Django Unchained: A role reversal on slavery and a bloodlust quencher

Everyone learns from experience. To watch, hear and read is an important part of how we reproduce material in our own way. Paying homage to those that inspire and influence us comes naturally when we have reached a certain pedestal and want to show our gratitude. It was probably the same sentiment which influenced Quentin Tarantino’s 2012 film Django Unchained which shows heavy influence of an erstwhile film style, the Spaghetti Western.

The year is 1858 and it is approximately two years before the American Civil War. Django is a black slave in southern America who is about to be sold off in one of the biggest slavery auctions in the land. While being escorted the convoy is intercepted by Dr. King Schultz, a German dentist. Schultz bargains with the two brothers who own the slaves and when the discussion turns sour, Schultz kills one of the brothers and strong-arms the other to sell him Django. Schultz later confides in Django and admits that he is a bounty hunter looking for some men that only Django can identify. They agree to make a deal where Django will help Schultz claim his bounty in return for his freedom. Django himself confides in Schultz about his wife Broomhilda and they make another deal for Django to be his deputy in return for Schultz’s aid in freeing Django’s wife. They discover that Broomhilda is owned by Calvin Candie, a ruthless plantation owner who has a knack for violence. Together they hitch a plan to free Broomhilda from Candie’s snare.

The film was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Based on the prominent slavery problem in southern America in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, this film divulges from historical accuracies as the plot takes its own route. The central peg of the film is slavery, flesh trade and the general mistreatment of black people before the American Civil War in 1861. The protagonist of the film is named Django, a black man who joins forces with a German to hunt down and kill his former owners and the current owner of his wife. It is implausible that a black man would be allowed to go about hunting down and killing powerful white men across the southern states at a time when black people were treated horribly for no fault of their own. The film’s historical inaccuracies are a major downfall for the plot.

The film is clearly an homage to Spaghetti Westerns. Tarantino is well known for his action sequences involving gunfights and Mexican standoffs. He takes it a step forward in this film with extremely violent gunfights which are peculiar of Spaghetti Westerns. Also reminiscent of the genre are the characters in the film – southern Americans who dress in suits and speak with a distinct accent. The portrayal of the characters as cowboys is also picked up from westerns with the protagonist riding a horse, carrying a pistol and wearing a hat most of the time. The soundtrack of the film, one of the most defining features of a Spaghetti Western, is also a nod to the genre with similar music being implemented. However, few songs stray away from the typical Spaghetti Western style every now and then with the usage of rap and hip hop which leads to the film breaking out of character.

There are moments when the film seems to drag on with the exhaustive plot. There are many slow moments of conversation which seem partially inconsequential to the main plot. However, one of these breakaway moments does produce a moderately amusing scene as Tarantino takes a pot-shot at the stupidity of the Ku Klux Klan and their initiation of white hats. Tarantino himself appears in this scene briefly, as is his director trademark. He also returns later in the film as a slave owner who comes across the protagonist and wants to help him. Another trademark of Tarantino’s directorial style is the use of grotesque gunfight sequences and with the liberties that Spaghetti Westerns allow, he went all out in the penultimate action sequence in an attempt to make a blood splatter analyst’s job as difficult as possible. The blood splatter in this sequence is particularly hard to comprehend with the walls getting painted red with every gunshot that hits a human body; quite unnecessary apart from just being a director indulging himself. The actor-director relationship between Christoph Waltz and Tarantino does seem to be growing with this film as the actor provides a breath of fresh air with his performance. Leonardo DiCaprio also does a stellar job in his respective role.

Django Unchained has a slow moving plot and a confusing character which is neither Spaghetti Western nor contemporary. The film has its boring moments, is historically inaccurate, fairs moderately as a tribute and just seems to be a finished product of a filmmaker indulging himself with as many uses of the word ‘nigger’ as possible.