First off let me make it clear that this is a superb masterpiece that should have wiped the floor at the Oscars. There is more power, tension and drama in a couple of minutes of DiCaprio and a skull than in the whole of Argo. So whats so good about this film. Firstly its just a great story - a retelling of the Siegfried legend set against a backdrop of slavery and bounty hunting in the deep south of the US, just before the civil war. It is also a love story, a pupil / surrogate father figure story and perhaps most importantly a brutal account of the horrors of slavery. The second thing that is outstanding is the screenplay. It is littered with quotable lines, from the funny: "That house we just left from, is The Big House. Big Daddy call it that cause it's big." to the plain scary: "If you examine this piece of skull here, you will notice three distinct dimples". In fact the screenplay is so good almost the whole thing is quotable. The final ingredient of this unforgettable film is the casting/acting which produces some wonderful characters: Dr King Schultz, a civilised, cultured bounty hunter, who although he has told Django that he must stay in character just cant do it himself when confronted with Candy's cruelty. Stephen, a brilliant personification of evil by Samuel l Jackson, the moment when Stephen sees Django approaching on a horse is an astonishing bit of acting, essentially with only the eyes. The eponymous Django who through a kind of right of passage changes from a scared slave to a vengeful hero. And perhaps I leave the best to last, the francophile Calvin Candy: DiCaprio captures deep evil and menace.
Review of Django Unchained
