DJANGO UNCHAINED

US, 2012, 165 minutes, Colour.
Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio?, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Dennis Christopher, James Remar, Don Johnson, Don Stroud, Russ Tamblyn, James Russo, Amber Tamblyn, Bruce Dern, Jonah Hill, Lee Horsley, Tom Sevini, Michael Parks, John Jarratt, Quentin Tarantino.
Directed by Quentin Tarantino.

It’s twenty years since Reservoir Dogs and Quentin Tarantino’s making an instant impact on critics and the public. He won the Cannes Palme D’Or? two years later with Pulp Fiction and an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. ‘Tarantinoesque’ became a frequently used word in describing not only his films but those which imitated his sardonic style as well as his blood-spurting sequences. With a career that produces a film every two or three years or so (Jackie Brown, the Kill Bill series), he is still a stylish director, a clever writer (a moderate actor, here with his faux Australian accent) and someone who knows and pays homage to a wide range of genre movies as well as an eclectic taste for his musical scores.

All of this is particularly true of Django Unchained (with acknowledgement of the 1966 Italian Django, with Franco Nero, who guest appears here). It is a Western, it is a bounty hunter tale, it is a film of Southern racism in the years prior to the Civil War, it is a condemnation of slavery, it has some Mandingo sequences. And all as a tribute to Spaghetti Westerns, allusions to the films of Sergio Leone, though this time the man has a name, Django, and he is black. There is even some Ennio Morricone music and songs.

For those a touch wary of Tarantino and blood, the major part of the film does have some shootings and beatings but not as graphically seen as before. But… there is an apocalyptic shootout towards the end, large body count and blood. And, but… that was not the ending we thought it might be, there is another shootout and a concluding, really apocalyptic conflagration.

As storytelling goes, there is plenty of plot, mainly about a German bounty hunter who frees a slave, Django, and together they go hunting murderers and robbers – dead or alive. There are some serious and some funny sequences, especially the mocking of the Ku Klux Klan (led by Don Johnson with Jonah Hill in tow) as they go on a raid and have a loopy argument about how well the holes have been cut in their hoods. The two bounty hunters get involved in some cliff-hanging crises which seem impossible to get out of – but they do.

Most of the action takes place on a Mississippi plantation, presided over by Monsieur Caddie, who indulges in Mandingo fights and is advised, even supervised, by his obsequious black slave, Stephen.

Time to talk aabout the cast. Jamie Foxx showed his effectiveness in his Oscar-winning role as Ray Charles in Ray. Here he is a fine, strong presence, a bewildered slave who has lost his wife, who is taken on as a valet (dressed in sky blue), then a partner (dressed like a Western’s hero), a free man, who has learned to read, to be shrewd, determined to find his wife. Christoph Waltz is the dentist become bounty hunter. His career was made by Tarantino in his Cannes-winning, Oscar-winning role as the SS officer in Inglourious Basterds. Waltz has more than acknowledged his debt in a very arresting performance. He has lots of wry remarks, is pedantic about his vocabulary and generates a lot of humour even in dangerous situations. He is very good.

Leonardo di Caprio is Monsieur Caddie, a presumptuous brat plantation owner. Interesting to see how well he does a villain. Samuel L. Jackson is the slave adviser, currying favour with his master – and often over-the-top in his performance. Kerry Washington is Django’s wife. In the supporting cast there are lots of character actors whom Tarantino obviously admires. Even John Jarratt is there (Australian accent and all) – Tarantino must admire Wolf Creek.

Very clever film-making for Tarantino admirers – but it may not make many converts.


1. Critical acclaim, awards? Quentin Tarantino and his career?

2. The tradition of American westerns? Texas, the southern states? The 1858 setting? Slavery, the impending Civil War? The lawless West, the role of the bounty hunters? The tradition of the spaghetti westerns?

3. Tarantino’s use of the spaghetti western traditions? Comic, symbolic, the nature of heroes, the nature of villains? Locations and their variety? The visualising of violence? The roles of men, of women? Guns, whips, fistfights?

4. The strength of the cast, the stars, embodiment of their characters? Some playing against type?

5. The blend of the serious and the humorous, the sardonic? Tarantino and strong dialogue? Remarks, irony, the Ku Klux Klan’s argument? King Schultz and his use of English, as a second language? The cowboys and others in the West not understanding the words?

