We all know what we are going to see when go watch a Quentin Tarantino film; excessive violence, copious amounts of blood, pop cultural references, quick witted dialogue and characters unlike any that you have ever encountered.
Unfortunately, like every great director, there are some inconsistencies across their work where audiences are left to wonder what exactly was the intention of the film that they just saw. Sure, Tarantino’s last picture Inglourious Basterds was enjoyable, but there was no humanistic element that made you truly care for the characters involved.
Now arrives Django Unchained, the latest cinematic installment from Tarantino. It’s a gritty western that takes a delicate period of American history in the thick of the slave trade and makes it guiltily comedic, if not heroic, as we watch the lovable and charismatic duo of Jamie Foxx as Django, a former slave, and Christoph Waltz as Dr. King Schultz, pursuing bounties across America.
Together as bounty hunters, the two embark on a journey that is extremely graphic as we frequently see women abused, slaves beaten and depicted in shackles, and other inhuman contraptions for entrapment.
The film as a whole is tough to watch at times, yet it’s almost impossible not to remain entranced. Tarantino frankly approaches America’s dark past, not in an attempt to comment on slavery, but more so in an effort to acknowledge its prevalence and to place you in a world where you are witness to atrocities that were common on a daily basis to those who endured it
Featuring an impressive supporting cast that features the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio as the captivating villain and plantation owner Calvin Candie, along with Samuel L. Jackson as his loyal housekeeper Stephen, Django Unchained is a great film not only for die-hard Tarantino fans, but also for those who want to find a human element in a film that endears them to a hero whom one can only wish existed during the American slave trade.
