Review of Django Unchained (2012) by Alban P — 23 Feb 2016

Django Is an Instant Classic.

One of the hardest, most uncomfortable things for the populous of the United States as a whole to talk about in our history is slavery, and the awful things that happened during this time in our country's' past are things that we avoid, and things that not many enjoy speaking on. This simple fact only emphasizes how amazing Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained is. This film is about a slave, being Jamie Foxx, just a couple of years before the civil war. In Django's struggle for freedom he encounters a German bounty hunter by the name of Dr. Schultz, Christoph Waltz. Dr. Schultz and Django become friends and go through the effort to make the African American Django, a free man. After this the two go on numerous adventures in exchange for bounties of wanted men, and later end up at the plantation of a man named Calvin Candie, who is played by Leonardo Dicaprio. This place, where they encounter, "Monsieur Candie," is a plantation with the comedic pun of a name, Candieland. While at Candieland Dr. Schultz and Django enact a thoroughly planned strategy to attain Django's long lost wife who currently is enslaved at Candieland.

Christoph Waltz and Jaime Foxx play two relatable characters that anyone can reason with and liken to. First, in Waltz' role as a bounty hunter he holds himself in such a way that you can not help but like him. Whether it be his way of speaking with a respectful, and insightful tone, or the way he conducts himself in all facets of life. The way he walks, talks, and communicates with everyone else who is around him is fantastic. Doctor Schultz acts in a way that I imagine any decent man would act from todays world, and that is what makes him so great.

Next, Jamie Foxx' Django is quite possibly the opposite of who I am today, me being a white college student in the progressive twenty-first century, and him being an African American man who is in the ignorant and simpleminded nineteenth century. But yet, somehow, Django is one of the most loveable and relatable characters in this movie. This is directly because of the way that Foxx brings this character to life. He's tough, romantic, sensible, and determined. While Tarantino did devise the script in such a way to create this character, it's the little things that Foxx does that really makes Django the man he is. The way he grits his teeth the way he stares at people, and even the way that he fluctuates his voice when talking to slaves versus non slaves, it is just brilliant.

Acting is not the only central aspect to a quality movie, sound effects are often a crucial piece of filmmaking that are often overlooked, but in this movie, Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino uses sound effects to perfection. The filmmakers make small events so much bigger, for instance, the breaking of bones are gruesome not gross, the galloping of a horse is majestic, and the creaking of a door is ever so eerie and enticing that cannot help but leaving you wanting more. These details that are often misused or even forgotten in most films make Django Unchained uniquely immersive and help take you to another world. This often overlooked aspect in filmmaking is beautifully manipulated in, and throughout, the entirety of the film by Tarantino.

This movie may make you uncomfortable since it is about such a controversial, and touchy topic. After watching this movie, you may think, "where has the time gone," since the film is so long, two hours and forty-five minutes to be exact. But, at the end of this movie, I can guarantee one thing, you will be satisfied. Tarantino is a genius, who is accompanied by the amazing acting trio of Foxx, Waltz, and Dicaprio; this combination is deadly, and anyone who has the time should spend it watching this film.