This is another Tarantino masterpiece and you are either going to love it or hate it, but if you have seen other Tarantino films you know what to expect walking into the cinema – buckets of blood, dark humour, priceless cameos and razor sharp dialogue. The only surprise element is the romance. Even though Django gets as down and dirty as the “baddies” he is doing it for loooove. Ahhh.

In a nutshell

Django is a slave in the American South. When he is freed by a bounty hunter, Dr Schultz, they form an unlikely alliance. They spend the winter killing people for money, then get down to the real business at hand – freeing Django’s wife and taking sweet revenge.

Mood of the film

Pulp Fiction, but in a Wild West setting. No wait, Inglourious Basterds, but in a Wild West setting. Okay, I give up. It is a Tarantino western, people! It is insane.

Best performances

It is a tie between Django’s (Foxx) intensity, Dr Schultz’s (Waltz) panache and Candie’s (DiCaprio) malice. (Samuel L Jackson’s housekeeper, Stephen, was too much of a caricature.) I vote for Christoph Waltz. He is more magnetic than Foxx and certainly more subtle than DiCaprio.

Stand-out scene

Eish. One of the most horrific, chilling scenes I have ever seen is surely the Mandingo fighting sequence. Two slaves are made to fight each other to the death. They do so in the lounge by the fireplace, surrounded by “gentlemen” drinking cognac, smoking cigars and chit-chatting.

Negatives

I do not mind Tarantino’s penchant for squirting blood, but it does not do anything for me either. It has been done, Quentin, move on.

Is it relevant today?

It certainly touches on issues that are still relevant in society, such as a group of people being treated as second-rate citizens, violence perpetrated against women, etc.

Tarantino has been criticised for the violence in the film. His reply is that there is a big difference between the violence dished out by the baddies and the justice that Django serves up. The audience is supposed to know the one is cruel and unjustified and evil, while the other is pure and fun because it is revenge. I have to admit, I did distinguish between the two types of violence, and I did root for Django when he was doing the shooting, but whether that is acceptable is quite another story.

Does it cop out?

Has Tarantino ever shied away from any issue, from any controversy? I mean, he killed Hitler in Inglourious Basterds!

FYI

During filming Christoph Waltz fell off his horse and broke his pelvis. Jamie Foxx subsequently gave him a saddle with a seat belt.

Rotten Tomatoes Score

88%

My Score

85%

Details

Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Written by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio.
Running time: 2 hrs 46 mins