Django

Now if there is "The way!!!" to start this year it must be Django. And a liberating way for that matter. Just watched and I'm speechless. Was thinking for a long time what kind of comment I can give on Quentino Tarantino (a bit later about him) and his work, on black culture, inequality, injustice and so on and this new era of Aquarius :-) out of nowhere comes Django. The Siegfried all black people are desperately looking for, the solution to the "N" word problem, the ultimate problem solver!!! 

I can go on talking about the great directing and the stunning OST, but that won't be surprising considering the fact that we are talking about the director of Pulp Fiction which after Django is relegated to 2nd position when it comes to Quentin Tarantino movies. Whether this is fortunate or unfortunate is a decision for you to make. As for me, and I realize that I'm repeating myself - Django, Rocks!!! Think that everyone knows about Quentin Tarantino's love for the theme of vengeance, right? Well, in this movie right here "Vengeance" goes a step further... It is simply amazing the way you worry for the main characters, and the way you want them to succeed in all the endeavours. Talking about that last part right there, when I say "endeavours" I want to say that the amount of hardship undergone by Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz is just stunning.

Then there's the pacing. A clear benchmark of movie pacing has always been V for Vendetta (a bit later about this), but then Django appeared. Though longer in time (yeah by the way if you are going to watch this film get ready for a 3 hour experience), Django just grips you from the word "go" and never let's you go. That much is the battle between good and bad enticing it simply can't let go. Perfect character selection and cast as well, I for one think this is a film so well - balance, cast - wise it's almost startling. Indeed, unlike Inglorious Basterds, where i found the emphasis on casting not thoroughly thought through, in Django it seems that Tarantino has found a "dream cast" algorithm or something. 

No spoilers, but the first time you encounter (still hoping I'm one of the first to have seen the movie) or encountered Samuel L. Jackson, bet you went something like, "Goddammit, why the hell people say Denzel Washington is the best black actor out there? And where the hell is his Oscar (you know what I think about this silly institution, right? If not, you welcome)". What I mean Is that Samuel L. Jackson got a well earned Cannes Film Festival award for Jungle fever (a bit later about those) and his acting has gone through the roof since then almost tenfold. And that's just the beginning because if you move forward in the cast (remind you that L. Jackson just plays a secondary role in this movie) we fall on equally great actors who finally make sense and really seem to know what a professional actor is expected of. When I think about how I was pessimistic about what was happening with cinema these days, Django seems to be the one film that brings hope in this world of "blockbuster bull****" we have going on. 

 

Let me guess what you thought of when you saw the photo right above this paragraph, it was probably some sort of sarcasm like, "What, now Denis is going to tell us about the fact that racism and slavery are bad?". Nope not at all. I join Tarantino in him justifying the violence in this movie as being a good thing, and we should think of the movie as something that keeps the discussion of this taboo topic in American history going. If you are interested in looking at the interview where he so fiercely defends this idea, feel free, it's right below this paragraph. Indeed, not only I think it's not fair that we have put African slavery and everything it entails into the "Oops" drawer of human history, it's equally not fair that everyone around seems to be so unwilling to deal with the fact that segregation, though formerly eliminated in the "21st century", is actually so deeply rooted into our understanding of society. And when it seems that the only way to get out of it is to confront it and not give way to the generally accepted status quo which is "Barack Obama is now president, so we won, right?". Well, no we haven't won and an extra battle in the form of Django  is not such a bad idea. So, go on guys get your opinions out, feels much better afterwards.

Hope what I had to say was informative enough and hope Django will or already touched as it touched me. Just one more thing, never forget if you do evil, there'll probably be a person out there who will most likely want to get back his own in ways you haven't thought of yet.

Peace, Love and Unity