Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson Director: Quentin Tarantino

    AUDACIOUS but overlong, irreverent but gripping, writer-director Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” is like nothing else — except, that is, the filmmaker’s earlier works. Drawing on his considerable strengths, as well as some of his nagging indulgences, this bold Western set in the American South on the eve of the Civil War will provide Tarantino’s fans with all that they love about the auteur’s distinctive pictures, including stylishly exaggerated violence, pungent characters and reams of lively dialogue.

    Taking place two years before the beginning of the Civil War, the movie concerns the unlikely partnership of white German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds”) and the African-American slave he recently freed named Django (Jamie Foxx). The two men work together on Schultz’s assignments, but Django has a greater purpose in mind: rescuing his slave wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) from the clutches of suave, cruel Mississippi plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).

    Much like Tarantino’s last outing, the World War II action-drama “Inglourious Basterds,” “Django Unchained” is a period film set during a crucial time in world history. And as he did with “Basterds,” the filmmaker doesn’t concern himself with delivering a solemn, faithful treatment of the era, instead confronting the rampant racism of the period with an offhand, sometimes cheeky spirit. (One comedic bit involves the difficulty an unruly mob has in seeing out of their KKK-like white hoods.) This isn’t to suggest that Tarantino makes light of slavery but, rather, that like the mocking of Nazism in “Basterds,” he utilizes the racial injustice of 19th century America as a pulpy backdrop for his vibrant characters.

    Though Django’s name appears in the title, “Django Unchained” in some ways is more Schultz’s show, and Waltz has a grand time giving this bounty hunter a slightly haughty demeanor and exquisite manners. In truth, Schultz isn’t that far removed from Waltz’s Nazi Colonel Hans Landa from “Basterds,” except that this new character uses his limitless self-confidence and polished eloquence for good purposes rather than evil. The similarity between the two characters is noticeable, but Waltz so elegantly executes Tarantino’s clever lines that it feels more like a welcome encore, as opposed to a tired rehash.

    Django’s journey in this film slightly recalls the Bride’s in the “Kill Bill” movies. (Once again, a well-meaning soul must seek vengeance in order to escape the past.) But as Foxx capably plays him, Django is a beaten-down slave whose newfound freedom allows him to evolve from an uneducated, timid man into an imposing killer. Granted, this isn’t the most nuanced of character arcs, but Foxx makes us feel Django’s inarticulate rage for the way he’s been treated and his desire to reunite with his beloved Broomhilda.

    Again showing his love for spaghetti westerns, grindhouse cinema, and hip-hop music, Tarantino has become such a pro at weaving together his disparate influences that they no longer seem incongruous or shocking — they’re simply his trademarks. Indeed, Django features several terrific sequences that build tension from sometimes the simplest of setups.

    But despite Tarantino’s excellent visual sense — supported by cinematographer Robert Richardson — Django’s bravura spasms of violence and intricate dialogue scenes only rarely dazzle. It’s not that Tarantino has lost his skill. (And, in fact, Django’s treatment of violence occasionally has a somber thoughtfulness to it that his previous films would have laughed off.) But even when DiCaprio sinks his teeth into his character’s deranged monologue in the film’s second half, it’s hard to shake the impression that this sort of ostentatious soliloquy has become such a staple of Tarantino’s work that it’s lost some of its power to surprise.

    At 15 minutes shy of three hours, “Django Unchained” is Tarantino’s longest film, unless you combine the two “Kill Bill” movies as one. The length provides him with an opportunity to more fully sketch out the friendship between Schultz and Django, as well as add more detail to his imaginative pre-Civil War South, showing how slavery and racism creep into every corner of society. Still, the movie can’t help but feel talky in stretches as Tarantino allows the pace to slacken in order to focus on character and atmosphere.

    The movie is now being screened in Shenzhen. (SD-Agencies)