Django Unchained (5 Stars)

I watched this film in the cinema in February. I finally ordered it online last week, received it yesterday and watched it today. I loved it in the cinema and enjoy it even more now. I'm unable to find fault with it. The characters, the costumes, the sets, the action, it all seems perfect. But what else is to be expected from Quentin Tarantino? He's flirted with western imagery in the past, and I have the feeling that he's been building up to this. Many scenes in "Kill Bill" had the atmosphere of westerns and even used the music from spaghetti westerns.

I recommend that my readers check out my first review, since I'll just add a few points here. Samuel L. Jackson's performance as the "house nigger" Stephen is amazing. When watching the film I completely hate his character, which is the desired effect. He seems so disgusting, he has no redeeming qualities. It's like he's betrayed his race, he looks down upon and despises all other black people. I can't think of any film character in recent years that I've hated so much.

Christopher Waltz won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Dr. King Schultz in "Django Unchained", and he deserved it. Okay, he is technically a supporting actor, but he has almost as much screen time as the leading actor, Jamie Foxx. He also won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "Inglourious Basterds", but in that film I'm sure he had more screen time than the supposed leading actor, Brad Pitt. He is such an astounding actor. Even though he's been making films for more than 30 years, "Inglourious Basterds" was the first time I noticed him. I really need to check out more of his films.

One thing I should mention is that slavery is a taboo subject matter in westerns. I've watched many westerns in my life, mostly the old westerns from the John Wayne era on television. Slavery was "normal" in America before the Civil War, and yet I don't remember seeing a single cowboy film that shows any hint of slavery. It was a brave decision for Quentin Tarantino to make a film in which slave trading is one of the major plot lines of the film.

I forgot to mention in my original review that this film has a short after-credits sequence. It's the first time this has happened in a Tarantino film. Let's wait and see if it's the start of a new trend.