Django Unchained

TAKE 1: One Man’s Opinion

…because film is largely subjective

by Frederick William Springer III

 

Django Unchained

Release Date:  25 December 2012                                                        Runtime:  165 Minutes              

Review Date:  17 March 2013                                                               Rating:  4 (of 6)

     Django Unchained is a well put together, enjoyable tale with a good pace, though there are certainly cuts that could have been made to fine tune it still. 

     Here, my faith in Samuel L. Jackson’s ability to act has been restored.  His brief appearances in the Marvel movies culminating in a main role in The Avengers all fell flat to me.  Worse than flat—phony.

     I’ll go on record saying I don’t like Jonah Hill.  Fortunately, his role is brief, limited to what’s in the trailer, so his presence didn’t taint the rest of the film.  Conversely, I am a fan of Amber Tamblyn and would have liked to have seen more of her rather than a momentary appearance in a window which left me asking if I had, in fact, just seen her.  I’m also a big fan of Kerry Washington, her work in Scandal spectacular, and I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of her onscreen, too.  However, understandably, this movie is named Django not Broomhilda.

     There are a couple scenes with a woman seemingly dressed to conceal the fact that she is a woman, appearing as though it would be the setup of some future plot twist but nothing ever came of it or her. 

     I think the controversy, largely propagated by those that never even saw the film (and so were ignorant as to what occurred), was completely misplaced.  Django Unchained in no way, shape or form glorified slavery.  In fact, its depiction of the slave trade, those that supported and perpetrated it, is deplorable and apprehensible.  As for the use of the word “nigger,” this is a period piece and that is how people spoke at the time, especially slave owners and overseers.  I didn’t feel it was used gratuitously or lightly.