| Django Unchained | |
|---|---|
| |
| Directed by | Quentin Tarantino |
| Produced by | Stacey Sher Reginald Hudlin Pilar Savone |
| Written by | Quentin Tarantino |
| Starring |
Jamie Foxx |
| Cinematography | Robert Richardson |
| Editing by | Fred Raskin |
| Distributed by | The Weinstein Company |
| Release | December 25, 2012 |
| Running time | 165 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $100 million |
| Gross revenue | $425,368,238 |
Django Unchained is a 2012 American western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film stars Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson. The film was released on December 25, 2012 (Christmas Day), in North America.
Set in the antebellum era of the Deep South and Old West, the film follows a freed slave (Foxx) who treks across the United States with a bounty hunter (Waltz) on a mission to rescue his wife (Washington) from a cruel plantation owner (DiCaprio).
The film received very positive reviews from critics and was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture. Christoph Waltz received several accolades for his performance, and won the Golden Globe, the BAFTA and his second Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. His first Oscar was for another Tarantino film, 2009's Inglourious Basterds; few actors have won more than once in this category. Tarantino won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, his second Oscar in this category for which he first won in 1995 for co-writing Pulp Fiction, as well as the Golden Globe and the BAFTA. The film grossed over $425 million in theaters worldwide, making it Tarantino's highest grossing film to date.
Plot[]
Somewhere in Texas in the year 1858, several male slaves are being driven by the Speck Brothers, Ace and Dicky. Among the shackled slaves is Django, sold off and separated from his wife, Broomhilda. The Speck Brothers are stopped by Dr. King Schultz, a German dentist and bounty hunter from Düsseldorf. Schultz asks to buy one of the slaves, but while questioning Django about his knowledge of the Brittle Brothers, for whom Schultz is carrying a warrant, he irritates Ace who aims his shotgun at Schultz. Schultz quickly kills Ace and leaves Dicky at the mercy of the other newly freed slaves. Since Django can identify the Brittle Brothers, Schultz offers Django his freedom in exchange for his help in tracking them down. After executing the Brittles, Django partners with Schultz through the winter and becomes his apprentice. Schultz explains that, being the first person he has ever given freedom to, he feels responsible for Django and is driven to help him in his quest to rescue Broomhilda. Upon first learning of her name, Schultz tells Django the tale of the mythical German valkyrie, Brünnhilde.
Django, now fully trained, collects his first bounty, keeping the handbill as a good luck charm. In Mississippi, Schultz uncovers the identity of Broomhilda's owner: Calvin Candie, the charming but brutal owner of the Candyland plantation, where slaves are forced to fight to the death in wrestling matches called "Mandingo fights." Schultz, expecting Candie will demand an extortionate amount if they are forthright, devises a ruse to purchase one of Candie's prized fighters, purchase Broomhilda on the side for a reasonable sum, then disappear before the deal is finalized. Schultz and Django meet Candie at a club in Greenville and submit their offer. His greed tickled, Candie invites them to Candyland. After he secretly debriefs Broomhilda on the plan, Schultz moves to the next step, claiming to be charmed by the German-speaking Broomhilda.
During dinner, Candie's staunchly loyal overseer, Stephen, becomes suspicious. Deducing that Django and Broomhilda know each other and that the sale of the Mandingo fighter is just a misdirection, Stephen alerts Candie, who subsequently extorts the bounty hunters for the complete bid amount. Schultz yields and, after the money is paid and the paperwork signed, Candie demands a formal handshake from Schultz to finalize the deal. Schultz instead shoots him through the heart with a concealed derringer. He apologizes to Django before he is killed by one of Candie's henchmen. In the ensuing gun battle, Django kills many of the remaining henchmen but surrenders once Broomhilda is taken hostage at gunpoint.
The next morning, Django is informed by Stephen that he will be sold to a mine and worked to death. En route to the mine, Django proves to his escorts that he is a bounty hunter by showing them the handbill from his first kill. He then convinces them of a very large bounty for a man back at Candyland, of which they would receive the majority, should Django be released. Once Django is uncuffed and given a pistol, he swiftly kills his captors, takes their dynamite, and rides back to Candyland.
Returning to the plantation, Django takes Broomhilda's freedom papers and releases her from her improvised cell. When Candie's mourners return from his funeral, Django guns down Candie's sister and remaining henchmen. Django then releases the two house slaves and shoots Stephen in the knees, crippling him. As Stephen angrily curses him, Django ignites the dynamite he has planted throughout the mansion. He and Broomhilda watch from a distance as the mansion explodes before riding off.
In a post-credits scene, a group of slaves who appeared earlier in the film wonder aloud who Django really was.
Cast[]
- Jamie Foxx as Django Freeman
- Christoph Waltz as Dr. King Schultz
- Leonardo DiCaprio as "Monsieur" Calvin J. Candie
- Kerry Washington as Broomhilda Von Shaft
- Samuel L. Jackson as Stephen
- Don Johnson as Spencer "Big Daddy" Bennett
- Walton Goggins as Billy Crash
- James Remar as Ace Speck / Butch Pooch
- Dennis Christopher as Leonide "Leo" Moguy
- James Russo as Dicky Speck
- David Steen as Mr. Stonecipher
- Tom Wopat as U.S. Marshall Gill Tatum
- Dana Michelle Gourrier as Cora
- Nichole Galicia as Sheba
- Laura Cayouette as Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly
- Ato Essandoh as D'Artagnan
- Sammi Rotibi as Rodney
- Clay Donahue as Fontenot
- Escalante Lundy as Big Fred
- Miriam F. Glover as Betina
- Omar J. Dorsey as Chicken Charlie
- Franco Nero as Amerigo Vessepi