“You had my curiosity. Now, you have my attention.”
Hollywood is abuzz with the news that Leonardo DiCaprio and Quentin Tarantino are set to team up for the director’s upcoming Charles Manson-related film.
And with good reason.
Whether or not QT drops the ball with his controversial new project remains to be seen, but the first such union of director and star proved very fruitful indeed.
2012’s wild Western Django Unchained tells the story of Django, a liberated slave who seeks to rescue his wife and wreak bloody revenge on those who wronged him.
Jamie Foxx is electric as the title character; a role reportedly once mooted for Will Smith, if you can imagine such a thing.
Along the way, he and bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz going full Christoph Waltz) run afoul of Calvin J. Candie; a wicked, cruel and oddly charming plantation owner played, with considerable relish, by one Leonardo DiCaprio.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUdM9vrCbow
Clip via JoBlo Movie Trailers
You should know the drill with Quentin Tarantino movies by now; dramatic inciting incident, slow burn when it comes to setting the scene, reasons to genuinely care about the central characters, extended second act, and, finally, a wildly over-the-top, hugely bloody and ridiculously satisfying payoff.
Django Unchained scores big on all of those, naturally enough. But it wouldn’t be anywhere near as effective if the villain of the piece didn’t leave enough of a lasting impact.
DiCaprio, in his usual way, injects enough charismatic life into Calvin Candie that you can’t help but initially fall for the guy.
He’s clearly a monster, of that there is no question, and yet Leo brings such a genuine sense of self to the role that you find yourself, however briefly, hypnotised.
That is until he shows his true colours in horrific and dangerous fashion, of course.
He’s ably assisted by Samuel L. Jackson in a fascinating, multi-layered performance. Sure, the long-running joke is that Jackson will do literally any role imaginable, but this is a seriously stark reminder of just how easily the man can own the screen.
Speaking of danger, look out for the bit where DiCaprio accidentally slashed his hand open for real, never breaking character as blood began to flow.
Django is a terrific hero, and his antagonist a worthy, venomous foil, brilliantly realised by DiCaprio in a role that many hoped would land him his Oscar, before The Revenant finally did.
Django Unchained is on RTÉ2 tonight (Monday) at 9pm
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