Django Unchained

There’s been a sense that since Jackie Brown, Tarantino has been more concerned with mimicking the past of exploitation cinema than making interesting films. Kill Bill (s) & Death Proof were pretty schlocky in places and for all the joy of Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds it still felt like less of the film than it should have been. Django Unchained marks a glorious return to form, retaining the sense of shock (and indeed schlock) and daring as his earlier films but bolting it to something that also touches on deeper issues. Sure there are times when it seems calculated to offend, but that’s part of the point – the issues of the period are offensive when viewed from afar, the difference here is that it never feels like preaching.