We just got done talking about Rocky, a story about triumph and redemption, and this is another story just like that. Although instead of being family-friendly and for children of all ages, this one's brutal, violent and vindictive but still sees the good guy overcome all odds and triumph over the strongest of adversity; being an African-American in the Confederate States in the late-1850's.
Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) is a bounty hunter in the south who makes his living bringing corpses back to government officials for money. His latest target is the "Brittle Brothers", three slave traders. To find them, he finds and purchases "Django" (Jamie Foxx), a slave who was abused the Brittle brothers, and enlists him to help him find the Brittles to bring them to justice. Django and Schultz travel to "Big Daddy's" plantation and finds them. Django kills Big John and Little Roger, and Schultz snipes Ellis. Over the next winter, in terms of their success, Django and Schultz make an excellent living returning bounties to government officials for money, building a large financial portfolio. It is during this time that Django tells Schultz of his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) and how he plans to buy her freedom with the money they've accrued. Schultz, as a sign of good faith and "feeling as though he's responsible for Django", agrees to assist Django in finding and rescuing his wife.
They find that Broomhilda is in the ownership of Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), and together they venture to his large slave plantation "Candieland". They pose as "Mandingo fighter buyers", looking to buy a slave to work for them in Mandingo fighting for $12,000. Candie agrees to the $12,000 offer for a Mandingo fighter and they arrive on location at Candieland. Django is immediately distrusted by Calvin's house slave, Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), whom he resents for being a free man. That night, the group holds a dinner. It all goes according to plan, Schultz secures "Eskimo Joe" for $12,000. The scheme takes a turn for the worse when Stephen realizes that Django and Broomhilda know each other through their glances and reactions. Stephen informs Calvin of their plan, having realized they're not after any Mandingo fighter and that they've hornswoggled Calvin and wasted his time just to purchase Broomhilda. Calvin then demands that to leave with Broomhilda, the price is $12,000 they were going to pay for Eskimo Joe.
That night, once Broomhilda is freed, Calvin demands that Schultz shake his hand in defeat to prove Candie got the better of him. Schultz brandishes and hidden sidearm instead, unable to resist getting the better of Candie, and kills him. Django then takes any sidearms he can and kills multiple of Candieland's plantation aids before being captured. Calvin's sister, Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly (Laura Cayouette) sells Django to the Le Quint Dickey Mining Co. En route, Django tells the Le Quint Dickey people that there's $11,500 waiting for them back at Candieland to collect. He then tricks them, kills them, and heads back to Candieland.
The night after Calvin's funeral, Lara, Stephen, and the plantation hands return to the bloodied Candieland to mourn. They find Django waiting for them, who then kills each and every one of them except for Stephen. He mortally wounds Stephen and uses the Le Quint Dickey people's dynamite to blow up Candieland with Stephen inside. Together with Broomhilda, Django escapes to freedom.
Django Unchained, in my book, contends with Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill as Tarantino's best work. It's not a movie I love for being Oscar-worthy, it's one I love for being just fucking wild. It's a wildly violent romp that's insane to sit through, and it's also an epic tale of redemption and revenge, but again, told in a the most gruesome way. Django comes from being a slave that is separated from his wife, to being able to kill the vicious people who own her and take her back. He doesn't go about the best way to save his wife, but he certainly shows that he'll do anything to get her back. By the end of the movie, Django has conquered the slave owners and sits on top of the world of a guy you don't want to mess. Truly "the one in ten thousand". Tarantino's finest western work and I recommend for it wholeheartedly.
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