Calvin Candie and Stephen: A Retroactive Appraisal

Upon re-watches of Django Unchained, I've come to appreciate the film more and more, flaws and all. I still think the third act could've had a bit of re-scripting done and have some editing work to boot, but little nitpicks aside I've come to admire it as one of QT's most solid films. It's funny, moving and in the action scenes packs quite the scintillating punch in the likes of scenes like this:

Anyway, what I want to write briefly about today is how after re-re-watches I've grown to appreciate the performances of the film all the more. Christoph Waltz's brilliant portrayal of Dr King Schultz has always been beloved by me. But I've come round to Jamie Foxx's quietly assertive, Charles Bronson-esque badass hero as also extremely impressive in his own right, exuding the perfect blend of threat and menace, and endearing camaraderie with Schultz, in his portrayal. The supporting players, from Walton Goggins showing hints of his future brilliance in The Hateful Eight and Don Johnson's entertainingly uncouth Big Daddy, are all solid.

One element of the film that certainly grows for me all the more the more times I watch the film though is the pairing of frequent Tarantino collaborator Samuel L. Jackson and perhaps the biggest movie star in the world, Leonardo DiCaprio. It's an unlikely pairing that had the direction or performances been off, could've smelt of stunt casting for the sake of box office profits, but it works due to several factors. One, they're both at the top of their game here, with great characters to work with. Two, their approaches to their respective characters are incredibly unique, and against their usual types in quite a daring fashion.

I'll start with DiCaprio. I mentioned in my previous post on the art of Kevin Spacey that DiCaprio is one of those actors I much prefer when he relaxes a bit into a role. I'm quite the fan generally but he does have a couple of performances which fall into a bit to the 'try-hard' category like The Aviator, Shutter Island, J. Edgar. He's never bad in these performances but just always seems a bit too pent up, almost denying his strengths as an actor by taking aan overly mannered, excessively morose approach to his roles. In short DiCaprio's at his best at an actor when he lives up his roles like his parties and lovelife; with fun, vigour and dynamic energy that works so beautifully in the likes of The Wolf of Wall Street, Catch Me If You Can and his performance here as mandingo owner and Francophile Calvin Candie.

I've read behind the scenes about how DiCaprio was understandably uncomfortable about taking on the role in the first place and throughout the shoot repeatedly had to force himself through takes to continue playing the vile, reprehensible man Candie is presented as. Well kudos to him none of this comes across in his performance. DiCaprio's performance deliciously digs into the hammy, OTT evil nature of Candie with not a smidgeon of restraint. Candie is a character that relishes in just being the most heinous bastard whether it be explaining the supposed scientific background of African American inferiority or insisting that Schultz shake his hand.

DiCaprio is so beautifully hateful and what's most remarkable about his work here is that even in his most despicable moments, wiping bloodied hands across women's faces and callously ordering death by throngs of dogs, the disturbing amount of fun Candie has in being evil never relents, keeping his fury contained within the particular style and manner of a stereotypical southern gent, and intertwines this with the dramatic intensity he gives the role with aplomb. Having seen so many failed examples of shouty villain roles in recent years, good actors like Eddie Redmayne and great ones like Guy Pearce being particularly egregious culprits, it's refreshing to see someone nail the fine, Gary Oldman-Raul Julia refined art of yelling and hamming it up on screen.

Then there's Jackson, playing not a badass scary motherfucker as was the case with his last two substantial ventures with Tarantino, and the one thereafter this, but instead takes a bit of a backseat at first as house slave Stephen. Jackson is an underrated actor in terms of his versitality which is on full display here, as he shows that he's just as entertaining to watch as a wimpy, comical, angry hobbled slave as he is in any one of his BAMF roles. Now I have to talk about Jackson and DiCaprio's chemistry here as it's extremely watchable despite the reprehensible natures of both characters. They have a certain sort of warmth and connection between the two and most importantly are hilarious whenever they interact in their master-servant dynamic, and intriguing when the tables are turned and both characters reveal darker shades of depth. More about that in a bit.

Jackson is brilliant in Django Unchained by subtly laying  the seeds of his characterization with what is effectively a caricature of the Uncle Tom figure of the willingly subservient black house slave, His over the top fussy manner and tics are just so uproariously entertaining as he makes Stephen into just the most pathetic, toadying presence and sets him up to be the comic highlight of the film. To Jackson's credit this particular stereotype of the house slave is well-handled by not being to an extent offensive, but entertainingly so since Stephen is clearly a bit of a cartoonish figure, and thus Jackson's overacting as the absurd and rather lowly, pathetic figure Stephen presents himself as.

Jackson is particularly good in the scenes where he stands next to Calvin at the dinner table and watching him in a battle of wits with Waltz's Schultz. DiCaprio as aforementioned is extremely watchable as the idiotic Southern gent who talks a great deal of crap, and Jackson is even more hilarious in his reactions, laughing along with his jokes in such a subservient manner. Take the above scene. Waltz and DiCaprio are great at having a bit of banter in this scene, each delivering their lines with such delicious aplomb, but for me the highlight is Stephen's exaggerated laughter at the end of Candie's Boston joke. It's an excellent depiction of a truly depraved mindset of subservience.

What's brilliant about Jackson's portrayal in these scenes though is how they play into the greater purpose of Stephen as a character, first seen in the scene where he questions Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) about what he has deduced as a previous relationship between her and Foxx's Django.

Jackson's incisive approach is marvelous here as it sets up Stephen as the true villain of the film. He was intimidating in Pulp Fiction and The Hateful Eight for sure, but those character's forms of intimidation had a certain sort of charm and humour to it; with Stephen, funnily enough, when the menace comes all humour and affability is dropped, and it makes perfect sense. The toady routine is but a visage; the real being lying underneath it is a man of true intelligence and cunning. Stephen is quite possibly Tarantino's most intelligent villain, a master strategist, after all the Reservoir Dogs messed up, Marsellus Wallace ended up on the wrong end of a plan, Ordell Robbie overtrusted Jackie, Bill got Killed because of his innate humanity, Death Proof was just a mistake overall, Hans Landa made one massively poor decision that put him at the mercy of the Basterds, and the villains of The Hateful Eight don't achieve anything in the end. Stephen, however, is the most capable and intelligent of all of Tarantino's antagonists because he maintains a convenient facade and undeneath it shows a mind always at work and in control of the situation. The film reaches a happy conclusion only because of the ineptitude of some Australian slavers, but Stephen himself is the pitch-perfect depiction of a master player of the game of slaves.

Whether their meant to be funny or scary, DiCaprio and Jackson are just so wonderful here in Django Unchained that I feel bad for ever underrating their performances. They're not quite my win for 2012 Supporting (but that is a PACKED year, just look at my lineup below*), nor are they my favourite of Tarantino's villains (Hans Landa will always have that spot), but these two give fantastic performances that definitely should have been nominated for Oscars. DiCaprio and Jackson give pitch-perfect representations of how to go over-the-top with style and substance.

*
1. Christopher Walken, Seven Psychoapths
2. Samuel L. Jackson, Django Unchained
3. Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
4. Dwight Henry, Beasts of the Southern Wild
5. Javier Bardem, Skyfall
6. Ben Whishaw, Cloud Atlas
7. Sam Rockwell, Seven Psychopaths
8. Woody Harrelson, Seven Psychopaths
9. James Spader, Lincoln
10. Jim Broadbent, Cloud Atlas