Given Quentin Tarantino’s reputation as a legendary film director, it’s no surprise that his latest creation, “Django Unchained,” has become a box office hit. Since its release on Christmas Day, “Django” has surpassed the $100 million mark, taking the lead as Tarantino’s most successful film since “Pulp Fiction.” Starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson, the movie follows the story of Django (Foxx), a slave-turned-bounty hunter, on his mission to free his wife from slavery along with the help of his fellow bounty hunter and mentor, Dr. King Schultz (Waltz).
The film begins with Schultz, a charismatic and clever ex-dentist, offering Django — a slave at the time — freedom for the price of one thing: his help in finding the Brittle brothers, the men who had once owned Django himself. After revealing himself as a bounty hunter, Schultz explains the Brittle brothers are wanted for murder, dead or alive. The two unlikely heroes then embark on their journey to track down the outlaws. Once the deed has been done, Schultz and Django realize they make a fine team indeed, and so they continue to seek out criminals and execute them for reward.
When Schultz learns about Django’s wife Broomhilda, who was separated from him during a slave auction, he locates her records and confirms she has been sold to Calvin Candie (DiCaprio), the cruel owner of the notorious Candyland, a Mississippi plantation known for its rigorous training in “Mandingo fighting,” which forces slaves to fight each other as a form of entertainment. The dynamic duo devises an elaborate plan: to distract Candie with large sums of money by pretending to be interested in purchasing one of his trained Mandingo fighters, even though everyone but Candie realizes their sole intention is to acquire Broomhilda as part of the transaction.
Characteristic of any Quentin Tarantino film, the plan doesn’t go down exactly as Django and Schultz had hoped. Naturally violence ensues, and an epic battle of good versus evil takes place, where only one side can win. Because when Tarantino’s characters fight, they fight to the death. And it is a larger-than-life killing spree, let me tell you.
Personally, I adored this movie. I went into the theater with mild expectations and left with a sense of awe and wonder. Despite the movie being nearly three hours long, I was still disappointed it was over. The soundtrack was phenomenal, a refreshing blend of 2Pac and Western banjo solos. It added a certain “cowboy gangster” element to the film that would have been difficult for anyone but Quentin Tarantino himself to achieve.
Aside from the catchy music, “Django” was also jam-packed with witty, quirky oneliners. There was one particularly memorable scene near the beginning of the movie, a flashback to Django’s past, in which he was pleading for the Brittle brothers to have mercy on Broomhilda as they were preparing to whip her. One of the brothers looked down at him and said, “I like the way you beg, boy.” The movie then shifted to present tense, where Django is about to execute the same brother after tracking him down with Schultz. Staring down at the man he is getting ready to kill, Django calmly says, “I like the way you die, boy,” and shoots him directly in the heart. The sense of vengeance is overwhelming.
While “Django Unchained” is in some parts a comedy, it is also a tense portrayal of an issue that is still very controversial today. While many critics disapprove of the offensive situational humor and racist remarks throughout the movie, I found it to be an extremely amusing exposé of a very sensitive topic. Tarantino has found a way to unify blacks and whites by establishing a sort of common ground: humor. By poking fun at both races in this cinematic masterpiece, Tarantino has created yet another classic that will endure for generations to come.
