Django Unchained (2012), is a fictional film inspired by the American Antebellum time period in which the tensions between the North and the South over the lawfulness of slavery were at its highest. The film begins with a line of slaves walking together, while being attached to the ankles by shackles, lead by two slave traders in Texas in the year 1858, two years prior from the South seceding from the North. The first 20 minutes of the film sets the tone for the next three hours, as a man named Dr. Shultz (later to be relieved as a bounty hunter) approaches the caravan walking through the brisk, foggy night. Dr. Shultz explains he would like to purchase one of the slaves, specifically Django. After negotiating a sale goes wrong, Shultz kills one man and brutally injures the other by killing his horse and it falling on top of him, crushing his leg. At this point, the sale is made, Django is now owned by Shultz who then gives the key to the shackles to the remaining slaves, and tells them to do as they please. (Spoiler: It doesn’t end well for the other slave trader).
During the exchange, we learn that Django was bought because he knew of three men who Dr. Shultz wanted to “visit”. Shultz makes Django a deal that if he helps him redeem the bounty on the heads of the three men, Shultz would not only pay Django and give him freedom, but he would also help Django find his wife, Broomhilda, who was sold away after her and Django tried to run away from their slave-owner. After collecting a few bounties had been collected and Shultz taught Django everything he knew about bounty hunting (from shooting, smooth-talking, roleplaying and manipulation), it had become time to start investigating the whereabouts of Broomhilda.
After a long winter of collecting bounties and inquiries about Broomhilda’s location, we are introduced to Calvin Candie, owner of the Mississippi plantation “Candyland”. Here, we learn about Candie’s passion for Mandingo fighting, where two slaves would wrestle and pummel each other bare-knuckle style at which at the end of the fight, the winner of the fight would brutally kill the other slave to secure his title. Prior to this scene, Shultz discusses a plan with Django in order to buy his wife for Candie, in which Django plays as a prominent Mandingo connoisseur only looking to buy the a salve who is the best of the best. Then, they would offer a ridiculous amount of money for a certain Mandingo, an offer so large he could not refuse, and then ask Candie to throw in Broomhilda as a cheery on top. When arriving to Candyland, we are presented to Stephen, who had served the Candie family for over 70 years. Stephen, played by Samuel L. Jackson, is appalled to what he sees, and throws a tantrum about Django riding a horse and dressed up nicely, rather than walking and in tattered clothes. To make things worse for Stephen, he almost implodes in a manner in which only can Samuel L. Jackson can replicate, after his master Candie tells Stephen to make a bed for Django to sleep in.
During dinner, Stephen is tipped off to how Django and Broomhilda look at each other, and informs Candie of his speculation towards what Shultz and Django’s plan is. Candie comes back to make a counter offer to Shultz, demanding $12,000 for Broomhilda as he takes her hostage while Django and Shultz are held at gunpoint by Candies assistances. The deal is made, the paperwork is signed and the three were almost home free. Candie interjects their departure with one last request, a Southern tradition of a handshake, not only finalize the deal, but to rub his victory in over Shultz. As the men come together to grasp hands, Shultz fires his gun into Candie’s heart, killing him, which leads to Shultz death and a massacre of majority of Candies gunman by the hands of Django. He then is forced to surrender, as Stephen announces that he has his gun pointed at the head of Broomhilda, and that the only was to ensure that he doesn’t kill her is if Django comes out with his hands up.
Django is captured and sold to LeQuint Dickey Mining Company, where his future was to “turn big rocks into smaller rocks” as explained by Stephen. On his way to his new home, Django’s transfer is interrupted when he convinces his jailers that there is a fortune of bounties back at Candyland and he would help them collect it if they set him free and armed him. Instinctively, the men obliged and released Django who were then shot and killed by Django, only to head back to Candyland to save his wife. The final face off between the last of the people alive in Candyland begins as Django shoots and kills everyone after they had come home from Calvin Candie’s funeral. The final minutes end with Django blowing up the Candyland Mansion with Stephen inside, only to watch a clique moment as Django walks away from the detonation to kiss his wife and ride off into the night.
The film is structured to depict a violent yet justified retaliation of a slave towards the men and women who promoted slavery. We see this through the viscous killings for bounties and brutal murders of Candie and his men not only by Django, but also by Dr. Shultz, a white man that was completely horrified by the idea of slavery. The film, although fictional, was favorable towards Django, slaves, and those who were against slavery in general, after time and time again were slaves given freedom by Dr. Shultz and Django after killing those who had tortured them for so long. It should be noted that this film was extremely historically inaccurate more so than accurate. The factual notes one might take away from this film is as follows: 1. Slavery was cruel overall with many slaves trying to run away to find freedom, and if they were captured, they would be branded with an “r” on their face to signify that they attempted to run away. 2. Some slaves were treated better than others, depending on trust, looks, and loyalty. 3. Slave owners could do whatever they wanted with their slaves because as told by Calvin Candie, “I can do whatever I please with her [Broomhilda] because she is my property”. The relevance to this statement here was the most accurate line in the whole movie. After Missouri vs. Celia, a Slave, the judgment ruled that slave owner could in fact do whatever they wanted to do with their slave because a slave was deemed to be property, not a human being. Aside from everything else in this movie, it is all mostly inaccurate. From the use of dynamite, which wasn’t used until the end of the Civil War, to Mandingo fighting, which was solely based off of one of Tarantino's favorite films, Mandingo (1975).
A film review by New York Time’s A. O. Scott explains about the techniques used in this film is order to bring the audience to the edge of their seats the entire movie. In his writings, Scott explains, “The themes are addressed with appropriately sweeping visual and emotional gestures. Mr. Tarantino finds inspiration in what are still frequently seen as less reputable genres and styles: Asian martial arts movies, spaghetti westerns, blaxploitation.” During the entirety of this film, there is a lot of Tarantino “trademarks” that appear, such as the spraying distance of blood, the gory ending of one’s life that are not actually shown which is left to the audience to depict for themselves, and of course, interjections of crude humor to lighten the mood in the most inappropriate times. “In addition to Mr. Tarantino’s trademark dialogue-heavy, suspense-filled set pieces, there are moments of pure silliness…” (Scott, 2012). The last point to make about Tarnatino’s film is the music that flowed behind every scene. Whether in cutting it off dramatically when a door shut in the face of some else, or the crescendo and decrescendo’s that began and ended with every kill made by any of the protagonists, the music was what you would think would be in a film that had Jamie Foxx and Samuel Jackson in a Western, “spaghetti western music” and rap music with an 808 beat that followed Django wherever he may wander.
Overall, I would recommend this movie to someone who was looking to kill three hours by watching an action thriller, not to educate someone about the times when slavery dominated the South. However, to those with a weak stomach, as a forewarning, this film has a lot of blood and gore that might not be extremely realistic, but might still make you nauseous while watching.