Django Unchained
–By the Numbers:
- 5: Nominations
- 89, 81: Rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic
- 157, 208: Millions of dollars earned at the domestic, and foreign box office
- 110: Number of uses of the N-word in the script
–Major Contender for: Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Christoph Waltz)
–Success on the Awards Circuit: Five wins for Best Screenplay, and seven for Best Supporting Actor, including a Golden Globe for each.
–Synopsis: The latest from film geek turned god Quentin Tarantino, Django stars Jamie Foxx as a southern slave set free, and on the road to revenge, by a charismatic bounty hunter (Waltz). The staple Tarantino ingredients of comic violence, circuitous dialogue, and B-movie references are all present, making this the Spaghetti Western stop in his world tour of genres. Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson co-star as a particularly vile plantation owner, and a cunning house slave, respectively. In typical Tarantino fashion, appreciation for the craft, some scorn for the subject matter, and an awesome soundtrack followed in the film’s wake.
–Oscar-appropriate Themes: Commentary on the American identity, through slavery in this case.
–Juiciest Piece of Oscar Bait: Having Christoph Waltz play a language-obsessed card, which happens to be Tarantino’s writing specialty.
–Buzz Going into the Oscars: 4/10. A number of factors are conspiring against the film, the biggest being Tarantino’s unrestrained portrayal of slavery in the American South. The time period and subject matter might make the frequent use of Tarantino’s favorite bad word more justified than usual, but does it add anything to the film? Is he making a commentary about race, or exploiting it? All these questions are great for generating discussion about serious issues, but discussion rarely results in Oscar gold. Race is a cagey subject with the Academy, which generally prefers it not be explored any further than shouting “RACISM IS BAD” for two hours. Tarantino’s writing has gotten appreciation from more adventurous critical circles, and he’s going up against scripts for films that are either very small, or equally loaded with controversy (let’s forget about the nod for Flight; everyone else has). Waltz has the best shot at winning for the film, though he’s giving a familiar performance in a hotly contested category.
–Trivia Tidbit: The film features seven actors previously nominated for Best Supporting Actor: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Jonah Hill, Russ Tamblyn, and Bruce Dern. Of them, only Waltz won his nomination, after first teaming with Tarantino in 2009’s Inglourious Basterds.
–Talking Points if Your Crowd Loves it: Talking about the film’s portrayal of race means walking into a minefield, so stick to the usual Tarantino topics by praising the stylish violence, rich dialogue, and bevy of great performances. As this is a Tarantino movie, all knowledge of his previous films is relevant to the discussion, so don’t be afraid to talk at length about whichever one of his movies you’ve actually seen. Memorize the tenor of Luis Bacalov’s singing of the name “Django” in the song of the same name, and deploy where appropriate.
–Talking Points if Your Crowd Hates it: Attack the movie on structural grounds by playing up the absence of Tarantino’s go-to (and only recently departed) editor, Sally Menke. As has become a characteristic of the director, the film is overlong, excessive, and prone to rambling, but without Menke, those traits aren’t charming, they’re exhausting. And for a film called Django Unchained, Foxx’s character seems like he’s barely in it, surrounded on all sides by livelier, more eccentric performances.
Continue reading on the next page…