Review: ‘Django Unchained’

There are few movies out there that will make you laugh until your sides split and make you puke your guts up. This is the one such movie.

Tarantino is a master mimic. His films always have a familiarity about them because so much of the content is lifted from other (often older) movies. Yet he always manages to put his own spin on the material and makes films that are wholly his own. Django Unchained does this masterfully. And who’d have thought a film about slavery could be so entertaining?

Jamie Foxx is perfect in the titular role of freed slave Django. He has the ability to do comedy, but enough acting chops to pull back from playing for laughs when the material requires it. Christoph Waltz as a German dentist turned bounty hunter also hits every mark and his partnership with Foxx sets up a unique spin on the tired mis-matched partner scenario.

Partners become friends as they travel around the pre-Civil War American South shooting miscreants for money. In a moment of male bonding, Django lets slip he has a German-speaking wife (with the improbable name of Broomhilda) from whom he was cruelly separated. Frau maidens must be rescued – especially when they’re in the hands of Leonardo DiCaprio.

Things do not go as planned of course, and much blood is shed. A lot of blood. Gallons of it. I sat in the front row of the cinema and was glad the film wasn’t in 3D.

The landscapes are gorgeous and beautifully shot. I’ve never had a problem with the DCP digital format before, but this is a film that’s crying out for 35mm. The scenery demands the warmth and depth of film, not the cold perfection of digital.

But it’s funny, bloody and with a finale that indulges every one of Tarantino’s boyish urges for excess. Django Unchained is a terrifically fun three hours. I didn’t even wish it was shorter, and that’s saying a lot!

9/10

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