Django Unchained
Feb. 13th, 2013 06:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarnathMy computer broke down. Wouldn't boot, and bluescreens galore when it did, and I was starting to despair. I've finally managed to fix it though! ...I hope. Also bought a new (quiet) videocard, and while I don't know if that was the problem, the silence is very welcome indeed.
In the meantime, I've been to the cinema! Saw Django Unchained, and it was pretty awesome, yeah. The violence was kind of hard to take, but that just made it better, in a way. It's often unrealistic (at least the shooting parts) but the realism in how the rest of it worked, how it showed how dehumanised the slaves were, created quite an impact. It was beautiful and horrible, funny and awful.
I loved it. I loved the story, the actors, the direction, the scenography...
I haven't seen a lot of westerns. I'm not actually sure I've seen any, at least not of the sort that this film is so clearly an homage to and inspired by. And still, still I immediately recognised it; the essence of the classic western, as its aesthetics exists in the subconscious of popular culture. Then comes the story, a beautiful, deceptively simple yet intricate thing, borrowing the story of Siegfried and Brünhilde just like westerns have often borrowed stories from other cultures in the past (most famously from Japanese samurai films), only more consciously.
And, of course, I love a good double cross, when the characters really know what they're doing.
The acting was superb. I loved the main characters, and it was the first time I saw either of them in anything (I don't seem to watch a lot of films, I suppose... but I really should watch Inglourious Basterds one of these days, at least). Jamie Foxx managed funny, sexy, serious, pathos, action, and romance with barely any dialogue at all, which was just fantastic to see (also, I'm usually not one for facial hair, but in his case I'll make an exception!) I just loved his acting choices throughout, his subtle reactions and sharp intelligence shining through in his clear insights, his deep love for his wife, his anger at and at the same time acceptance of the world he lived in... I mean, his deadpan pragmatism was fantastic.
Yeah, he was totally hot. *fans self*
As a slasher, it made me want to slash him of course. XD But yeah, the whole "quest for most beloved wife" put a bit of a damper on that, can't help it. They were a lovely couple in any case, and I like to imagine them bounty hunting their way through the (more civilised parts of) the country.
Anyway, I wonder if anybody else had the feeling that Candie would also totally drawn to Django in more ways than one? Considering the sort of person he was, I'd say that he had a sort of (in his reasoning, naturally) perverted fantasy of being humiliated by being violently sodomised by a slave; a fetish, brought on by his view of them as profoundly different. He's so completely convinced by the supremacy of his own "race", and still there's this sick fascination that he can't seem to shake. Not to mention that Stephen had pretty much been running his life since he was born, coupled with the intensity of his interest in the mandingo fighting... well. Though I suppose his beloved sister would have something to say about it! I don't think anyone missed that subtext.
Say what you will of Leo, I actually think his performance was great. Sinister and stupid at the same time. A very dangerous combination.
Christoph Waltz was fantastic in his role as mentor and teacher. I loved his polite ruthlessness, his humoristic cold-bloodedness, his paradoxical moral, and how something kind, perhaps even fatherly was awakened by Django and his plight. I've seen that there has been some discussion about his actions at the end, his decision to shoot Candie, but I understand it. He was so controlled at (practically) all times, and such a bad loser; he couldn't stand Candie, and in the end it was just a final straw situation. That, and possibly the sheer enormity of Candies evil, the thought of leaving it alive in the world.
Speaking of evil, I just must talk a little about Candie's sister. Women didn't have a lot of space in this film, but I was fine with that. Considering the type of story and time period, I don't think it's problematic in the least. But the space they did have was used beautifully, and especially by sister dearest. She was such a proper lady, with the proper attitudes to the slaves; as things, as commodity. Her polite and happy smiles against the background of how she lived and what she allowed was just chilling. Well played, Laura Cayouette!
But what I most was impressed by with this film was how many ingredients it used and still was such a well-balanced and well-crafted story. Some parts had me laughing out loud (the stupid proto-KKK group with their badly made hoods!) while others had me shuddering with revulsion; yet others had me teary-eyed, or grinning with excitement. Yeah, I'd say it was properly epic.
