lopper wigeon: DJANGO Unchained : Movie Review

I went to the local shopping mall yesterday in the hope of availing myself of the nearest power sockets in the library there but was beaten to the punch by scores of others still left powerless at home during to the recent floods and storms that ravaged Brisbane and the Australian eastern seaboard over the past week.

So, with the quest for a recharged phone and computer stymied I stumbled across to the cinema to see if there was anything of interest to pass the time. And, there it was in the name of Django ? Django Unchained and it started in 10 minutes. Perfect. I had wanted to see this movie since I first heard about it a month or two ago and thought this was too much of a serendipitous?moment to pass ? the universe was sending me a message and that was to watch Django Unchained. Or, perhaps, I was just fortunate to be there at the right time.

But, as they say fortune favours the brave and/or the ones wealthy enough to purchase a movie tickets these days! So, I grabbed a ticket, a medium Coke and a choc ice and sauntered into the cinema.

Now, since the movie has only been released just a week in Australia I?m not going to provide any spoilers or descriptions that could affect your future film viewing as I don?t appreciate it when I come across the entire movie plot and storyline some punk just had to blurt out without so much as a *spoiler alert* to let you know before you start reading.

I will say this though. Django Unchained is a Quentin Tarantino film. It?s a Quentin Tarantino film on ?roids. If you don?t like QT, if you don?t like Kill Bill, if you didn?t like Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction, hell even Jackie Brown?you?re most likely not going to like this film. Bear in mind this is a Quentin Tarantino film that deals with raw, brutal, violent depictions of slavery in the American South two years before the Civil War. This is not a film for the squeamish, sensitive, easily upset or easily annoyed as this film will make even the hardiest soul squeamish, sensitive, upset and annoyed at times during the film. It deals with incredibly ugly, barbaric practices carried out by horrendous people in brutal times.

I wanted to watch this film as it deals with an incredibly ugly, disturbing and repugnant topic ? slavery. A topic which is largely still taboo in the US and other New World nations were it was practiced, including Australia where we thoughtfully called the practice ?blackbirding?, whereby Pacific Islanders worked Queensland cane fields as ?indentured servants? ? ?but make no mistake it was slavery, and slavery shackled many indigenous Australians and indeed non-indigenous Australians throughout the first 150 years of European settlement. But, I digress. It?s no surprise that people want to cover up, dismiss, refuse to acknowledge or deny that slavery could have possibly existed in their nation or, heaven forbid, their forebears could have possibly benefited directly or indirectly from the cruelest of practices. But, acknowledging, addressing and depicting the harsh, brutal reality of slavery is necessary for nations to confront for if nations fail to adequately examine, record and reconcile with the past ? no matter how ugly, they can never truly move forward, progress and move on from the injustices of the past.

For this it takes a special director to confront such a riven, disturbing, taboo yet profound aspect of US history, particularly in the South. To take such an issue which is bound to unleash a whole gamut of emotions from Americans ? black and white ? requires not only a lot of courage but a lot of intelligence, sensitivity and introspection to ensure the central themes of the film are covered in the hope of engaging genuine, productive discussion on such a difficult subject. Unsurprisingly, the film and Tarantino himself has generated a significant amount of controversy.

Now, onto the film. In interviews Tarantino has discussed his love of spaghetti Westerns and this is not lost in the film as large parts of the movie, particularly in the first half pay homage to the spaghetti Westerns of yesteryear. There?s the good guys, addressed early and clearly in the film, the bad guys ? equally early and easily addressed, and the others ? victims of their time, or more correctly, their colour.

The main protagonist, Django Freeman, is played by Jamie Foxx who does a fine job of displaying a complex, intriguing, determined man relishing the opportunity to confront and resolve his destiny. His partner in crime and emancipator is Dr King Schultz, played sublimely by Christoph Waltz, an intelligent man with a profound sense of justice and honour in a time when both were in short supply. Quentin Tarantino has to be praised for bringing Waltz?s intelligence, presence and integrity to a wider audience and his role in this film is every bit as good, better even, than his role as Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds.

Leonardo DiCaprio is impeccable as the vile, unscrupulous plantation owner and creatively cruel mass?exploiter, Calvin J. Candie; Samuel L. Jackson seems to relvel his role as the equally vile, conniving, manipulative servant Stephen; and Kerry Washington provides a breathless, profound presence as Broomhilda. (One criticism I would have of the film is that Broomhilda?s character is not explored in greater detail, it would have been fascinating to hear more of her story from her perspective).

There?s also memorable cameo performances particularly from Don Johnson as ?Big Daddy? Bennett, Tom Wopat (of The Dukes of Hazzard fame) and Tarantino himself, who alongside John Jarratt play?The LeQuint Dickey Mining Co. Employees.

The movie is long, it is ? in true QT style ? expletive laden (I must admit I did have trouble with the excessive, almost gratuitous usage of the N-word), it is violent ? gratuitously and often ridiculously so. But, at the same time, it is fascinating, insightful, disturbing, profound and entertainment ? often times simultaneously and in equal measure. It is Quentin Tarantino but it is vintage Tarantino, basing his film on an extremely riven and thorny issue, confronting the topic head-on and saluting the establishment with his middle finger high, bugger the consequences. Love it or hate it, you will come out with an opinion about it. It is Django Unchained.

I give it 9 out of 10, it was long but time flew and I was deeply engaged throughout, some parts of the film could argued to have been unnecessary, drawn out or redundant whilst some characters could have been explored further, in particular, Broomhilda. But, all in all, I did thoroughly enjoy the film.

In closing, I?ll leave you with Tarantino?s interview with the BBC?s Krishnan Guru-Murthy? ?? ?I?m shutting your butt down!?

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