Dr. King Schultz is a Dentist, and as a side line is a also a Bounty Hunter. He is keen to track down three fugitives from the law, the Brittle Brothers, unfortunately he has no idea what they look like. But he knows a man who may do. Therefore he tracks down Django, a slave who just might be able to point out the nasty pieces of work to Schultz, then he can aprehend them, or if need be kill them, and then claim his bounty.
The pair hit it off, and with the two working together, it could become quite a profitable venture for the both of them. Along the way, Schultz discovers that Django has been seperated from his wife, and is keen to track her down. They continue their journey of dealing with law breakers, and try to find information that will lead Django to be reuniuted with his wife.
It turns out his quest may not be an easy one, as she is a slave for one 'Calvin Candie' a despicable land owner who will not let her go so easily. It will be a case of who can outfox who.
Schultz and Django make quite the partnership, and the chemistry between Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz is a delight to watch. There are some hilarious scenes, most notably a group discussion from a group of ranchers, who are about to launch an attack on Schultz and his compatriot, and that with their white head cloth covers, they are unable to properly see when riding. A right slanging match goes on, and the scene descends into farce, and is wonderfully funny.
As the film is at times funny, it is also brutal with some scenes extreme scenes of fighting, there is some bloody violence too, but then again fans of QT will be well used to that by now.
There is also the issue of racism, the treatment of characters, and for me one mof the most racist characters in the film is 'Stephen' and he is played by Samuel L. Jackson. One would suspect that this is deliberate.
With such a long running time, it would be difficult to keep the pace for the whole 165 minutes, and indeed there is a segment of the film, where my attention did flag a little, it was when we are first introduced to 'Calvin Candie' and it is no fault of DiCaprio, just that section of writing, but it is a minor blip in an otherwise excellent movie.
Westerns have been part of Cinema almost since the beginning, but there have been few Westerns like "Django Unchained". It is a remarkable film, coming from the pen of Quentin Tarantino who also called the shots from the Director's Chair. He once again works his magic, bringing together all the elements that make the film such a hit. A compelling story, touches of humour, some nice cameo appearances, especially from Franco Nero, who appeared in the original "Django" and also from Don Johnson who plays 'Big Daddy', nothing to do with wrestling. His trademark wit, violence, there are also some beautifully shot sequences, one in particular when our two Bounty Hunters arrive in a new town, and the silhouettes of them and the town is shot against the fire red of the sky, truly stunning.
And one aspect that cannot be overlooked is the killer soundtrack. I don't know how he does it, but time and time again, QT assembles just the best songs and music to accompany his films.
A great cast, an Oscar Winning lead actor, but for me there is one who shines above all, and he is Christoph Waltz. His performance is charming, witty, engaging and a delight to watch. The almost three hours running time just flies by in his company. Twice he has now worked with QT, and I this second performance will bag him his second Oscar, and very well deserved it is too.
The genius of Tarantino just continues........9 out of 10
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