6. The visual violence, Tarantino’s style? The bounty hunters, the shootings, the Mandingo episodes? The two endings?

7. The issues of racism, the critique of white Americans and their attitudes towards blacks, towards the slaves? A criticism of the US? The pre-Abolition setting? Prejudice and practice, the fate of the slaves, hatred of their masters, or obsequious? The dignity of the slaves? Tarantino vocalising bigotry? The triumph of the black over the white? Audience responses?

8. The original Django, 1966, Franco Nero, the story – and the many sequels?

9. The use of music, the score, the range of songs and composers, from Beethoven, classics, to contemporary songs, Ennio Morricone, rap?

10. Tarantino’s knowledge of cinema, the range of visual references and quotations?

11. The focus on Django, in the chain gang, Texas? Doctor Schultz, talking, with the slave-owners, the sales and the bargains, freeing the slaves, his mission? Information from Django? Django’s decision to go with Schultz? Django’s character, his dignity, Jamie Foxx’s performance? Learning, the law, learning to read, to shoot, the German wife? Her being taken away? The hunters and the killing of the sheriff, the marshal and his comment, the debt of two hundred dollars? Scouting out the criminals, the shootings, producing the documents? Django and his change of clothes, 19th century court? Learning more, becoming an equal? The flashbacks to the story of his wife? Going to the mountains, the snow, the gangs? The encounter with the plantation owner, his control, the confrontation with the Ku Klux Klan? Going to Mississippi, the slaves, Mandingo, Candie? Django and Schultz and their plan, the plan for buying the slaves? The high bid, Schultz’s technique? Going to the plantation? The gun? Broomhilda in the box? Candie’s assistant, Leonide? The meal, Stephen’s presence and his role? Candie and his reactions, the discussions, suspicions? The aftermath of the meal, the humiliation of Broomhilda? Django meeting her in the room? The guns, Candie shot? His henchmen? The shootout in the house? The capture? The hanging and the castration? The law, the Australians going to the mine? Their being shot? Django and his return? Broomhilda, Schultz’s death? The final explosion, confrontation with Stephen? Leaving – and becoming a western icon?

12. The contrast with Schultz, dentist, travelling the West, German background, vocabulary and accent? His cart and the symbol of the tooth? The revelation that he was a bounty hunter, the documents, the initial encounter, the men not understanding him, the change of mood, the killings, the racist attitudes? Django being freed? The others having their choice, pursuing their captors? Schultz and Django travelling, the plan, going to the town, the killing of the sheriff, dealing with the marshal, the documents and collecting the money? Going to the farm, the three brothers and their being stalked, shot, Django becoming active in bounty hunting? Big Daddy, the homestead, his racism, his slaves, the Ku Klux Klan, the pursuit, the explosion? Schultz and his ability to escape cliff-hanging episodes? Django becoming a partner, changing his clothes, becoming a man of the West? Travels and achievement? Going to Mississippi, the pose, Django and his authority, the plan with the Mandingo? Candie, in the household? Broomhilda in the box, her speaking German, being brought in, meeting her in the room? Reunited? The fights, the dogs and their viciousness, revulsion? Candie and the meal, the bargain about the price, Stephen and the truth, the build-up to the confrontation, Candie being killed? Schultz himself being killed – allowing himself to die? Django inheriting from him? His character, humour, appeal to audiences?

13. Candie, the fop, owning the plantation, his lawyer associate, his henchmen, Stephen and his presence, controlling Candie, the fake limp? His being obsequious in manner, shrewd? The dogs, the death? Candie and Broomhilda, the meal, speaking German? Django and the revelation of the truth, the confrontation, his death?

14. Stephen, his appearance, manner of talking, advising Candie, suspicious, getting the truth? Broomhilda and the box? The information to Candie, capturing Django, Django’s escape, the final confrontation, the explosion? The critique of the obsequious slave?

15. Broomhilda, her marriage, the bond, her being whipped, tortured, the German speaking and her story? Django, the reuniting? Sharing the vengeance with Django?

16. The picture of the Wild West, wild and harsh, the initial traders, Big Daddy and the clan (and the ridiculing of the Ku Klux Klan with the argument about the holes in their hoods)? Their being killed off with the explosion? The contrast with southern courtesy and viciousness? The brittle Brothers, killers? The sheriffs? The hotels, refusing to let the travellers in? The gunfighters? The Australians brought over to work for the mines?

17. The picture of slaves, men and women, the nature of slavery, the treatment, house slaves, field slaves, the humiliation and punishment?

18. Women, generally absent from the film? Candie’s sister, her racism, her being shot? The black women, slaves, their rebellion?

19. The drama, the humour, the violence – especially the two endings? The film in the light of western movie traditions?