Movie Review: “Django Unchained”

By Donnell Solomon

Donnell Solomon
The Herald
2 min readJun 4, 2022

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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1853728/

Quentin Tarantino does not shy away from intense, gruesome, and controversial scenes and movies. One of these action-packed, gruesome movies is “Django Unchained.”

The movie follows the story of a slave named Django, who is hired to help find men on the run. Through Django’s search, he is put through horrible situations. For example, Django is forced to participate in something called Mandingo fights, where two slaves battle to the death by wrestling. Not only do we see the hardships faced by Django, we see the hardships faced by other slaves. The gruesome portrayal of slavery can be jarring for some viewers, however, Tarantino portrayed the cruelty of slavery very well.

The actors playing the slave masters and the racists in the movie play into their role very deeply, making even more apparent the corruption in the minds of those who participated in the slave trade and slavery itself.

Many people are used to hearing about slavery, but witnessing the brutal cruelty of it on screen is something most people are not accustomed to.

Tarantino is the right director to really portray how horrid slavery was. With actors such as Samuel L. Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, and more, the movie found huge success.

“Django Unchained” was not successful solely from its renowned actors and director, but for the way the roles were played. Each actor took on their role so intensely that the film conveyed the Old Western style very easily.

In one scene, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character is seen breaking a glass that causes his hand to bleed. The bleeding hand was not scripted, but DiCaprio was so dedicated to his role that he continued the scene despite his bloody hand. The actor ended up needing stitches, but it was well worth it because the scene has gone down in cinematic history.

Along with DiCaprio, we also see Foxx, Jackson, and Washington all play intense scenes. Jackson is well known for his on screen cursing and “Django Unchained” is no exception. Samuel L. Jackson takes every opportunity to slip in his curse words on screen. His acting style in particular is an excellent selection for the film because it contributes to the overall grittiness of the production.

Also adding to the grittiness of the film is the plot itself. The story of Django has twists and turns and many horrible moments. The stories of those in Django’s life also have similar turmoil. The trials that Django and the other slaves go through make the ending that much more triumphant as Django and his wife are reunited and go on to live their free life, as Django is finally unchained.

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