Quentin Tarantino was interested in directing 2006 James Bond reboot Casino Royale, and there are certain parallels between his own films and the 007 series. Both have a tendency to manifest moments of startling brilliance while remaining deeply flawed, a pattern which reached its apotheosis for Tarantino on 2009's Inglourious Basterds.
Dialogue so smooth it might have been dipped in honey was undercut by a facile storyline about a squad of Jewish American troopers taking out comedy Nazis and performances straight out of the Carry On guide to acting from the likes of Brad Pitt and Eli Roth. A silly, cringeworthy but strangely enthralling film, then, and one which also turned out to be Tarantino's biggest ever box-office hit.
Now comes Django Unchained, in which the maverick film-maker dares to tackle the roots of American racial turbulence. A leaked screenplay last year hinted at worrying depictions of slavery and the exploitation of African American women in the pre civil war deep south, so should we be expecting a film that makes Inglourious Basterds look like The Pianist? On the contrary, the debut trailer suggests a western with a classic feel to it, despite the obligatory 70s funk soundtrack and a torrent of laser-guided one-liners.
Jamie Foxx seems to be playing the title role of a slave turned bounty hunter pretty straight, leaving most of the flamboyance to Christoph Waltz as his German mentor and Leonardo DiCaprio as cackling villainous plantation owner Calvin Candie. Moreover, there's not even the merest glimpse of gyrating slave torsos.
Tarantino's synopsis, released in April reads: "Set in the south two years before the civil war, Django Unchained stars Academy award-winner Jamie Foxx as Django, a slave whose brutal history with his former owners lands him face-to-face with German-born bounty hunter Dr King Schultz (Academy award-winner Christoph Waltz). Schultz is on the trail of the murderous Brittle brothers, and only Django can lead him to his bounty. The unorthodox Schultz acquires Django with a promise to free him upon the capture of the Brittles – dead or alive.
"Success leads Schultz to free Django, though the two men choose not to go their separate ways. Instead, Schultz seeks out the south's most wanted criminals with Django by his side. Honing vital hunting skills, Django remains focused on one goal: finding and rescuing Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), the wife he lost to the slave trade long ago.
"Django and Schultz's search ultimately leads them to Calvin Candie (Academy award-nominee Leonardo DiCaprio), the proprietor of "Candyland," an infamous plantation where slaves are groomed by trainer Ace Woody (Kurt Russell) to battle each other for sport.
Exploring the compound under false pretences, Django and Schultz arouse the suspicion of Stephen (Academy award-nominee Samuel L Jackson), Candie's trusted house slave. Their moves are marked, and a treacherous organisation closes in on them. If Django and Schultz are to escape with Broomhilda, they must choose between independence and solidarity, between sacrifice and survival …"
Like Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained takes its title from a cult film, in this case Sergio Corbucci's 1966 spaghetti western Django. We already knew that film's lead, Franco Nero, was set for a cameo in Tarantino's film, and indeed there he is fleetingly in the trailer. Are you ready for another garrulous Tarantino outing, and is it too much to expect that a film ostensibly about slavery might manifest itself as more than just a silkily-scripted romp? Django Unchained hits cinemas on Christmas Day in the US, but we'll have to sit pretty until 18 January 2013 in the UK. Will it be worth the wait?
