Django Unchained

Quentin Tarantino has perfected his craft of making an exploitation film in his most recent venture, Django Unchained.

Tarantino continues the tirade against the racists and bigots he started in his Nazi exploitation piece Inglourious Basterds, this time aiming at slave traders in the Deep South of the USA.

Django (Jamie Foxx) is a slave in the mid 1800s, being transported across the country for sale. About half way through their journey, the convoy is stopped by a traveler who offers to buy Django. Vexed by the traveler's fancy words and offended by the way he speaks politely to the slaves, the slavers try to get rid of the traveler by force. This ends badly when the traveler kills one slaver and severely maims the other.

Turns out, the traveler is one Dr King Schultz (Christopher Waltz), a bounty hunter who wants to use Django to identify a trio of outlaws. During their travels, Django quickly adapts to the hunter's life and a friendship begins to blossom between the two men, with the former slave telling Schultz he wants to find his wife.

Make sure you light his good side, Dr Schultz

While the narrative is adequate, it's the setting that really captured my attention. So rarely does one see such a stark portrayal of the pre-Civil War landscape, with human lives measured in dollars and disobedient slaves punished brutally.

The exploitation element comes from Django's desire for revenge, "killing white folks."  The violence is always present, even if it isn't always physical - people are sexually harassed, verbally abused and treated like animals.

Animals...or props.

The closest comparison I can make is Nick Cave's film The Proposition - that's the level of racism and violence Django Unchained deals with. But while Cave's venture was bleak, Tarantino has a much more darkly humorous and "pulpy" feel.

There is also surprisingly little nudity or sex for an "exploitation" film. Any nudity or moments of sexual tension mostly have the opposite effect due to the situations they're used in.

Nothing sexy about a man who dresses like Prince.

The cast is brilliantly chosen, with Christopher Waltz's jovial, congenial wordsmith providing a great foil for Foxx's silent, scowly avenger. Despite playing an almost identical character to the one he portrayed in Inglourious Basterds, Waltz manages to be brilliant. Foxx is almost a shadow in this film, soft-spoken and constantly in the background until the third act.

Samuel Jackson and Leonardo Di Caprio have a similar relationship to the two leads, despite being decidedly more villainous. Kerry Washington as Django's wife, Broomhilda, is also stunning for the short amount of time she was on screen. I would have liked to see her develop more as a character than as a plot device, but Washington does well with the small amount of material she has.

The scowl of villainous friendship

Django Unchained is exceptionally violent and the characterisation of people in the Deep South of the USA is uncomfortable, but it's a great watch.

Django Unchained is out on DVD now.

Four stars.

Seriously...watch it just to see this suit.