Winter Views...

Django Unchained - 5 stars *****

Last night I went with my old work colleague Rick to see Django Unchained. I was pretty excited as I'd heard really good things about it, and I wasn't disappointed!

The story follows Django (a stellar performance from Jamie Foxx) as he is rescued by bounty hunter Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) from slavery in order to track down three criminals that he is under order to kill. He does such a good job, that he becomes partners with the doctor and together they go on a mission to rescue Django's wife Broomhilda, who is enslaved by the tyrant Calvin Candie (Leonardo de Caprio) owner of plantation Candyland. As can be expected of any film, this quest is not quite so simple, and involves a lot of schmoozing and scheming in order to work.

The first thing to note about Django Unchained is its ability to make the audience feel incredibly uncomfortable by the inherent use of racism throughout. Personally I think it is admirable that Tarantino decides to get so close to the bone in order to portray the views of the characters, as it creates an accurate representation of life back in America in the 1850s. For those that are easily offended though, perhaps this is a picture to miss.

Secondly I really rate the way this film has been shot and produced. The special effects are second to none, and through the use of freeze frames, camera angles and colour, Django Unchained is made to feel very clean and up to date in terms of modern cinema, despite not being set in a present day era.

A special mention has to go out to the brilliant performance by Christoph Waltz, who totally made this film for me. His snappy comments, use of facial expression and pin pointed gestures created an entirely believable character who was a really loveable loyal guy, but could kick ass when he needed to. I must admit I have never heard of or seen him before, but would honestly search out some of his other stuff, to see if it is all such high calibre acting.

This film is Tarantino back to his undeniable best. Not only does it have a sturdy plot that keeps you entertained with its fast paced action, but the clever, witty dialogue and incredible skills of the actors involved (which also included Samuel L Jackson, of course!) made it an all round winner in my eyes. Definitely one for the DVD collection.