they look like as they
were his old owners. A pair made for law & disorder. The movie
stomps through the slave era of America throwing out racial slurs
like candy on Halloween but keeps it logical and flowing well with a
great story surrounding the slurs. Really what I should be saying
is, the language could be considered crass but it's during the slave
era and people and I mean a lot of people get killed, disintegrated
and there is a small segment of torture, if the language is what
bothers you perhaps you should re-evaluate your stance on things.
I truly love western movies and while
Tarantino says this movie is a “southern” movie it shares most of
the common threads that any spaghetti western movie holds so while it
takes place in the south I think semantics gets in the way here so
I'll be calling it a spaghetti western from here on out. Those of
you not familiar with the term/genre should be aware that it's a
bloody, messy, gun slinging movie where the heroes aren't clean but
the villains are dirtier. There is always a damsel and she needs a
savin'. It isn't so much the story is complicated, it's probably
pretty standard to say the least, but for whatever reason it is a
story that is always at the end a gripping one, especially when such
a cast is collected to do the duties of the story. Leonardo DiCaprio
has become quite the actor from when I first saw him in the western
Quick and the Dead (1995) and he sure is one serious actor. I won't
give too much away here but at one point he does slam his hand on a
table and cuts it open. It's real. The script didn't ask for that,
he was so serious about slamming his hand down he cut it open and it
was the best take. You do your job and let blood flow from your hand
and not even take notice. That's right, you wouldn't.
 |
| "Most serious riders do have their own saddles." |
Django Unchained may very well be one
of the best films of 2012, and while I can't stamp it with the very
best (there are just so many films released in 2012 and many worthy
ones left in my race to watch all the Oscar nominated films), it had
everything I was looking for in a movie. The cast and story were top
notch, I felt that QT didn't drag any scene on with frivolous
conversation that teetered on poor story telling, which might be my
main problem I have with his flicks. The soundtrack was, as usual
with him, amazing as well. Ennio Morricone's tracks are certainly
welcome additions. I ended up watching this twice within 36 hours
because I was rather floored by the movie. Those of you who follow my
blog will take note for the first time:
I give it the first perfect 10/10
PS: I would love to sit down and drink
a beer with Dr. King Schultz, amazing character brought to life, I
hope Waltz wins the Oscar.
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