As per usual I don't make much sense, maybe because I always update when I'm bone tired. Well. Maybe I should go to bed. I totally recommend everyone who haven's seen Django Unchained yet to go do so, in any case.
In the meantime, I've been to the cinema! Saw Django Unchained, and it was pretty awesome, yeah. The violence was kind of hard to take, but that just made it better, in a way. It's often unrealistic (at least the shooting parts) but the realism in how the rest of it worked, how it showed how dehumanised the slaves were, created quite an impact. It was beautiful and horrible, funny and awful.
I loved it. I loved the story, the actors, the direction, the scenography...
I haven't seen a lot of westerns. I'm not actually sure I've seen any, at least not of the sort that this film is so clearly an homage to and inspired by. And still, still I immediately recognised it; the essence of the classic western, as its aesthetics exists in the subconscious of popular culture. Then comes the story, a beautiful, deceptively simple yet intricate thing, borrowing the story of Siegfried and Brünhilde just like westerns have often borrowed stories from other cultures in the past (most famously from Japanese samurai films), only more consciously.
And, of course, I love a good double cross, when the characters really know what they're doing.
The acting was superb. I loved the main characters, and it was the first time I saw either of them in anything (I don't seem to watch a lot of films, I suppose... but I really should watch Inglourious Basterds one of these days, at least). Jamie Foxx managed funny, sexy, serious, pathos, action, and romance with barely any dialogue at all, which was just fantastic to see (also, I'm usually not one for facial hair, but in his case I'll make an exception!) I just loved his acting choices throughout, his subtle reactions and sharp intelligence shining through in his clear insights, his deep love for his wife, his anger at and at the same time acceptance of the world he lived in... I mean, his deadpan pragmatism was fantastic.
Yeah, he was totally hot. *fans self*
As a slasher, it made me want to slash him of course. XD But yeah, the whole "quest for most beloved wife" put a bit of a damper on that, can't help it. They were a lovely couple in any case, and I like to imagine them bounty hunting their way through the (more civilised parts of) the country.
Anyway, I wonder if anybody else had the feeling that Candie would also totally drawn to Django in more ways than one? Considering the sort of person he was, I'd say that he had a sort of (in his reasoning, naturally) perverted fantasy of being humiliated by being violently sodomised by a slave; a fetish, brought on by his view of them as profoundly different. He's so completely convinced by the supremacy of his own "race", and still there's this sick fascination that he can't seem to shake. Not to mention that Stephen had pretty much been running his life since he was born, coupled with the intensity of his interest in the mandingo fighting... well. Though I suppose his beloved sister would have something to say about it! I don't think anyone missed that subtext.
Say what you will of Leo, I actually think his performance was great. Sinister and stupid at the same time. A very dangerous combination.
Christoph Waltz was fantastic in his role as mentor and teacher. I loved his polite ruthlessness, his humoristic cold-bloodedness, his paradoxical moral, and how something kind, perhaps even fatherly was awakened by Django and his plight. I've seen that there has been some discussion about his actions at the end, his decision to shoot Candie, but I understand it. He was so controlled at (practically) all times, and such a bad loser; he couldn't stand Candie, and in the end it was just a final straw situation. That, and possibly the sheer enormity of Candies evil, the thought of leaving it alive in the world.
Speaking of evil, I just must talk a little about Candie's sister. Women didn't have a lot of space in this film, but I was fine with that. Considering the type of story and time period, I don't think it's problematic in the least. But the space they did have was used beautifully, and especially by sister dearest. She was such a proper lady, with the proper attitudes to the slaves; as things, as commodity. Her polite and happy smiles against the background of how she lived and what she allowed was just chilling. Well played, Laura Cayouette!
But what I most was impressed by with this film was how many ingredients it used and still was such a well-balanced and well-crafted story. Some parts had me laughing out loud (the stupid proto-KKK group with their badly made hoods!) while others had me shuddering with revulsion; yet others had me teary-eyed, or grinning with excitement. Yeah, I'd say it was properly epic.
As per usual I don't make much sense, maybe because I always update when I'm bone tired. Well. Maybe I should go to bed. I totally recommend everyone who haven's seen Django Unchained yet to go do so, in any case.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-13 11:48 pm (UTC)