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Q & A: How Willimon Runs Fincher's 'House ...'Django Unchained' Needed More Time; Review and Roundup
Quentin Tarantino's characters are often astonished to find themselves in his intricate universe of references. That's certainly true of Django (Jamie Foxx), a black slave in the antebellum South freed from bondage by German dentist-turned-bounty hunter Dr. King Schulz (Christoph Waltz) in the opening moments of "Django Unchained," Tarantino's latest erratically fun and uneven tribute to the movies he loves and the discursive writing style he adores even more. The filmmaker's seventh feature plays like looser, dust-caked sibling to "Inglorious Basterds," his last rambunctious attempt to rile up history with a rebellious sense of play. Just as he unearthed "the face of Jewish vengeance" in "Basterds," Tarantino relishes the opportunity to run wild with a symbol of black persecution until the idea loses momentum -- and then, true to form, he just keeps going.
"Django Unchained" is "Blazing Saddles" with a body count, a positively incendiary entertainment about America's greatest shame, the personal and social toll of slavery, and like Tarantino's last film, "Inglourious Basterds," this is a case of history being remixed in a way that makes more emotional sense to Tarantino as a storyteller.
His name is Django and as he’s quick to point out, the D is silent. It’s just about the only quiet part of Quentin Tarantino‘s ‘Django Unchained,’ a boisterous, bloody blaxploitation/Western hybrid. What else would you expect from Tarantino, the modern master of genre pastiche, flavorful dialogue, and grossly exaggerated violence? Whatever ‘Django”s issues -- and it has a couple -- failing to deliver on its promises isn’t one of them. If anything, the issue is the exact opposite.
“Django Unchained” just feels overly bloated at 2 hours and 45 minutes. Most specifically, again, when Django and Schultz are in the midst of their grand scheme to fool Candie, it just feels like wasted time watching a plan that we, as an audience, get the feeling isn't going to work anyway. Honestly, there's a tight 120-minute movie in there, somewhere… [Will you like “Django Unchained?”] Even while bloated, there's still more than enough good in this movie to warrant me answering "yes" to that question. So, yes, you will. It's worth seeing for the performances alone.
10 Comments
Beth Hanna | December 12, 2012 2:39 PM
The Siegfried-Brunhilde storytelling scene was actually one of my favorites of the film. The chemistry between Waltz and wide-eyed, eager-to-listen Foxx is great, as is the firelit cinematography.
Kinick | December 12, 2012 2:34 PM
Fairly negative review; your comments on twitter last weeks screamed fairly positive.
The Dude | December 12, 2012 2:22 PM
And even though Lincoln will win BP, this film will be remembered more when all is said and done. Lincoln is a dull, lifeless bore.
The Dude | December 12, 2012 2:18 PM
He had plenty of time and the film reflects it. It's not unfinished at all. The only reason you're saying this is because you heard he cut it down from 3.12 to 2.45 in a matter of weeks. Anyone familiar with the editing process knows that this isn't always difficult to do. It's a Best Picture nominee, guaranteed.