Having masterminded critical successes such as Pulp Fiction,  Kill Bill and Inglorious Basterds, director Quentin Tarantino once again brings us another ultra-violent flick rife with witty one-liners . Django Unchained is set in the pre-civil war south of America, where bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) frees the slave Django (Jamie Foxx) in order to enlist his help in identifying a few wanted men. Django eventually becomes a bounty hunter himself and together with Schultz, hatches a plan to buy the freedom of his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from plantation owner Calvin J. Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Samuel L. Jackson gives an inspired and hilarious performance as the boot licking senior house slave Stephen, while Tarintino himself makes a cameo appearance – again.
Like other Tarantino films, Django unchained pays homage to the Spaghetti Westerns of the 60’s – this time featuring a freed slave as the central character. Expect the film to detail the injustice and brutalities of slavery in gory detail, while at the same time delivering what is ultimately, a love story.
You won’t find much of Tarantino‘s deft manipulation of the narrative structure here, but the 2h 45 min runtime is justified as the film runs beautifully, offering one sensational sequence after another, supplemented by beautiful cinematography and a stellar cast. The soundtrack and music in the movie is excellent – besides the usual country/western fare, it includes hip-hop tracks that work deliciously with the gunfight sequences, featuring music from 2pac and Rick Ross. In all, an extremely satisfying watch – just make sure you go to the bathroom before the movie starts.
Here is a video of Samuel L Jackson being awesome.
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Picture credits: Django unchained/ Columbia Pictures