DJANGO UNCHAINED (Quentin Tarantino, The Weinstein Company, 2012)

More so than any director working today Quentin Tarantino's films have become events when they are released. Scorsese and Spielberg both previously had that status but recent works have taken them off that pedestal. The point being, I like Tarantino films and immediately go to see them at the theaters. Normally, the only thing that bothers me with his films are his blatant conceit towards his audience regarding his well chronicled encyclopedic mind of film. Basically he is constantly telling his audience he has forgotten more about film than we shall ever know. This pisses me off. For the casual moviegoer I am sure they don't see the endless homages and know every intricate film reference Tarantino is giving us. But to me, someone who sees these things it becomes overwhelming. Finally with DJANGO UNCHAINED (Quentin Tarantino, The Weinstein Company, 2012) we get a reprieve from the bludgeoning and we get a film that I feel is his best work since the seminal PULP FICTION (Tarantino, Miramax, 1994). DJANGO UNCHAINED is stylized entirely as a spaghetti western with Tarantino's vision towards taking a divisive, historical issue and giving it a contemporary feel and postmodern look. The stylizing towards the spaghetti western genre here works magnificently. The extensive use of the long shot and an expansive cinematography give the film that traditional western atmosphere. The stylization of the film with a grainy texture hearkens the film back to an earlier period of filmmaking. His quick zooms mixed with non diegetic sound snaps our focus to attention. And of course, his final homage, Steven (Samuel Jackson) doing Tuco's yell to Blondie "you son of a bitch". While Tarantino is lushly providing us with this visual feast his narrative becomes a masterpiece of a postmodern rewinding of historical events. This contemporary take on this historical issue, one that still engenders feelings of guilt, hatred and misery is not a topic often discussed in the films of Hollywood. If films do broach this despicable part of our history usually they are either given a buffoonish quality in order to make light of the situation and ease feelings through caricature or the films simply skip over any ugliness in the hopes that not seeing truth obscures it. Tarantino simply throws his camera directly on the horror we wish to avoid and forces us to confront it. The shackles around Django's ankles, the whip marks across his back, the casual dismissal of black people as intelligent human beings, the derogatory and customary use of the word nigger. All things we as audiences have trouble viewing and comprehending. This film does a remarkable job of forcing a personal reconciliation or acknowledgment with these terms. Normally I do not care for stylizing history for entertainment purposes. As a history major it offends me to the core this ever expanding push towards re-writing and re-defining history. Quite simply this narrative would not have taken place. But for me, this instance works, I like it. Not only is the film entertaining but it's vivid depictions bring so much to the viewer. Slavery is and forever will be the dark stain on American history. It lingers with us, it resides deep in our collective consciousness and we cannot turn a blind eye to it. So, the use of dialogue is not offensive. The depictions and use of brutality and violence are as necessary to the film as they are to us seeing them. Of course all of this is easier to see when the actors doing the portrayal are brilliant. Let me start with Samuel Jackson. Like Tarantino the role of Steven is Jackson's best work since PULP FICTION. Jackson captures the essence of the house slave in every aspect that I would expect this role to entail. Cunning, beholden, ugly. Django (Jamie Foxx) is played with smoldering fury with Foxx taking every second to the edge. Watching the film a second time every time Tarantino pushes in on Django's eyes I expected him to explode into action. Leonardo DiCaprio (Calvin Candie) is twisted and psychotic and Christoph Waltz (Dr. King Schultz) is erudite and so very European, always looking down on the child America. They and the entire cast are excellent. Great casting and great direction by Tarantino pulling such great performances out of every actor. Technically the film is standard Tarantino fare. Which means excellent. On my second viewing of the film the sound design and score particularly stood out. The score is really good using some older pieces mixed in with contemporary songs. Unlike many other films released these days (Gangster Squad comes to mind) the use of contemporary hip hop songs in the soundtrack worked for the film largely due to that musical genres association with its audience. And Tarantino's use of sound effects and the sound mixing to the film added layers to the overall quality of the film. The cinematography was often stunning and beautiful with some camera work that was amazing. Just a moment at the end of the film, his slow camera movement down Hildie's (Kerry Washington) body and back again on Django as he returned to her for the final time was spectacular. The ONLY exception I had to any moment was in the overhead lighting at particular moments during the film. Made to be moonlight it looked artificial and hindered my buying the moments. Maybe because of the stylization of the film this was an intended lighting setup but it bothered me and I didn't like it. As I said earlier, this is Quentin Tarantino's best release since his seminal PULP FICTION. I feel he has become our most important working filmmaker, surpassing all others. His work not only is technically masterful but his narrative content always forces us to examine ourselves in some way. He entertains us yes, but forces an inward examination while doing this. The bludgeoning with his film knowledge grows tiresome at times, but he respects the craft and knows that for which he owes a great debt. In discussing the other Best Picture nominees I say this about DJANGO UNCHAINED. It probably won't win Best Picture for 2012 but it will be the film that years from now is the most quoted and re-watched film of 2012.