Cathal Dennehy can attest to Tarantino’s longevity after viewing Django Unchained.
Everyone can agree that a new Quentin Tarantino film is something to get excited about; however, there was some doubt about Django Unchained when Tarantino was heard explaining that he hopes he hasn’t gone past his prime. Upon viewing his latest release, however, he doesn’t show any signs of reaching his peak any time soon, and as with any Tarantino film, Django Unchained is deliriously entertaining.He is quite adept at putting his own unique spin on various genres and styles. 2009’s Inglorious Basterds saw Tarantino tackle World War II with some of his most riveting scenes of dialogue yet (most notably the introduction and the scene in the tavern), while Django sees him finally fulfilling his life long dream – making a Western. He says himself that he’s been making Westerns throughout his career, and Kill Bill and Death Proof in particular contain various references to his love for vintage films, such as the scratchy cellulloid effect.Django, however, is a fully fledged Western (or to be precise, a ‘Southern’) as it focuses on a strong, silent hero as he fights adversity to achieve his simple goal – in this case to rescue his wife.On that note, the performances are uniformly excellent. Jamie Foxx plays the strong, silent Django with maximum levels of cool. Christoph Waltz’s Dr. Schultz is delightfully quirky and odd. He gets the most laughs throughout and thankfully Tarantino has not simply asked Waltz to be Hanz Landa once again. Here, Schultz is kinder, more compassionate and the constant sense of dread that may have lingered from his portrayal of Landa is absent. On the opposite end of the spectrum, DiCaprio’s plantation owner Candie and his right hand man Stephen (Samuel Jackson) play some of the most despicable characters I’ve had the misfortune of seeing in quite some time. And this, frankly, is fantastic! It is very refreshing and unconventional to see such big name stars contort themselves into truly awful people, with no hope of redemption.Django Unchained also sees Tarantino becoming more mature. As the film deals with slavery, there is a lot of focus and description of the subject. Tarantino’s films have always been violent but Django is certainly his most violent to date. While in the past, the violence has always been used to some kind of comedic effect (most of it is used to such an effect in this case); here there are some scenes (mainly ones of torture) which are genuinly tough to watch. This serious topic is dealt with in a fairly mature manner, a more weighty analysis than Inglorious Basterds’s treatment of the persecution of the Jews.On the downside, Kerry Washington as Django’s wife Broomhilda is bland and does little more than scream and wait to be rescued, though this is more Tarantino’s fault as she isn’t developed at all. Also, it is far too long and could do with shaving at least thirty minutes off of its running time - however as with all Tarantino films, even the unnecessary material is still very entertaining and this makes the excessive length more manageable.Django Unchained is not Tarantino’s best film but it does see him do something different and achieve a more mature effect. After all these years, he certainly hasn’t lost it.
