Old Reviews: Django Unchained

Well, now I'm strongly recommending this "Southern" (as opposed to "Western") on the basis of one viewing. It's in theaters now, and it's great (One of Tarantino's best). Go watch it. I will say that the one fear I had before watching it was that Quentin Tarantino would handle violence against slaves in a stylistic, non-realistic manner. He does not. He shows its brutal nature (or rather, really, indicates it) with filmic genius. He doesn't pussyfoot around in such scenes, but he's not disgustingly pornographic in them either. Three such scenes come immediately to mind. They are hard to experience, but, really, the movie is better for them in more ways than one. The trademark Tarantino-exploding-blood violence don't really come until the brutality is over and Django's revenge is beginning. I can't speak for African Americans nor will I speak for White Americans, but I have a hard time envisioning how either might take offense to this movie. In fact, there were many African Americans in the crowd (Spike Lee's advice notwithstanding (Lee hasn't actually seen the movie)), and it seemed to me that they fully enjoyed it. Perhaps a certain kind of unenlightened White American would take offense, but that would be okay with me. Please, correct me if I'm wrong. Perhaps I'm the one who is unenlightened. Anyway, this is Tarantino's most darkly serious movie yet, and I also sense that it's deeply personal. Leonardo DiCaprio is frighteningly good. Finally, the story is crisp and well-organized.