Have just returned from seeing Django Unchained and I don’t know what the hell I was expecting, but it was terrible. Not terrible in a “Independence Day/ Airforce One” way. It was an amazing, beautiful and clever film. But it was disturbing and distressing.
I know Tarantino films enough to expect shitloads of swearing, an awesome soundtrack, dark humour, Samuel L Jackson, and bloody bloody violence. I can cope with that and it was all there.
But it was two particular scenes related to slavery that were so incredibly distressing and I’m trying to figure out why/if they were needed. If you see the film, you’ll know, if you haven’t I won’t spoil it. But the scenes depicted realistic violent acts from American slavery. I felt like their inclusion added nothing to the story. Was Tarantino hoping to fit in a slavery history lesson for us? Or was it because it was another reason for more bloody. I felt sick, like I shouldn’t be there.
I think the scenes messed me up because I wasn’t expecting it. I knew there’d be body parts and blood, but this was different. It was real. It was historically accurate.
Other issues, that are in most movies so is probably forgive them – damsel-in-distress, heroic white man…..
I need to do some further reading to get my head around this movie. I won’t ever watch it again, but I will probably keep talking/thinking about it… So it probably was an awesome film after all.