Review: Django Unchained

I have a complex relationship with Quentin Tarantino. On the one hand he has directed a lot of my favorite films; Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2, Inglorious Basterds, and even Death Proof which I guess isn’t considered one of his best. On the other hand I also think he’s pretty crazy. As in his mind doesn’t work in the same way the average person’s would. He makes these genre films based purely on the fact that he enjoyed those types of films when he was younger and somehow turns them into marketable Hollywood movies, which usually results in these bizarre flicks that stylistically speaking are all over the map. He is the definition of a director who makes movies solely for his own enjoyment and if movie goers also enjoy it then that’s just the gravy. But the really weird thing is that despite his obvious self-indulgence, and also his tendency to forego linier storytelling, he is one of the few directors in Hollywood who consistently makes really good movies. I don’t know if I’ve seen a Tarantino movie that I thought was specifically bad; the worst were just not my cup of tea. He actually probably has more movies on my Top 20 Movie list (one day…) than anyone else.

This brings us to his latest movie; Django Unchained. Like pretty much all his previous films Tarantino was inspired by an old school film genre; in this case the “Spaghetti Westerns” of the old days. However the twist, and really the controversy, with this was he decided it’d be cool to have the back drop of the film be set in a Pre-Civil War Deep South. Indeed the title character is a former slave and the plot pulls no punches when it comes to the depiction of such. Now this alone has made key figures in the black community, shall we say, “pissed off” but unfortunately the heavy use of the “N-Word” caused things to go from uncomfortable to “It looks like the race war is about to start” (Seriously, I have read some people actually suggest this). It’s been a pretty big thing hanging over the movie’s head.

Now I hate to turn this blog political but I really think some of these guys need to chill the hell out. I get the idea is that a) they think Tarantino shouldn’t be making light of American slavery because it was the worst period of our countries history and that b) the N-Word will always be a touchy subject no matter how far race relations have come. However as someone who likes Westerns but has always been annoyed by the lack of black protagonists I’m overjoyed that someone finally decided to put make a film starring someone who looks like me, even if that someone is white (I actually don’t give a shit what race the director is). And, really, if you’re going to have a cowboy movie starring a black guy just from a historical stand point it will always be tied to slavery because the vast majority of characters would either be a former slave or the children of slaves. Hell even the cartoonish Wild Wild West mentioned that Will Smith’s character escaped slavery…and also had a giant mechanical spider, but whatever. And as for the use of the N-Word? It doesn’t bother me because the movie takes place PRE-CIVIL WAR SOUTH. Of course the racist slave owning white assholes are going to spout that word like it’s going out of style. It was 1859 and this is a period piece; calm down. I believe that the real reason it got so much shit was because it was a white director and really that specific white director who has gotten in trouble for this exact thing in the past (So we’re basically having the same argument against the same guy we had almost twenty years ago). Bottom line it’s a cowboy movie that stars a black guy during a point in history where black people were slaves; it may not be pretty and it may not be super politically correct but that doesn’t really matter because it’s a movie written and directed by a guy who, while not subtle, can’t really be accused of being a racist.

Do you think Leo DiCaprio got this much shit for Gangs of New York?

Phew, let’s put that soap box away. Full review of Django Unchain solely on its merits after the jump.

[WARNING: This review contains some spoilers, so read at your own risk.]
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